The Names of the Things That Were There - Stories

Informationen zum Autor Antonio Skármeta Klappentext "The best stories by the author of the unforgettable novel The Postman. Each of the stories in this book is an extraordinary piece of literature. Love, youth, desire, and freedom, along with versatile prose, sensitivity, and a subtle irony that sometimes morphs into dark humor, confirm Antonio Skâarmeta's position as one of the greatest storytellers in contemporary literature. Juan Villoro has selected and written a prologue for the best stories by Skâarmeta, originally published in five books that influenced an entire generation of writers and brought about a renewal of Latin American prose"-- Leseprobe Ballad for a Fat Man     When Juan Carlos joined our class, we were all happy because we needed a fat guy, our own gordo . He showed up in the middle of our English class and our smile was as quick and crass as a rat. We were familiar with the feminoid hysterics of Mr. Smith (Smith and an English teacher!) and we sensed that our laughter couldn’t go beyond our diaphragms without it going unpunished: there it convulsed in our empty stomachs during that first hour of our morning class. If any laughter appeared on our faces it was a frown across the mouth or some insolent sparkle in our eyes. Juan Carlos was accompanied by a small inspector, so thin he was insignificant, whose suits never covered his ankles or wrists. We decided that Inspector Soto bought his suits in the children’s section of Falabella to save money. It was precisely Soto who pushed Juan Carlos into the room, offering him to Mr. Smith like a cow taken to a butcher. At one point they were each holding one of his arms and the gordo was smiling at them blankly, turning back and forth like a fan every time they spoke to him. “Valparaiso,” I heard him say suddenly. From the back of the room I calculated that we would all be doing the math. Fifteen for Chile, ten for Colo-Colo, eight for Católica, two for Audax. If Gordo was for the Wanderers soccer club, he would practically be the official representative of the provinces and the Monday morning urinal discussions would take on an additional attraction. When Soto pointed to a bench in the middle row, we guessed that we’d have to turn our shoulders into the aisle so he’d be able to squeeze past us. He did it with a notebook in his hand and he wore that smile that made it seem like he was blushing at first and as the days passed we realized he was simply arrogant. “I won the gordo , the lottery, the big money’s coming my way,” Dorfman, Blondie as we called him, whispered, his mouth watering as he watched the fat kid make his way forward. Juan Carlos sat down and of course we all looked into the aisle to see how many centimeters of his butt cheek fell over the wood. Mr. Smith distracted our curiosity with his typical teacher attitude from a Yankee movie. He thought he was crazy Mr. Novak. “ I want you to meet our new friend ,” he said in English, “ Mr. Juan Carlos Osorio. Say hello to him, people .” “ Hi ,” we exclaimed in a tone much shriller than our natural one. “Juan Carlos,” Mr. Smith said, “ do you want to tell your friends where you come from? ” Dorfman jabbed Gordo with his elbow, telling him to stand up. Juan Carlos stood up with his eyes run over by a bunch of loose eyelashes that blinked from the floor to Smith, from Smith to the blackboard, from the blackboard to Smith, from Smith to the floor. “ I don’t speak English ,” he muttered in a cavernous accent. “ Beg your pardon? ” Mr. Smith projected, imitating the disparaging gesture of the old aristocrats in Alec Guinness movies. He had walked over to the bench and with his neck craned he rummaged flirtatiously through the fat guy’s notebook. Juan Carlos was more spare the second time: “ No English ,” he said. Mr. Smith inserted his thumbs into the ...

Product details

• Authors: Curtis Bauer, Antonio Skarmeta, Antonio Skármeta
• Publisher: Other press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 24.10.2023
• EAN: 9781635420760
• ISBN: 978-1-63542-076-0
• No. of pages: 352
• Dimensions: 133 mm x 202 mm x 23 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature