LE PORTRAIT MAGAZINE MARCH-SEPTEMBER ISSUE | Page 19

My Documents by Alejandro Zambra
Zambra’s stories are disarmingly casual in their delivery. Similar to
Chilean predecessor Roberto Bolaño, Zambra has enormous skill for
conveying lush emotional landscapes with stripped and distant language.
Zambra’s characters tend to be sensitive, brooding, and sharp witnesses,
and they navigate the interior landscapes of their situations in ways that
are fluid and impressionistic. […] My Documents consists of stories that
hit the sweet spot between meandering and meticulous. In many stories,
Zambra delays and complicates the slow-building tension – past
opportunities for traditional endings – to arrive in uncharted territory.

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