The Private Lives of Trees

'The Private Lives of Trees is a small classic in Latin American letters - small in size but not in depth or reach. Books like this one remind us that the experience of reading can still be closely tied to our lives, and not a mere succession of minutes and phrases strung together by someone else's mind.' - Valeria Luiselli, author of Lost Children Archive 'In The Private Lives of Trees, I found proof of what I had suspected all along that writing could offer us, beyond writing itself.... Finally, I'd found an author who was writing in order to reach that place not made of words. And he took you there with him. I know of no greater talent. Not in literature or in life.' - Margarita Garcia Robayo, author of Fish Soup 'Original and funny, Zambra has a knack for treating serious ideas lightly. This kind of meandering, light-touch writing must present difficulties for a translator, but McDowell has gracefully overcome them. Like a bonsai tree, The Private Lives of Trees is small but artful.' - Miranda France, Times Literary Supplement 'A world that remains distinctively and compellingly his own is that of Alejandro Zambra in The Private Life of Trees, translated by Megan McDowell. One of the most inventive writers in the Spanish-speaking world, the Chilean author has developed a unique style that combines a puckish wit with a clear-eyed...view of the fears and hopes of his struggling writers.' - Michael Cronin, Irish Times 'One of the greatest literary events of recent years.' - Alfonso Cortinez, Las Ultimas Noticias 'Julian is an exceptionally well-drawn character, his subdued eccentricity rendered sympathetically but honestly.... Zambra has proven here that he can do complex emotion as well as he can do cynicism.' - The Rumpus 'A fleeting story translated with care - worth savouring.' - Kirkus Reviews 'Despite the novel totaling only 86 pages, Zambra manages to enclose an entire world inside.' - Ewa Polka, BUZZ MAGAZINE

Alejandro Zambra is the author of the novels Chilean Poet, Multiple Choice, Ways of Going Home, The Private Lives of Trees and Bonsai; the short story collection, My Documents, a finalist for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award; and Not to Read, a collection of essays. The recipient of numerous literary prizes, as well as a Cullman Center fellowship, his stories have appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, The White Review and Harper's, among others. He lives in Mexico City.