TALES OF THE DEPARTED

The philosophical idea of absurdism, which addresses the irrationality and meaninglessness of the universe, finds a special literary form in magical realism. In magical realism, the combination of the mundane and the fantastical reflects the absurd nature of reality itself; in this literary style, seemingly impossible or supernatural elements coexist with the ordinary in a seamless manner, obfuscating the boundaries between the believable and the fantastical; this blending of the extraordinary into the ordinary fabric of life reflects the absurd condition of human existence, where the logical and the inexplicable frequently converge without explanation or justification. The 25 stories in this book are excellent examples of contemporary magic realism. Each story is introduced by a rather consequential and momentous poem, which could also be understood as a piece of music (so, if you wish, you are welcome to dance while you're reading them); each poem is followed by a short story about death and the departed; stories that dwell on the absurd and the fantastic-two qualities that should not be absent in the work of any Latin American writer.