Nicholas Notes

  I’ve enjoyed reading this book much more than anticipated. At first, I was slown down by the wordiness, but after a few pages very much appreciated the many analogies, extensive imagery, and eccentricity of the writing. I love the feeling that the way the memoir writes is as if it will be rewritten for some theatre performance, recounting every bit of anticipation, climax, and resolution of so many otherwise forgettable moments. This amount of “playfulness” included helped me understand why a theme of “voyeurism” was brought up in the preface. Not only did the editor spy on Mama Blanca when they first met, but became the one to expose her “secrets” (as the writing was unintended for us) by publishing the work. Learning this, I did not expect to be entertained by as much storytelling as was included here.  … Although it may be more of a shot in the dark to imagine anything about a mother-daughter relationship than what is read in the book (as it doesn't exist in my close fam...