Dec 27

Dec 27 Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders

About the book

Author: Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
Publisher: Tiny Reparations Books

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

This burst onto my radar seemingly out of nowhere around the time of its publication, and then it was longlisted for the National Book Award for nonfiction. As a lover of all things fantasy and magical realism, obviously I had to pick it up. And the hype is so justified.

There’s a little something for everyone here — this is cultural criticism combined with memoir, and Villarreal loves not only magic but also music. And of the best essays is on Game of Thrones (considering it through the lenses of border walls and migration), which of course has mass appeal. The chapters on music didn’t hold my attention as well as the others, although that makes sense as I’m not a big music junkie.

But above all, this collection is SO SMART. I loved every single connection Villarreal drew, almost none of which had occurred to me before reading this book. The way she considers pop culture, colonialsm, and consumerism is just plain excellent.

I would like more books like this, where people take pop culture seriously by considering it to be culture (which it is), worthy of criticism. Thank you!