Una autobiografía soterrada. (A Hidden Autobiography)

A national treasure who has influenced the likes of Jorge Volpi and Roberto Bolaño, Pitol has led an exceptional life. Orphaned as a toddler in the 1930s, he read like mad while bedridden till nearly his teens; served decades in the diplomatic corps, working mostly in the Eastern Bloc; translated great literature from Polish, Russian, and English into Spanish; and bloomed gradually as a fiction writer, winning critical acclaim that culminated in 2005 with the Premio Cervantes, the most prestigious prize in Spanish-language letters. This volume of six short sections comprising journal entries, essays, and an interview with lifelong friend Carlos Monsiváis—the duly revered Mexican cultural critic—gathers rich insights into what has shaped Pitol's ever-evolving approach to his craft and his development as a human being. A journal kept while undergoing recent medical treatment in Cuba becomes a springboard for fabulous reminiscences about his first visit to the island as a youth. Other entries include analysis of the techniques and memes that guide his novels and an explanation of how they were created. This book catalogs the amazing range of authors whom he credits as influences; clearly, the man has cultivated an encyclopedic knowledge of world literature. Yet Pitol writes of all this in an airy, nonpedantic way: he seems to feel that it was his privilege to have had the chance to live and to read widely in such places as the USSR, Hungary, France, and Poland. The book is peppered with a half-dozen photos of Pitol at various stages of his life. A delightful read for students of literature; recommended for libraries and general bookstores.—Bruce Jensen, Kutztown Univ. Lib., PA