Best Books of (My) Year 2016

We're back! But before starting 2017 at the Blog we must end with the last best-of-the-year lists (promise)... with the favourite reads of 2016! Thanks to my duty at Indienauta.com and the support given by many incredible publishers, the last twelve months have been an astonishing time for bookworms (like me). Besides, it's been a year that I'm particularly fond of, because it has been full of stunning short fiction collections. Obviously, it's been a tough rank to do, but here's my Top Ten (plus a trio of honorable mentions below). Go read them, you won't regret it! And don't forget to check our best of list of songs, records, EPs and concerts!

10. The bones of Louella Brown and other stories - Ann Petry (Palabrero Press)
Only five stories here, but what a superb small collection to introduce us into the masterful prose of Ann Petry. Give us the form. Hard in their content. Resonants in their draft. And, sadly, pertinent even today. Ann Petry reveals herself to be an extraordinary observer of the reality she had to live in the 'land of opportunity'... for whites (much better if they are also men and rich, of course) of the past mid-last century. A reality that, with the exception of the first, magic story, she presents us with daily facts and an amazing simplicity, Without moralizing or 'selling the drama' to impact the reader, in Petry's tales things speak for themselves. "Just” the exhibition of the tragedies, injustices and everyday tragic consequences of a world 'at two speeds' depending on skin color, gender or social class. It will be the reader's task whether or not to feel the pang of indignation or shame. Or recognize that annoying ringing in the ears: that of history repeating itself in all its cruelty in the XXI century... Major discovery.

9. Hellfire: the Jerry Lee Lewis story - Nick Tosches (Contra)
Way beyond the musical biography (as a matter of fact, just it’s alibi), ‘Fuego Eterno’ is pure literature, in big capital letters. Submerged in sulfur and looking face to face to the American myths, again, rooting us to the deep south… where 'The Killer' awaits. The story of Tosches naturally links together the facts and data about the musician with the literary miracle only the legends have, fabling about that brief impasse in the time in which the rock defied society, puritan and prudish, shaking its foundations, while they buried purely 'white' genres like big bands, ballads and swing. And Jerry Lee Lewis, along with Elvis and several 'secondary stars' like Johnny Cash or Carl Perkins, are the 'Riders of the Apocalypse', the adalides of a new world. Paladins with feet of clay and tremendous internal crossroads. Because Mephistopheles is a capricious and cruel master to serve… Unmissable.

8. Water music-  T.C.Boyle (Impedimenta)
This is not a novel, this is alchemy! How can you marry adventure and historic novel, epic, natural realism, darkest humour, scathing satire, baroque style... and create such an enjoyable literary artifact? Witchcraft it has to be! A sublime narrator, Boyle and his exuberant prose, full of impossible or arcane terms and, at the same time, truffled by vulgar expressions and colloquialisms, are capable of making us laugh and dazzle at the same time. He plays with the reader, 'entering and leaving' the 'historicist genre' to splash his story with obvious anachronisms, literary 'excursions' that undermine the structure of the novel where he wants to contextualize the time (with vitriol and caustic soda) and, in particular, English society. Summoning the spirits of Borges and García Márquez in pre-colonial England while visiting the unknown heart of the African continent. In short, a sumptuous feast of reading. Countless pleasures await those who enter this book, a phenomenal reading experience.

7. La rivière sans repos - Gabrielle Roy (Hoja de Lata)
Guided by the wisdom and the ever-flowing prose of Gabrielle Roy we are invited to witness the twilight of a civilization & a culture, the Inuit, practically unknown, distant, hidden, for us. It’s a fascinating and beautiful journey to a world of wild beauty, quietness, tremendous seasonal rigors and vital rhythms. A universe in dramatic opposition to the urban world, in a moment of transcendental transformation, dealing with the unstoppable advance of a modernity which calls into question their way of life. Combining the harshness of certain situations and the historical reality of the time (the Korean War, Vietnam) with a delicate narrative and a genuine humanity in portraying the characters in the midst of their contradictions, limitations and yearnings, Roy is able to tell us that the 'wheel will keep spinning'. That everything changes, everything happens ... but, at least, there will always be the river.

6. Novato en nota roja - Alberto Arce (Libros del K. O.)
Here comes Alberto Arce, a courageous and honest journalist living in a hell also known as Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras. A country that lives in an undeclared war for years, with areas with homicide rates that surpass conflict zones like Baghdad or Kabul. Arce, on an extraordinary task taking in consideration the extremely dangerous circumstances in which he carries out his job, analyzes splendidly and with meticulous details the magnitude of the tragedy of what can be called a ‘criminal state’, sunk by corruption and violence. And he does that without heroism, barely revealing his logical regrets, frustration and fear. Without giving up to investigate, make the needed 'awkward questions'. Going from the ‘quotidian deaths’ to the exposition of a miserable system in all their dimensions in which militaries, police, politics and press show all their abject vileness. ‘Novato en nota roja’ is especially frightening, but is also one of the best homages I have read in a very long time to this courteous but seriously endangered profession that is journalism.

5. A manual for cleaning women - Lucia Berlin (Alfaguara)
As Lydia Davis (another illustrious writer) points out with the stories of Lucia Berlin 'we never know very well what comes next. Nothing is predictable. And yet everything is extremely natural, plausible, true to our psychological and emotional expectations.' The balance between her sense of humor and the relentlessness of what she tells us is fascinating. The drama and the tragedy are well present: deaths, defeats, immense disappointments, terrifying decisions, devastating mistakes and missteps. But Berlin flees away from fatalism and always manages to convey to the reader that there is "one more chapter". Like the amazing Grace Paley, she also brings empathy, curiosity, eagerness to observe and to establish links between human beings. Both can inject you with an unexplained 'joy of living' while you read them. What a discovery.

4. Preparation for the next life - Atticus Lish (Sexto Piso)
The son of legendary editor Gordon Lish 'squares the circle' with (another impressive) debut novel, impeccably intertwining the coordinates and mythology of American literature, but managing to renew its focus and reach at the same time, dissecting with overwhelming precision the desolate, and very current, situation of illegal migration in the United States (valid to half of the world). An impossible love story in the midst of a catastrophe, a unique portray of a New York utterly devoid of glamor, suffocating and cruel. A place that tries to hide the roaring lament of the rotten and violent ghettos, where racism and violence are cultivated. An iconic location that crushes angry, exhausted, anguished and paranoid people, that tend to accuse the weakest to justify both the lack of hope and, above all, their own pettiness. And a memorable, gigantic literary creation named Zou Lei, indefatigable, unshakable despite extreme difficulties. Hope despite the times.

3. Glanbeigh - Colin Barrett (Sajalín) 
Another stunning collection of short stories penned by a mesmerizing, really young debuting author. Dark yet transparent. Raw and yet singularly poetic. Reading ‘Glanbeigh’ feels like getting knocked out by the unexpected social analysis behind singing, half funeral half sardonic, of ‘No Future’ by the Sex Pistols. Like absorbing Owen Jones’s works about the the humiliation of the working class by the real scum that presides the world. Like following the cameras of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, hard, dignified and honest, putting faces and places to the defeat. Forget the green, sumptuous meadows, vertiginous cliffs, epic seas enraged of dearest Ireland. No, ‘Glanbeigh’ is gray, leaden, sullen, depressing, oppressive... and perfectly recognizable. A dungeon for his young people, the desperate protagonists of these seven stories of heavyweight punch, but also an elegiac lyricism. A soul behind the gloomy realistic imprint.

2. Cutter and Bone - Newton Thornburg (Sajalín)
What happens when the Great American Dream shows its true face? What happens when reveals is all a big lie? American literature has been trying to answer that question for years, and now, thanks to the rescue of this unique ‘Cutter and Bone’, a thriller, a buddy novel and a road novel, we might have the answers. From Santa Barbara, California, to Rockhill, in the Ozarks, Missouri, always with the presence of the Vietnam‘s ghost, Thornburg’s work is a partial map of a country in demolition, placing at one end a Hollywood stripped off any glamor and, in the other, The American Gothic of Grant Wood's painting. A snowball of Nietzschean dimensions that ends up becoming ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ without casinos or a binge of hallucinogens. Kerouac’s ‘On the road’ without gasoline or romanticism. Because there’s only one destiny when everything has been lost.

1. Volt - Alan Heathcock (Dirty Works)
'The blues tells a story. Every verse of the blues has a meaning'. I think it was John Lee Hooker who said it. But, well, that's what Alan Heathcock does in the stories gathered in ‘Volt’. Tell you stories you can’t skip. That you can’t forget. Heartbreaking truths spitting out in what seems the simplest way, when in fact that’s the most complicated, demolishing, authentic and personal way. Stories that are painful and redemptive. That are honest, transparent, stoic, not infrequently distressing... and yet curative. A vehicle to transmit, exorcise and share the most buried feelings. Like the best literature. Like the best blues. Raw. Pure. Impressive and awe-inspiring. ‘Volt’ is a masterpiece of a debut, penned by an incredible, Robert Johnson caliber’s, bluesman turned writer.

Three honorable mentions I MUST ADD to the list before ending the post (I told you it has been a great year for short stories): the phenomenal blending of jazz, journalism and myth of “I thought I heard Buddy Bolden say”, included in 'Kill all your darlings' by Luc Sante (Libros del K.O.); the mind blowing 'Killing and dying' (Sapristi Comic), which is not only the title of Adrian Tomine's latest work, but probably the best short story read within the whole year; and, finally, the classy 'Joe Gould's secret' by Joseph Mitchell (Anagrama), an absorbing hybrid between journalism and fiction. Three masterpieces.

Want to check last year's books list? Click here
Or do you prefer checking 2014?
And 2013'? Then click here
And 2012's? Check here
Or 2011's? Click here

Best Books of (My) Year 2015

More lists. After concerts of the year, then EPs and Records, now it's time for books. Again, thanks to my duty at Indienauta and the support shown of many publishers and editors (always thankful), 2015 has been an incredible year of reads, one in which, I have to say, there has been a most welcomed bunch of exciting works dealing with social reality. Needless to say this list has been extremely challenging. Here are my top 10 reads in the last 365 days. Hope you like it!

10. Redeployment - Phil Klay (Random House)
Add Phil Klay to a short but pretty impressive list including Tim O’Brien’s ‘The thing they carried’. The short stories by Tobias Wolff. Norman Mailer and ‘The Naked and the death’. 'Company K' by William March. ‘Slaughterhouse-five’ by Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller’s ‘Catch-22’. ‘Paths of glory’ by Humphrey Cobb or Frederic Manning’s ‘The favours of fortune’. He’s right there among the “must-reads of war literature”. His collection of 12 stories on the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan shook you up completely, relentlessly, without flaws or any quarter for the reader. A parade of wounded, beaten (in every sense) guys, forever marked. A terrifying and despairing “fauna”, although Klay never sells the drama, writing in a dry, straightforward manner. Former soldiers exposed to death & destruction, but also to boredom, numb, “Playstation” young kids facing an undefined and goalless “normal life”. The terror awaiting on the desert roads. The terror awaiting back home.

9. Making nice- Matt Summell (Turner)
An extremely brilliant approach to real life thanks to an extraordinary main character, whose first-person narration results in one of the most astonishing and memorable literary voices this humble blogger has read in recent years. Alby, mainly an asshole, an immature, unstable adult with serious problems of rage control is also someone who has built himself an image of a bully —a teenager and, later on, adult version of Nelson Muntz— to hide his huge fragility, his paralysing fear of the future, of looking back to the painful past, panicking inside because he doesn’t know what to do with his life. Still trying to assimilate the death of his mother. Do not miss the unforgettable stories of this captivating brute named Alby.

8. When the game was ours - Jackie Mcmullan (Contra)
The best basketball always meant fantasy, surprise, illusion, EMOTION. And that’s exactly what this book offers. A trip back to the time when the spell was put and the years on which the STORY became LEGEND. Basketball lovers already know about the story –lazier readers have the worth watching documentary 'A Courtship of Rivals', based on the book– but doesn’t matter: it’s still glorious. And Jackie MacMullan, the veteran sports journalist is aware too, so she wisely opts for letting it flow, adding little more than the precise and flammable adjective stressing the perfect shooting night of the green 33 or the incredible repertoire of passes by the golden and purple 32. Besides, she has the two stars with her, sharing their view, reinforcing the arguments, adding some “colour” to the anecdotes and revealing the core of the book. Than Bird & Magic careers and myths, are inseparable, the same as human bound between both players. And with that, the golden age of NBA. A hundred smiles await the fan.

7. Vampires in the lemon grove - Karen Russell (Tusquets)
Reputation preceded Miami-born Karen Russell, praised as one of the more relevant younger writers in America, Pulitzer Prize finalist with her debut novel ‘Swamplandia’. And after enjoying this short collection of eight stories, she deserves all the credit. Each story is a fascinating outpouring of imagination, surprise and originality, with a disturbing halo of darkness and mystery —a couple of them flirting with terror—, and foremost, a strikingly powerful narrative ability.


6. The gospel singer - Harry Crews 
(Acuarela & Antonio Machado)
Crews debut is a breathtaking journey to the heart of the southern myth, transformed into a terrible nightmare. Welcome to the town of Enigma, origin and end of the route. The place that you want to escape, forget, deny. But you can’t. Except for the characters of Gerd and the Gospel Singer’s mother there aren’t any handles to where the reader can hold on this novel, there’s no one to empathize with or situations that give us a break. Only a pleiad of vile creatures, mean, ignorant devotees prone to the religious fanaticism, without hope or courage to build a future, accustomed to their lives in a sewer, waiting for a miracle. And as it doesn’t arrive, ready to convert in their last resort a young that thanks to a privileged voice made his fortune singing religious hymns around America. Without knowing that his deified singer, whom were conferred healing powers, has his feet as muddy as them. The reader doesn’t need many pages to know that the novel will end badly, but when the end comes, the blow equally leaves you breathless. Harrowing, crazy, sick, visceral ...

5. Fridays at Erico's - Don Carpenter 
(Sexto Piso) 
‘Friday at Enrico’s’ is more than just a novel about literature. It might be one of the NOVELS about literature. About writers, their books and their disastrous private lives. About artists struggling against the blank page while systematically succumb to the unique work of irreversible and binding end: its own existence. It’s also about the success, the failure, the artist independence, the ego. About the value of art, the discussion between high literature and their commercial nemesis?, and the role of the artist. About counterculture and literary generations. About bar and bistro tables, their endless discussions and recurrent drunkenness to hide mistakes, depression and vital emptiness. Written with something that I'm only able to define as melancholic wisdom, Carpenter's prose is sublime, like a scalpel in the hands of the best surgeon, pushing firmly, without delay nor artifice, revealing the human soul in a definitive dialogue, a final drink or a moment of doubt in front of the typewriter. For all who love literature and this happy and, hopefully, eternal anachronism called book, reading Carpenter is a gift. What are you waiting for?. I’m waiting you at Enrico's ...

4. Zeroville - Steve Erickson (Pálido Fuego) 
Structured as a series of short scenes, Steve Erickson builds a novel of prodigious rhythm that entertains you greatly thanks to, at the surface level, a freak protagonist getting into an industry that fascinates us, that we are used to glorify and admire. Anyone who name himself as a movie lover will enjoy the talks about cinema, where Vikar founds his meaning of life; discovering or speculating about the side characters with whom Vikar interacts, from Viking, a clear transcript of John Milius, to Robert De Niro about to become Travis Bickle; not to mention the directors whose Vikar’s fledgling career is connected to, like Otto Preminger or Vincent Minnelli, to the point of carving himself out a strange reputation as a gifted editor with an unusual talent: the ability of arming and disarming a story ... to mount a different one with the same material. Is in that rare gift for mounting where the striking backdrop of 'Zeroville' is revealed. While Vikar’s progresses within Hollywood, his poor head discovers something. In one frame. In all frames. Is not that the film explains life, or that is actually the only language Vikar’s understand. It’s much bigger than that. Cinema IS life. And his obsession vampirizes him. Who and why is filming and mounting our own film? Tremendous.

