The Surprising New Life of Magical Realism

“Rogers argues that the marvelous is still integral to the region’s twenty-first-century fiction, particularly in light of postnatural disasters. Providing remarkable new readings of twentieth-century canonical authors—such as García Márquez, Carpentier, Ferré, and Cabrera—and weaving them together with twenty-first-century literature by Fernanda Melchor, Carlos Fonseca, Samanta Schweblin, and Rita Indiana, Rogers highlights magical realism’s transformation with lingering consequences for thinking about both literature and the environment.”

-- Christina Gerhardt, Clark University

“In this lucid, lively, and nuanced book, Rogers argues persuasively that magical realism has re-emerged as a prominent literary mode to engage with current environmental crises. As Rogers sheds light on a continuous tradition in Latin American literature of nonrealist engagement with the real crises, she also contributes significantly to long-standing debates about the merits of realist environmental writing. An awe-inspiring read for anyone interested in recent environmental writing in any language or region.”

-- Ursula K. Heise, University of California, Los Angeles

“A brilliant work of literary analysis. Rogers shows how magic realism, in resurgent form, animates contemporary eco-fiction, making the awful awe-ful and imagining from beyond the human. At the same time, she recovers the ambitious eco-critical energies of the original Boom, there like an awe-ful song that, fifty years ago, we weren’t yet able to hear. An inspiring, generative book.”

-- Mary Louise Pratt, New York Univer