Jordi Punti

Tenc curiositat per saber com ordena l'autor (o l'editor) un recull de contes a l'hora de publicar-lo. Si posa els més bons primer, el final pot ser una mica decebedor. Si posa els millors al final, el llibre et pot caure de les mans abans d'haver-ne llegit una quarta part. I si és reserven els més fluixos per a la meitat del recull, pot ser difícil trobar ganes de continuar.

Siga com siga, he llegit els tres primers contes dels deu de què consta el recull, i l'interès és nul. L'autor va contant una tirallonga de fets banals, i ni tan sols és capaç de crear un gir o un final que sorprenga una mica. Aquesta obra va guanyar el Premi a la Creació de la Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana 1995. No vull ni pensar com devien ser les altres obres que s'hi varen presentar.… (more)

This Is Not America is a collection of nine short stories mostly taking place in Barcelona, but also with Catalans traveling abroad. The first and last stories are the strangest. In the first, “Vertical”, a man is waking the ‘I’ in Mai, memorializing his late wife by walking her name on the streets of Barcelona. His description of grief is vivid and authentic, though the story meanders through its own streets. Frankly, I nearly quit reading during the first story, but the rest were far more to my taste.

“Kidney” is a story of estranged brothers and a weak story that seems more like a long joke told late into the night on a drunken bender. “Consolation Prize” is a strange story of a man falling into infatuation with a girl because he learns she shares an admiration for a band he likes. To me he seemed a bit stalkerish and unpleasant, but I think Puntí’s stories are far more expressive of the male worldview. You really see that in “My Best Friend’s Mother” which has a middle-age man trying to replay an adolescent wish fulfillment fantasy.

I think “Seven Days on the Loveboat” is my favorite, a man had planned a trip to Paris with his wife but they separated right before their anniversary, so he trades his trip in for a Mediterranean cruise on one of the hookup type cruise ships where things don’t go as planned.

This Is Not America is strange collection of stories. Some of them I really liked and others were just strange and a couple I just did not like. I thought the final story was too cute by half, going all meta by writing about a writer writing a short story on commission who goes to a party where Jordi Puntí happens to be a guest. On the other hand, except for “Kidney” every story seemed truly new, unlike anything I have read before. That excites me, so on the whole, it’s a good anthology with a mix of hits and misses.

I received an e-galley ofThis Is Not America from the publisher through NetGalley

This Is Not America at Atria Books | Simon & Schuster
Jordi Puntí on Twitter

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/08/06/9781982104719/… (more)

I definitely got swept up in this. The story was captivating, and it was beautifully told. Since I had just been in Barcelona I loved the references to the city, but I would have enjoyed the book just as much if I hadn't been there.
Four young men, all raised by single mothers in Europe, learn they are half brothers when their father disappears and the police find their names and addresses in his apartment. Thus begins a journey to discover their father's history. Through their mothers, their father's acquaintances, and papers they find in the apartment they learn that he was a foundling who was raised in an orphanage and, once grown, worked for a moving company beside his best friend and orphan brother. They traveled Europe moving highly connected Spaniards, and Gabriel fell into relationships with three young women, all of which produced a son. He named all of them a version of Christopher. He visited each when he could until the visits ended abruptly and with no explanation. What they learn about his story makes it all make sense.… (more)