3. The Taqwacores - Michael Muhammed (Ginger Ape) 
The so-called foundational novel of Islamic punk, has a touch, or two, or three, or twenty, of madness, a healthy dose of irreverence, a ton of ideas about culture, society and, without any fear, religion. And if that wasn’t enough, it also has a lot of music. Literally speaking, ‘The Taqwacores’ is the squaring of the circle. How to fit the pieces of a puzzle where there’s plenty of diverse characters, with very different points of view, often extreme, about religion, the future, sex, and life? Knight has no qualms about expressing existential doubts of a bunch of young people, in discussing the human and the divine. But the novel doesn’t suffer. The author introduces hundreds of musical references, and these are interspersed in an astonishingly natural way between comments about Imams, precepts of Sufism, Suras or interpretations of the Koran. Does it sound confusing? Of course it is. That's exactly what Knight wants to show. The confusion of young people in their students home’ microcosm, an Islamic version of the 'Ship of Fools', in their collective chaos of concerns, frustrations, tensions and blames. It couldn’t be more painfully believable. And fascinating. And explosive.

2. Exodus - DJ Stalingrad (Automática) 
Exodus is a terrifying look at the Russia of the new millennium. A corrupt country, desolate, sick to the core. A place where violence seems a valid response for the a collective of young people for which life seems to have no significance. A scenario of war between neo-Nazis and left-wing groups, young people going from town to town in search of the next battle. Music and/or politics are there, but after getting into these pages, one needs very little to realise that both factors are really excuses. Fight, destroy, attack, defend ... because there is much more to do and, above all, nothing to lose. Stalingrad gets beyond the circumstantial, episodic narrative, to draw a devastating analysis of current Russia, crimping history with social commentary and giving us innumerable fragments to remember along the way. Comparable to facing Anthony Burgess’ 'The Clockwork Orange' for the first time, Stalingrad pushes you, unceremoniously, to a rugged, virulent universe. But unlike the iconic work of the British writer, Stalingrad is not talking about a dystopian future, but a terrifying reality, with the face of Vladimir Putin in the background. Unsettling, disturbing, revealing and uncompromising.

1. Waiting for nothing - Tom Kromer (Sajalín)
'Waiting for nothing' is, in my opinion, one of the best books Sajalín has calved, which is a lot to say considering the great moments this publishing house has given to us. A cohesive series of episodes that can also be read as a collection of short stories, a creepy piece of life in the gutter transferred to paper. That terrifying existence that in sociology is defined as social exclusion. The sort of life that, 80 years after Kromer wrote these lines in the middle of the Great Depression, still means nothing to “our morons” dressed in suits and ties in Madrid, Brussels and Washington DC while they speak of PIBs, VAT cuts or tax increases. The number of heartbreaking moments in just 200 pages is overwhelming. Food whose ingredients you’d rather not know. Desperate prostitution. Harassment and humiliation at the hands of those who supposedly should be looking after our security and the law enforcement. Prisons that further degrade the person but at least they provide temporary shelter, and ungrateful seedy lounge chairs that resemble prisons. Desperate feelings of committing suicide or having a violent burst of madness but being incapable to do anything. Frustrated picaresque frustrated. Flirtations with death in trains to nowhere. With just a couple of chapters where Kromer allows some light let in in the form of some emotional interaction with other human beings, 'Waiting for Nothing' might be one of the most poignants and hyperrealistic attempts literature has given us in portraying the living death.

I do HAVE to recommend another book that I just finished and it's an absolutely MUST, but due to time constraints I couldn't add to the list. I'm referring to '33 revolutions per minute' by Dorian Lynskey, published in Spain by Malpaso. An incredibly absorbing and in-depth work about protest songs, from 1940s to today. One of the most impressive works the so-called music books have given us: history, social conflicts transformations and its music.  Essential.

