Ed Note: Melissa started this series on<\/i> El Pais‘s book of the week as a way of providing a perspective on what books are currently being featured in other countries. Pretty interesting that the first week features Enrique Vila-Matas—one of my favorite contemporary Spanish authors. -CWP<\/i><\/p>\n
Each week, El Pa\u00eds<\/i> features \u201cel libro de la semana,\u201d or the \u201cbook of the week.\u201d This week, Enrique Vila-Matas writes about his interest in Brendan Behan, an Irish author who died at age 41 in 1964. Although Vila-Matas has long fostered a curiosity for the self-described \u201calcoh\u00f3lico con problemas de escritura,\u201d or \u201calcoholic with writing problems,\u201d he only recently picked up one of his books. Vila-Matas writes that Mi Nueva York<\/i>—originally published under the title Brendan Behan\u2019s New York<\/i>—is at the same time Joycean and elegaic, as it celebrates the city\u2019s various locations, sensations, and population. Vila-Matas writes:<\/p>\n Ingenioso mon\u00f3logo, el libro de Brendan Behan es un soliloquio tan emotivo como humor\u00edstico sobre la ciudad de Nueva York, a la que el autor consideraba el lugar m\u00e1s fascinante del mundo. Nada pod\u00eda compararse a esa el\u00e9ctrica ciudad, el centro del universo.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n An ingenious monologue, Brendan Behan\u2019s novel is a soliloquy as emotive as it is humorous about the city of New York, which the author considered the most fascinating place in the world. Nothing could compare to this electric city, the center of the universe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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