Valeria Luiselli

Bon vivant, world traveler, auctioneer--the story of Highway and his teeth is like Johnny Cash meets Robert Walser in Mexico.

The Story of My Teeth

Sandaru Ravihari

My first read for the August for the women in translation month. A but weird but mostly funny and easy to read. The book is separated into a several forms of geometric properties such as The Hyperbolics,The parabolics, The circulars...etc. which I know sound too mathematical for a book but it all makes sense in terms of the human nature of the protagonist. Like the hyperbole he exaggerates his talks and create stories to auction his collectables. He considers himself the word's best auctioneer because he can sell anything including his teeth. His ability is storytelling. It was a fun read. Highly enjoyable!

Gustavo 'Highway' Snchez is a man with a mission: he is planning to replace every last one of his unsightly teeth. He has a few skills that might help him on his way: he can imitate Janis Joplin after two rums, he can interpret Chinese fortune cookies, he can stand an egg upright on a table, and he can float on his back. And, of course, he is the world's best auction caller - although other people might not realise this, because he is, by nature, very discreet. Studying auctioneering under Grandmaster Oklahoma and the famous country singer Leroy Van Dyke, Highway travels the world, amassing his collection of 'Collectibles' and perfecting his own specialty: the allegoric auction. In his quest for a perfect set of pearly whites, he finds unusual ways to raise the funds, culminating in the sale of the jewels of his collection: the teeth of the 'notorious infamous' - Plato, Petrarch, Chesterton, Virginia Woolf et al. Written with elegance, wit and exhilarating boldness, Valeria Luiselli takes us on an idiosyncratic and hugely enjoyable journey that offers an insightful meditation on value, worth and creation, and the points at which they overlap.

The Story of My Teeth

Reviews