En estas paginas autobiograficas, Pitol deja entrever la intensa relacion que ha vivido con su escritura, el descubrimiento de una forma, su ars poetica, la creacion que oscila entre la aventura y el orden, el instinto y la matematica. Su relacion con la literatura ha sido visceral, excesiva y aun salvaje: "Uno, me aventuro a decir, es los libros que ha leido, la pintura que ha conocido, la musica escuchada y olvidada, las calles recorridas. Uno es su ninez, unos cuantos amigos, algunos amores, bastantes fastidios. Uno es una suma mermada por infinitas restas."

This is a mixed bag--literary criticism, personal anecdotes, travel stories, and passages on his own writing processes. He talks about Chekhov, there are essays on Evelyn Waugh and Henry James, and many others--international in scope.I really liked the material on writing short stories.

"On When Enrique Conquered Ashgabat and How He Lost It" (p.204-230) is a very funny episode that took place when Pitol and Enrique Vila-Matis managed to get together in Turkmenistan. It involved crashing a wedding party, a crazy opera singer and his crazier wife, embarrassed interpreters, and Vila-Matis being rushed out of the country.

This is the final volume of "Trilogía de la memoria/Trilogy of Memory" The first two are "The Art Of Flight" and "The Journey." The trilogy does not have to be read in order. ( )