¡Milagro! Un retrato de Violeta Quevedo

• The author, beyond the amusing anecdotes and the legend that surrounded Violeta Quevedo during her lifetime, rescues her writings above all for what they offer as a testimony to the social shifts that took place in Chile in the twentieth century, when wealth, prestige, and power moved from the countryside to industry, while old aristocratic fortunes were crumbling to pieces.

• I was very pleased with the appearance of this one in particular, because two "eccentrics" of our literature come together: Violeta Quevedo (her real name was Rita Salas Subercaseaux) and Gonzalo Maier, a storyteller with an enormous sense of humor, yet at the same time with tremendous respect for his biographical subject, a writer very difficult to approach given the legend of being extravagant, surreal, and aristocratic that precedes her.

• Maier manages to craft a charming text about a charming author without imitating her (it would be very difficult, almost impossible, to do so). The author manages, nonetheless, to disguise a literary essay free from any trace of academic jargon (except for the phrase "production system") under an unclassifiable formula that blends biographical vignette with literary and sociological reflection, entirely devoid of solemnity.

• Maier does a great job, breaking down Quevedo's work and allowing the reader to experience the charm of an author they haven't read. His book also allows one to delve a little into the myth, transcending those Rita Salas anecdotes that are told everywhere (including in this review).

• A very pleasant read by Maier that, with ease and fluidity, constructs the figure of Quevedo in its various dimensions: her history, her travels, her texts, her finances, her place—at times lost—in the world (both real and literary). I don't know if I'll be inspired to seek out the original texts, but Quevedo's figure is undoubtedly an open door to reflect on the value of a naive gaze, and how important that is for navigating a reality that never stops changing.

1 / 5