Magical / Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Ange

Description: FREE SHIPPING UK WIDE Magical / Realism by Vanessa Angelica Villarreal Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this brilliant, singular collection of essays explores migration, violence, and colonial erasure through the lens of music and pop culture, and from the perspective of a Mexican American daughter from the Rio Grande Valley.Longlisted for the National Book AwardLonglisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for CriticismA brilliant, singular collection of essays that looks to music, fantasy, and pop culture-from Beyonce to Game of Thrones-to excavate and reimagine what has been disappeared by migration and colonialism.Upon becoming a new mother, Vanessa Angelica Villarreal was called to Mexico to reconnect with her ancestors and recover her grandmothers story, only to return to the sudden loss of her marriage, home, and reality.In Magical/Realism, Villarreal crosses into the erasure of memory and self, fragmented by migration, borders, and colonial and intimate violence, reconstructing her story with pieces of American pop culture, and the music, video games, and fantasy that have helped her make sense of it all.The border between the real and imagined is a speculative space where we can remember, or re-world, what has been lost-and each chapter engages in this essential project of world-building. In one essay, Villarreal examines her own gender performativity through Nirvana and Selena; in another, she offers a radical but crucial racial reading of Jon Snow in Game of Thrones; and throughout the collection, she explores how fantasy can help us interpret and heal when grief feels insurmountable. She reflects on the moments of her life that are too painful to remember-her difficult adolescence, her role as the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrants, her divorce-and finds a way to archive her history and map her future(s) with the hope and joy of fantasy and magical thinking.Magical/Realism is a wise, tender, and essential collection that carves a path toward a new way of remembering and telling our stories-broadening our understanding of what memoir and cultural criticism can be. FORMAT Hardcover CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Vanessa Angelica Villarreal was born in the Rio Grande Valley to Mexican immigrants. She is the author of Beast Meridian, which received a Whiting Award, a Kate Tufts Discovery Award nomination, and the Texas Institute of Letters John A. Robertson Award. She was a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles with her son. Review Longlisted for the National Book Award Longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for CriticismOne of NPRs Best Books of the YearOne of Kirkuss Best Essay Collections of the YearOne of Readers Digests Best Books of 2024A Best Book of 2024 (so far) by Book RiotMost Anticipated by Book Riot, Hip Latina, Electric Lit, Screen Rant, and Write or Die"Villarreal leaps across seemingly insurmountable boundaries in this stunning book of interwoven essays and shattered, artfully reassembled memoir . . . [She] deftly blends her own familys stories with unique insights into realms like grunge and indie music, Jennifer Lopez rom-coms, the life and death of Selena and the meanings of Game of Thrones."—NPR, Best Books of the Year"A revelation… to be studied, savored, re-read and discussed"—Melissa Castillo Planas, Latinx Pop Magazine"This collection of essays is a modern exploration of topics such as loss, colonialism, migration and gender through the lens of pop culture. It provides a reflective narrative that prompts readers to reconsider their perspectives on these subjects."—Los Angeles Times, Des Los Reads"This nonfiction read is one of my favorite books of the year and it is my mission to make more people read it… I slapped my desk in emphasis while thinking about this book again just now. Its that good."—Vanessa Diaz, Book Riot"Magical/Realism is the perfect non-fiction work for fiction lovers. Vanessa Angélica Villarreals essays explore her journey of reconnection with her heritage and ancestors in Mexico while using current popular media, like Game of Thrones, to explore cultural erasure and the damages of migration and colonialism."—Screen Rant"Searing, deeply affecting, and profoundly moving . . . The future-dreaming and re-worlding that Villarreal enacts across her genre-bending chapters, quite frankly, opens new worlds of healing both for herself and for readers."—Southern Review of Books"The fresh perspective and distinctive voice of poet Villarreal drive this smart collection… the meditations on fantasy narratives incisively probe how fictional worlds reflect and intersect with the real one. Readers will be spellbound."—Publishers Weekly (starred)"With brilliant insight and masterful writing, Villarreal examines fantasy at close range…the magic of this collection is the elasticity and brilliance with which Villarreal is able to take critical analysis and connect it to her own experiences. A wondrous book that will change the way you think about fantasy and magic."—Kirkus (starred)"Not only is this intimate essay collection a healing listen, but it repositions cultural criticism on the map as a meaningful and resonant form of catharsis."—Audible"Magical/Realism is staggeringly good; its been ages since Ive been this moved, challenged, and devastated by an essay collection. An energetic, paradigm-shifting book."—Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House"A stunning, provocative, and essential book that lights up the mind. Villarreals ferocious imagination is matched only by a roving intellect and so much heart that these essays will stay with you for a long time after reading. One of my favorite nonfiction collections of the past decade."—Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author"Villarreal possesses endless talent. As she connects the dots between the various extraordinary and mundane realisms that haunt our daily lives, she displays a poets command of form, making this work sing with resonance. A banger."—Camonghne Felix, author of Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation"Vanessa Angelica Villarreals Magical/Realism is the impossible book that does so much so well and still retains a distinct and propulsive voice. Villarreals formal variousness illuminates and usefully complicates her subjects, but the bedrock upon which she engages her intellectual might is a big beating heart—there are lines here that made me, a non-crier, actually well-up. About her father who taught himself to play guitar while his migrant laborer parents worked, Villarreal writes: He was not a rare mind dreaming in a place that suppresses dreams with debt and labor. What is rare is that he almost made it. Often, for Villarreal, tenderness presents itself as a kind of rage, a rage that emerges from an ability to perceive the interiority of the harmed. Our loss, how rare this rage—without any accompanying smug back-patting—feels in the contemporary critical discourse. Our luck, to find in such abundance here."—Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr! Details ISBN0593187148 Pages 368 Publisher Random House USA Inc Year 2024 ISBN-13 9780593187142 Format Hardcover Publication Date 2024-05-14 Subtitle Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders Country of Publication United States Illustrations B&W PHOTOS THROUGHOUT Audience General US Release Date 2024-05-14 NZ Release Date 2024-06-03 AU Release Date 2024-06-03 Author Vanessa Angelica Villarreal Place of Publication New York Imprint Tiny Reparations Books ISBN-10 0593187148 UK Release Date 2024-05-14 DEWEY 814 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! 30 DAY RETURN POLICY No questions asked, 30 day returns! FREE DELIVERY No matter where you are in the UK, delivery is free. SECURE PAYMENT Peace of mind by paying through PayPal and eBay Buyer Protection TheNile_Item_ID:161215394;

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