Want to check last year's books list? Click here
Or do you prefer checking 2013?
And 2012'? Then click here
or  2011's? Check here

Best Books of (My) Year 2014

After Saturday's concerts of the year and Tuesdays' EPs of 2014 now it's turn for books. I've always been a bookworm, a compulsive reader. But due to my position at Indienauta and the support shown by many publishers and editors (many many thanks), 2014 has been the year I read the most in my life, so this list has been extremely challenging. Here are my top 10 reads. Hope you like it!

10. The Lowlife- Aleksander Baron 
(La Bestia Equilátera)
We all cheat to ourselves. That's what rediscovered writer Aleksander Baron is telling us in this short but extremely effective novel. In-depth explorer of the human mind, Baron exposes the constant clash between the "life that could be if" and the cruel reality. Miseries and ambivalence floating back and forth, waiting for the moment (or the person) that could change everything, or it is just an excuse to keep waiting? Built around the unique relationship between Harryboas and little Gregory, a silent kid with troubled parents, here's a fascinating character, a gambler that found the trigger to give a 360 change to its existence ... Or is it just another hoax? The threatening spiral awaits...

9. Paths of Glory- Humphrey Cobb

(Capitán Swing)

The inherent heroism of war, even in movies & books that are openly anti-war is frequent. But that's not the case of 'Paths of Glory', that goes straight to the jugular to show not only how absurd any conflict is, but to reveal how abominable is the military institution. The failed assault against the 181st Regiment of the French army against a unapproachable German position exceeds the account of the specific military feat. It's the terrible exposition of disgusted, fearful, exhausted, desperate soldiers leaded by petty, vile, bordering on madness officials, thanks to a system that gives them absolute power to decide on the lives of their troops, thanks to a justice that is just a pantomime. A machinery designed to obliterate any trace of thought, rationality and autonomy. An atrocity exhibition. Should be read at schools.

8. Sister of the Road: The Autobiography of Boxcar Bertha-
Ben Reitman (Pepitas de Calabaza)
What a discovery. Let me tell you about "Hobohemia", the parallel universe of the hobos. One that, for a time in the history of the States, was very real. Migrant workers, homeless, revolutionaries, but above all a counterculture movement as unique, authentic and powerful as to challenge the established society. The incredible adventures of the hobo "Boxcar" Bertha Thompson are not just a shock, but also a serious, resounding slap for those who worship Kerouac and 'On the Road', because where the Beatniks crossed the country to deal with their confusion, longing and rebellious young spirit, the hobos journey was an ambitious way to transform social reality.

7. Death Row Breakout and Other Stories-
Edward Bunker (Sajalín)
Edward Bunker. Short stories. Unpublished. Four words that in a normal world, one that really loves literature, should mean celebration, excitement and immediate purchase. 'Death Row Breakout' is a superb collection of six stories -only six, dammit-, with little surprises, but who wants them when we are talking about Bunker? His criminal and prison universe, precise prose with not a second for anything superfluous, hyper-realistic dialogues, complete control of the pace and tempo of the stories... An unparalleled strength that grabs the reader without remission, leaving you breathless. Half of this brief anthology is just extraordinary, easily ranking among his best.

6. Shotgun Lovesongs- Nickolas Butler
(Libros del Asteroide)
The best folk songs are stories about real people, dealing with real, recognisable situations or moments, and pouring down their emotions, sharing their feelings with the world, connecting with the sensible listener. That's exactly what you'll find within 'Shotgun Lovesongs'. We are not facing the literary equivalent of an empty season hype boosted by hipster media like Pitchfork. No, although Bon Iver (no spoiling) wouldn't be my choice, this book traps your without artifices, engages you without additives, telling the most universal of stories. Loving, growing, learning. With intensity and truth as unique weapons. And wins with a performance full of emotion.

