THE MATTER OF DESIRE

CRITICAL PRAISE FOR THE MATTER OF DESIRE

"The first of his novels to be translated into English, The Matter of Desire indicates Paz Soldán's range... In Paz Soldán's world, the paradoxes of our globalized media age are juxtaposed with the idealism and struggles of a more radical past. The result is an intoxicating blend - part Borges, part Pynchon - that Paz Soldán has made very much his own." - Time Out New York

"As Lisa Carter's smooth translation of The Matter of Desire opens, Zabalaga has returned to Bolivia vaguely dissatisfied with himself, uncertain of his identity and caught between two cultures." - The Washington Post

"South American politics meet Northeast academia in this uneven but affecting novel about untangling a family past... This is the first of [Soldán's] six novels to be translated into English, and it provides an accessible introduction to his work. Carter's translation is smooth..." - Publisher's Weekly

"Percolating with pop-culture references, Bolivian National Book Award winner Paz Soldán's first novel published in English is a bristling alternative to the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez. Blending history, existentialism, and romantic and political passion, it offers an edgy, urban vision that sizzles from the start." - Booklist

“What comes after 100 years of solitude? Literarily speaking, one would hope, a new start. That start is well under way in the form of a new Latin literary movement that eschews the illusions of magical realism to tell stories set squarely in a world that’s both familiar and alien at the same time - on two continents. And Edmundo Paz Soldan’s new English edition of ‘The Matter of Desire’ is not only the latest, but maybe the most commercial work from this intriguing genre.” - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Paz Soldan is a fascinating ‘new’ writer whose descriptions of people, their actions, and their politics are insightful and enlightening to the norteamericanos who will read this first-ever translation. His sensitivity to the contrasts between life in Bolivia and life in upstate New York is striking, and I found myself smiling at the description of Pedro's arrival at the airport in La Paz: ‘I light a cigarette, wondering whether there'll be a shout to put my hands in the air, a shove that'll knock me to the ground, making the pack of Marlboros fall, an arrest and six months in federal prison. Nothing happens. The act doesn't lead to hysteria here.’ His ability to create not one, but two less than admirable ‘heroes’ both of whom, nevertheless, keep the reader interested in their fates, is daunting. The tight construction, despite the constant changes in time and setting from Rio Fugitivo to Madison, NY, and Berkeley, along with the consistent thematic development, make this a novel which conveys a message without sacrificing the literary qualities which make novels and their characters come alive. This reader can hardly wait for further novels by this brilliant young Bolivian author to be translated into English.” - MostlyFiction.com