[.ca] The Lights of Home: A Century of Latin American Writers ... (ISBN 0415940133)

Essential Reading for Lovers of Latin American Literature:
This is a superb book that can be highly recommended for everyone interested in Latin American literature, the sociology of literature in general, creativity and the lives of writers. Author Jason Weiss writes clearly and has complete command of all the relevant primary and secondary literature. The book is valuable because it fills an important gap in literary scholarship by analysing in detail the enormous importance of Paris for the whole phenomenon of Latin American literature. Knowledge of the role of Paris in the lives of these writers is essential for any reader's understanding of their works. Mr. Weiss provides the historical background by discussing the changing perception of Paris throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He then discusses in roughly chronological order the Parisian experiences of about two dozen important writers from Rubén Darío to Hector Bianciotti. In the context of each life, he discusses the reasons, personal and often political, that brought the person to Paris, how they lived, whom they knew and how they worked. The book is, however, much more than a mere collection of biographical sketches; the discussion is enriched by intelligent literary criticism that shows how the Parisian experience became a lens through which these writers saw the Latin American world that is the subject of so many of their works. The book is also valuable because of its excellent discussion of the broader topic of writers in exile or at least living abroad and writing of home, and sometimes even writing in a new language. Finally, throughout the book Mr. Weiss never forgets to examine the reception of Latin American literature in France.