Humberto Costantini (1924–1987)

There are so many amazing Latin American writers. There are so many amazing Latin American political satires. How have these people survived all the dictatorships? All the US brutal interference in their countries? It's practically miraculous. Maybe that's one explanation for Magical Realism: you'd have to feel like miracles were happening if you were a critical intellectual surviving the Argentinian dictatorships of the 1970s. This particular author survived by being exiled to Mexico. The novel is about a poetry club whose members are all marked for death by a death squad.… (meer)

The knowledge that human cruelty conjured by poisonous political passions provides the inspiration for some of our finest literature is cause for both mourning and rejoicing. Add Constantini’s The Gods, the Little Guys, and the Police to the list of superior works (The Lizard’s Tail, Diary of the War of the Pig, Artificial Respiration, etc) inspired by Argentina’s Dirty War.

What we have here is an emotionally rich, suspenseful, sad but hopeful tale of poetry and furtive affection menaced by irrational suspicions. The advantage that armed ideology has over simple human kindness and creativity seems overwhelming until the ancient gods—jealous, vindictive, petty—intervene. In the end, this is a tale that impressively transcends the context of its own creation.… (meer)