{"id":159,"date":"2026-05-22T13:16:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:16:38","slug":"marie-arana-and-writing-between-reality-and-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159","title":{"rendered":"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
You\u2019re reading Book Currents, a weekly column in which notable figures share what they\u2019re reading. Sign up for the Goings On newsletter<\/strong> to receive their selections, and other cultural recommendations, in your inbox.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Peruvian American writer Marie Arana has authored a wide range of books: \u201cAmerican Chica,\u201d a memoir about straddling cultures; \u201cLima Nights,\u201d a novel about an extramarital affair; \u201cBol\u00edvar,\u201d a biography of the soldier and statesman Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar; and \u201cLatinoLand,\u201d her celebrated study of Hispanic America. Her latest project, a novel, represents a return to fiction after writing three hefty works of nonfiction. Although it\u2019s based in part on reality, the book is also, of course, an invention. Not long ago, she talked to us about a few of the works she has turned to while in the process of stitching reality into fiction. Her remarks have been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n

Read more Dean\u2019s Is Not Your Average Pub<\/a><\/p>\n

The Time of the Hero<\/h2>\n

by Mario Vargas Llosa<\/em><\/p>\n

When I got to Chapter 4 of my new book, I put my pen down and started to think about what I\u2019m doing\u2014what the actual, white-hot center of it is. For inspiration, I went back to Mario Vargas Llosa. Up until he died, last year, he was a very good friend of mine\u2014we went to the opera together, we went to movies together, we had dinner together. I got to interview him on several stages. So one thing I went back to read was his Nobel Prize speech, where he talks about the idea of a daydream that eventually germinates into a book.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Then I went back and reread his first novel. It\u2019s funny\u2014in English, it\u2019s called \u201cThe Time of the Hero,\u201d but in Spanish it\u2019s called \u201cLa Ciudad y Los Perros,\u201d or \u201cThe City and the Dogs,\u201d which is so much more vivid, and has nothing to do with the English title. To collapse the story line a little bit, the novel is about a character who, like Vargas Llosa himself, grows up thinking that his father has died. But when he gets a little older, he learns that his father is actually alive\u2014his mother lied because divorce was such a horrible thing in Peru. Then his mother and father decide to reunite. After this, the boy and his mother move to Lima, where the father sends him to a military academy, in an attempt to beat the wimpy artist out of him. It\u2019s a vicious place of violence and bullying and sexual abuse, where young men learn to be autocratic. One character\u2019s escape is ghostwriting love letters and pornographic stories to entertain his classmates. It\u2019s been such an inspiration to me, to see the way that the writer suspends himself between those two worlds, and how writing becomes his salvation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Seven Empty Houses<\/h2>\n

by Samanta Schweblin<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a book that really confuses the place where reality and imagination meet. I am crazy about Schweblin. She\u2019s an Argentinean living in Berlin, and she creates these incredible, ferocious, twisted stories about unstable minds, or minds that are quickly becoming unstable. There\u2019s this kind of weird, perverse energy that she puts into her writing that I love.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s written so much\u2014her most famous work is probably \u201cFever Dream,\u201d which is a novel. But I really think of her as a master of the short story. She\u2019s written a bunch of collections: \u201cMouthful of Birds,\u201d \u201cGood and Evil.\u201d But this is the one I love best.<\/p>\n

Read more Summer Culture Preview<\/a><\/p>\n

These are creepy stories, but for me, when I finish each one, I\u2019m totally agog, because I realize that the creepiness is in my mind, as a reader. She does this to you. It\u2019s kind of a magical thing. I reread these stories to get the flavor of her ability to manipulate a reader\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

Now I Surrender<\/h2>\n

by \u00c1lvaro Enrigue<\/em><\/p>\n

Enrigue, who is Mexican, is another favorite writer of mine. His writing is just so original and funny. For example, a previous book of his, \u201cYou Dreamed of Empires,\u201d is about the conquest of Mexico, told from the point of view of Moctezuma while he is high on mushrooms. You\u2019re careering down the halls of the city of Tenochtitlan, and you\u2019re encountering the horrible smell of these conquistadores\u2014it\u2019s just absolutely hilarious. But at the same time it\u2019s dead serious\u2014so many of his books are about the culture shock of conquest, and what is in many ways the end of culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I Surrender\u201d was actually published in Spanish in 2018, but it only just came out in English. It\u2019s about a group of Mexican military guys who try to rescue a woman who has been kidnapped by the Apache. At the time in which the book is set, Geronimo was the head of the Apache, so he\u2019s a big figure in the book. But Enrigue also interweaves a contemporary story line about a cross-country road trip that he takes with his wife and kids, during which he\u2019s trying to chase down the story of the Apache, and also fighting with his wife.<\/p>\n

Some reviewers have called the book hallucinatory, but I think of it more as liminal, with Enrigue living between worlds\u2014the worlds of the past and the present, but also of the real and the imagined. He\u2019s trying to capture a real story from history, while his marriage is falling apart on the road. And, all the way through, he has no problem going back and forth between fiction and reality.\u00a0\u2666<\/p>\n

Read more \u201cI Love Boosters,\u201d Reviewed: A Socialist-Surrealist Shoplifting Fantasy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u201cLatinoLand\u201d author discusses a few of the books that she has turned to while working on her new novel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-currents"],"yoast_head":"\nMarie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination - City Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination - City Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The \u201cLatinoLand\u201d author discusses a few of the books that she has turned to while working on her new novel.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T13:16:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4\"},\"headline\":\"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T13:16:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159\"},\"wordCount\":967,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Book Currents\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159\",\"name\":\"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination - City Relocation News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T13:16:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=159#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"City Relocation News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination - City Relocation News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination - City Relocation News","og_description":"The \u201cLatinoLand\u201d author discusses a few of the books that she has turned to while working on her new novel.","og_url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159","og_site_name":"City Relocation News","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T13:16:38+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4"},"headline":"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination","datePublished":"2026-05-22T13:16:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159"},"wordCount":967,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp","articleSection":["Book Currents"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159","url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159","name":"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination - City Relocation News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-22T13:16:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/90f88e5fa0109bc6fb4a1423b3e6233d.webp","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=159#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Marie Arana and Writing Between Reality and Imagination"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/","name":"City Relocation News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}