August 10, 2009
Mario Bellatin (and a note of interest)
This week’s publication of Mario Bellatin’s Beauty Salon by City Lights Books sparked a feature in today’s Arts section of the New York Times.
Though [Bellatin] was awarded a Guggenheim grant in 2002 and has participated in writers’ retreats and workshops in the United States, Mr. Bellatin is little known in the English-speaking world. The first of his works to be translated, a collection of three novellas called “Chinese Checkers,” appeared only within the last couple of years, and “Beauty Salon,” a novella from 1994, is to be published by City Lights Books this week.
Of interest to ‘flockers, friends, and (one would hope) others: Bellatin’s debut in English translation, the collection Chinese Checkers (Ravenna Press), was translated by our Cooper — Cooper Renner.
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holy shit that’s great!
I love everything about this. The hook. The Renner connection. The lies. The whole thing just makes me happy.
It also reminds me that my class on How To Be A Mexican will include the fact that appointments must never be made, lest they be broken. Even in many of the poshest salons in Mexico, only walk-ins are seen.
City Lights sends thank yous for posting this article, and linking to our site!