5. Skagboys- Irvine Welsh (Anagrama)
Welsh's most ambitious work to date, this titanic choral novel is full of his trademark narrative pulse, but also offering several literary registers (Renton's diaries are brilliant). Energetic, lewd, sardonic as usual, 'Skagboys' is also reflective, even poetic. Renton & Scott Fitzgerald? Fascinatingly enough, the answer is yes. I knew Welsh could be brutal. But his dynamite used to stay on the surface, in the form of black (very black) humour or high voltage stories that were immediately enjoyed. Now I know that he can be severely grim, but with a depth charge too, one which leaves no stone cold and endure over time. Irvine Welsh has not "killed" our heroes. He has settled them down to Earth and, by delving into their past, they have become more miserable, but also more complex and complete characters, showing that behind the stupid junkie smile there's only emptiness and frustration. So hell was this ...

4. Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line- 
Ben Hamper (Capitán Swing)
Within the machine of General Motors, Hamper traces a nightmarish account of stories that have the bright virtue of making the reader laugh, with amazing and crazy moments such as the giant "Quality Cat" or the "Rivet Hockey" while, at the same time, he is showing us the madness-inducing bowels of the multinational beast. In that particular world (almost a prison where inmates are wandering), weary workers buried by noise pass through, about to explode but fearful of losing their privileges or their checks​, fully alienated not just in its endless shifts, but also outside them. Forever. Every day a defeat. Is that the American dream? Worse. This is the slow, agonizing death by the deadliest of diseases: capitalism. More than highly recommended. Funny. Stimulant. Necessary.

3. Fresh Fields- Peter Kocan (Sajalín)
Bloodcurdling journey towards madness. Written with stark reality and zero affectation, the Australian author Peter Kocan translates his terrible real life into paper and achieves a narrative miracle. He brilliantly reflects all the quiet pain and the staggered desolation an abandoned teenager has to deal with. A fragile tramp that builds up a delusional fiction to keep surviving, to add another day while he experiences how cold this place called Earth can be. A book with pages that weight a ton. The weight of the world into the shoulders of someone who shouldn't carry all that baggage.

2. The Revolt of the Cockroach People- 
Óscar Zeta Acosta (Acuarela)
Could have been called 'Fear, Loathing and Race in L.A.' Fiction within real facts that are history (poignant history) of the United States. Facts in which Zeta had a starring role, making him the speaker, delirious and irreverent, an impossible hero, of the Mexican-American people fighting for their rights in California. A theory of chaos entering Bear State Courts, an explosive cocktail about late 60s-early 70s, a moment where everything seemed ready to be blown away. Politics, violence, drugs, revolution, counterculture, and a good, hilariously demented laugh at the face of the vile and racist power, the rotten American Dream. Gonzo goes Mexican.

1. The Class of 49'- Don Carpenter (Gallo Nero)
No heroics (as the great Carver would say) please, no flounces. Don Carpenter masterfully dissected his generation in this little gem, full of disarming clarity and naturalness of style. If there's cruelty, he is brutal. If there's sadness, he is appalling. It's so mind blowing to read so much about the ephemeral nature of existence written in chapters sometimes shorter than just a page. It's all here. The vacuum of memories. The merciless that humans can be, especially being part of a group. The fear of the future. Fate is just around the corner and finding meaning in life is not easy. At all. Carpenter asks: growing up means losing innocence? But as only the greatest writers do, he leaves it open to our interpretation. 'The Class of 49' is the toughest lesson. But it is a mandatory one if you want to pass the complicated course that is life.

Want to check last year's books list? Click here
Or do you prefer checking 2012? Then click here
And 2011's? Check here

"Dog Eat Dog", crime and mayhem

Dog Eat Dog- Edward Bunker 

Second consecutive book on the criminal world, again rescued by Sajalín, an editorial that is really shaping and showing a very personal voice while it gives the opportunity to discover new (for us) and vibrant authors. Like the case of Malcolm Braly's with "On the Yard", here's a writer that really knew what he was written about. He was there (ex-convict), did that, suffered its consequences... but survived the mayhem.

