Two South of the Border Ex-pats

Two South American ex-pats published books in 2012 in the U.S. that deal with identity and the nature of fiction.

Eduardo Halfan's The Polish Boxer is a blend of fiction, memoir, past & present. Halfan was born in Guatemala, moved at 10 with his family to the US, studied industrial engineering & then spent seven years teaching literature in Guatemala. He now lives in Nebraska. As The Polish Boxer opens, the narrator, a Guatemalan writer names Eduardo Halfan, is ferreting out his roots through his grandfather, an Auschwitz survivor. In loosely related chapters, the story then focuses on Halfan's obsession with a classical pianist, Milan Radik, who is half-Serbian, half-gypsy and therefore accepted by neither. As Halfon tracks him, the pianist tries to delve into gypsy music, but he meets a lot of resistence because he's essentially a "Muggle", half-breed. They are both searching for who they are and who they might become. The book really comes alive in the Radik chapters, with some wonderful insights into music, performance, & the varieties of musical experience.

Alberto Manguel's All Men are Liars looks at identity through the prism of other people's perceptions. Manguel  was born in Argentina and spent his childhood in Isreal when his father was ambassador. As a teen back in Argentina, he read to the nearly blind Borges, which must have been quite an experience. As an adult he had been a globe trotter, living in London, Paris, Toronto, becoming a Canadian citizen. He settled in France, where he renovated a medieval presbytery, including a library for his 30,000 books -- I like this guy! Liars is narrated by several people who relate to a journalist their impressions & experiences of a writer who recently fell to his death in unusual circumstances. I don't enjoy the multiple viewpoint structure, but that's a matter of taste. Part of the point is how different these perceptions & memories can be. However, to me in some way they were not that different.  Over the course of these observations, written in the form of letters, many plot twists are slowly revealed as the story travels between Argentina and Spain. In the final chapter, the journalist speaks about this project, & essentially guides the reader to how to think about this stew of memory, identity, fiction. I think it would have been a better book without this chapter. Most of the characters are writers, poets, editors. So, the other thread of this identity tapestry is writing & fiction. If you love to read, it can be a rich mix.