Childish Literature

De: Alejandro Zambra, Megan McDowell - translator

Narrado por: Ben Balmaceda

“Hopeful, funny, and full of wisdom. A meditation on fatherhood by one of our most perceptive writers.” —Tara Westover, author of Educated

From the author of My Documents and Chilean Poet, a wise, humorous, and captivating literary exploration of the delights and absurdities of childhood, fatherhood, and family life

Childish Literature is a charming and wide-ranging collection of short stories, essays, and even a couple of poems produced under the influence of fatherhood, a transformative experience that reshapes and enlivens the author's relationship to aging, intimacy, and time. Written in Alejandro Zambra’s brilliantly warm, playful, and philosophical voice, these pieces explore the lives of families and their stories through a wide variety of topics—from screen time and "soccer sadness" to personal libraries, fishing, and psychedelics. Throughout, Zambra captures the texture of daily life and deep truths about how we feel and live, with particular insight into the ways parents and children challenge, enrich, and entertain each other.

Simultaneously lighthearted and profound, and brilliantly rendered by National Book Award-winning translator Megan McDowell, Childish Literature is an intimate and unclassifiable new work by an internationally celebrated writer.

©2024 Alejandro Zambra (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

Praise for Childish Literature:

“[Childish Literature is] an expansive, relaxed meander through fatherhood, a 360-degree tour . . . It represents fatherhood as an emotional and intellectual relationship not just to a child but also to childhood, with all of the growth and exploration and confusion that entails . . . It defies not only conventions of literary masculinity but also an entrenched, persistent vision of fatherhood as part of a man’s private rather than public life. Zambra represents fatherhood as a form of participation in society.” —The Atlantic

“The author invites readers into the tender, chaotic and often hilarious world of fatherhood in this collection of essays and poems. With playfulness and sharp insight, he turns everyday moments into something unforgettable, blending wit and heart in every page.” —Los Angeles Times, De Los Reads

“These warm and caring pieces depict [Zambra's] meditations on time and mortality and tenderness, and allow the reader to witness the richness of ordinary life, the treasures found therein.” —Lit Hub

“The bouncy castle to the hard park bench of so many motherhood memoirs. . . [Zambra] is funny, filling his various experiments with deadpan jokes and self-deprecation and scenes that play up the still lowered expectations of a father with a young child.” —The New Republic

Fantastic!

Ben did an outstanding job of bringing these interesting stories to life! The pacing and dictation is exceptional! Highly recommend!