Prose theory

NON FICTION. ETERNA CADENCIA, 2019. 216 PAGES.

When in 2016, the Ricardo Piglia Archive was sent to Princeton University, it was found to contain recordings of the seminar on the short novels of Juan Carlos Onetti that he gave at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 1995. Piglia requested that they be transcribed and spent the last few months of his life revising this unpublished material, which is gathered for the first time in Prose Theory. The nine classes addressed a wide array of themes, making for an inviting, almost irresistible read. The following is taken from the author’s introduction to the seminar: “We shall analyze the relationship between secrecy and narrative by examining a selection of texts by Onetti and then discuss the themes that arise in relation to the novella.”

The perspicacious gaze and direct arguments of Ricardo Piglia, one of the leading figures of modern Latin American literature, coupled with the clarity and relaxed tone of these oral classes make this an essential volume. 

The unpublished book by Ricardo Piglia, El País