Because aside an absorbing depiction of the main characters, in particular the complex and tortured Troy Cameron, the chaos and mayhem associated to this underground, outside crime life are the real highlights of "Dog Eat Dog". Bunker disarms the reader thanks to a simplicity and word economy that balances so well with a bleak voice. Don't expect a harsh novel, but also don't look for a book too keen on their characters. Bunker portrays the impossible last crime of this impossible outlaw trio and their accolades with a resonant verisimilitude. Everything reads true. Not just the jargon, but the sense of being incapable of  become part of society, the feeling that violence can appear at any time (Mad Dog McCain is another character brilliantly built in this sense), and that criminals can't have a live  they control. While reading, I couldn't help myself but think on several 70s movies. Then making a bit of research on Bunker's life, I realised his novels were transformed into films like "Straight Time" (with an enormous performance from Dustin Hoffman) or "Animal Factory". Both films, like "Dog Eat Dog" are brave to show an odd, disconnected human nature: the one that's forged in prisons.

Unfortunately, "Dog Eat Dog" doesn't have the most intriguing of plots, and despite being unquestionably addictive, with some dark and poignant passages described with a genuine and urgent narrative pulse, there are moments where the book decays. Like on a Tarantino film (Bunker was Mr.Blue in the overrated "Reservoir Dogs"), it is so full of speeches and dialogues that focus gets eventually displaced, so when the resolution arrives, some of the punch, some of the strength has been lost. A bit of shame really, because otherwise "Dog Eat Dog" would have been an absolute must. Nevertheless, a noteworthy author that I'm happy to have discovered.

SCORE: 6,25/10

"On the Yard", every prison's blues

On the Yard- Malcolm Braly

Spanish literature lovers: we should all celebrate the existence of this refreshing and flourishing small editorials like Libros del Asteroide, Blackie Books, Libros del Silencio or Sajalín, to name a few, who are giving us the chance of discovering modern and classic authors that were neglected by the majors, who prefer to keep with their regular publishing of all kinds of rubbish instead.

This time Sajalín bring us a major American novel, praised by totems like Kurt Vonnegut as "surely the great American prison novel". Originally published in 1967 and recently back in print (with the inclusion of an epilogue by the mesmerizing author Jonathan Lethem), "On the Yard" is a unique take, surprisingly penetrating and deep on psychology, of the penitentiary world. A microcosm of their own.

Author Malcolm Braly knew what he was writing about. He spent more than twenty years in prison, and wrote the book while spending his days in San Quentin. That personal experience explains his ability to go further that usual in this quite familiar ground. Books and cinema of the life in jail abound, but very very few with that level of insight on the prison's dynamics and foremost, on the minds of the prisoners. Linked with that comes my only real concern on the book: the omniscient narrator has no limits to write how each prisoner or worker feels, but the voice that tells the stories is frequently much more cultivated, miles away, than his characters. To me, in such a realist piece of work, it seems a considerable flaw.

Anyway, let's continue with its many virtues. We are used to prison tales about heroes and villains, violence and redemption. "On the Yard" shift the focus to complex human beings who have/try to carry on with their ordinary lives inside the walls of the prison. Its a place of desperation, depression and survival. Braly's prose is masterful in recreating a vibe, an atmosphere, even a rhythm in what refers to the prisoner's dialogues. The reader could say there are moments where he/she feels part of it. Thanks that's not the case.

The whole picture of the prison is a very discouraging one. There's a lot of fear inside, and violence seems the only resource it can be used to confront it. The structure of the book intertwines the stories of a dozen of prisoners all around Chilly Willy, unarguably the self-proclaimed "boss", the head of the prison, responsible black market and corruption that seems to give him and his core virtual immunity. But we soon realise that's not the real centerpiece of "On the Yard". Braly uses ambivalence and distance, even some peculiar irony, a humour that is part of the exclusive logic of the prison to reduce the dose of desolation, despair and traumatised minds that conform the real truth of the small universe. It's raw, but there are occasional moments of tenderness. It's crude, but you can laugh. It has its own rules and logic. And Malcolm Braly is capable of showing everything all to us.

SCORE: 7/10