José Donoso

Taratuta and Still Life with Pipe

"In the Spanish-speaking world, [Donoso is] a combination of Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger."—Elena Castedo

These stirking novellas are the witty crystallizations of José Donoso's concerns over a lifetime of writing. In them he poses many of the questions raised by his fellow Latin American writers, Fuentes, García marquez, and Vargas Llosa: What is truth? How does one use history in fiction? How does an artist create? Taratuta is a mystery story in which a writer tries to track a slippery Russian revolutionary in history and in life. Still Life with Pipe shows the comeuppance of an ambitious man when he meets true art and can't escape its grasp. Donoso is the author of the classic novel The Obscene Bird of Night.

"Impressive. . . . These short works . . . show the author at his near best, challenging, provoking, forcing reexamination."—James Polk, Washington Post

"Well-crafted novellas. . . . Donoso reveals his self-assurance as a writer, mischievously inviting the reader to enter into the process of creating fiction."—Publishers Weekly

"Does art imitate life or vice versa? Or is the relationship between art and life subtler and more playful than either of these maxims suggests? This is what José Donoso, one of Chile's leading novelists . . . appears to conclude, offering these two novellas as evidence. . . . Donoso deftly pursues the difference between art and life."—Madeline Kiser, San Francisco Chronicle

"These two engagingly told stories by one of Chile's leading writers focus on odd obsessions and the ironic consequences of creativity. . . . Both offbeat novellas feature well-etched characters and address serious artistic concerns while remmaining fun and surprising."—Timothy Hunter, Cleveland Plain Dealer