Sergio Pitol – författare

Following the chance discovery of certain documents, a historian sets out to unravel the mystery of a murder committed in his childhood Mexico City home in the autumn of 1942. Mexico had just declared war on Germany, and its capital had recently become a colorful cauldron of the most unusual and colorful of the European ilk: German communists, Spanish republicans, Trotsky and his disciples, Balkan royalty, agents of the most varied secret services, opulent Jewish financiers, and more.

As the historian-turned-detective begins his investigation, he introduces us to a rich and eccentric gallery of characters, the media of politics, the newly installed intelligentsia, and beyond. Identities are crossed, characters are confounded; Pitol constructs a novel that turns on mistaken identities, blurred memories, and conflicting interests, and whose protagonist is haunted by the ever-looming possibility of never uncovering the truth. At the same time a fast-paced detective investigation and an uproarious comedy of errors, this novel cemented Pitol’s place as one of Latin America’s most important twentieth-century authors. Winner of the Herralde Prize in 1984, The Love Parade is the first installment of what Pitol would later dub his Carnival Triptych.

“This novel is not only the best that Pitol has written, but one of the best novels in Mexican literature.” —Sergio González Rodríguez, La Jornada

“Sergio Pitol in the splendor of his mastery. A great novel.” —Florian Borchmeyer, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The second novel in Pitol''s Carnival trilogy following The Love Parade continues his daring, genre-melding, picaresque style.

From the famous Mexican author, Sergio Pitol, comes his 1988 classic translated by George Henson. Taming the Divine Heron tells the semi-autobiographical story of a novelist working on his newest masterpiece. The protagonist struggles to tell the perfect story—his own imagined protagonists mere imitations of the likes of Lord Jim and Alyosha Karamazov. To help eradicate writer’s block, Pitol uses his vessel to praise his own favorite authors. Pitol applauds Bakhtin’s world building, Gogol’s “carnivalesque [literary] breath,” and Dante’s dizzying intensity. The character finds a muse in Marietta Karapetiz, whom he aptly dubs Dante C. de la Estrella, and the two debate the literary greats. 

 As the pair attempts to pull from the techniques of the world’s best writers, Pitol creates a love letter to literature from around the globe while simultaneously telling his own magical story. To quote Pitol’s protagonist, “the quality of the story, its effects, its brilliance, its intensity, ma[k]e the most absurd circumstances plausible.” Taming The Divine Heron, second in a trilogy including already-published The Love Parade (Deep Vellum, 2022), houses history, hyperrealism, myth, folklore, and memoir; to read Pitol is to appreciate the power of language.

The debut work in English by Mexico''s greatest and most influential living author and winner of the Cervantes Prize ("the Spanish language Nobel"), The Art of Flight takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the world''s cultural capitals as Sergio Pitol looks back on his well-traveled life as a legendary author, translator, scholar, and diplomat.

The first work in Pitol''s "Trilogy of Memory," The Art of Flight imaginatively blends the genres of fiction and memoir in a Borgesian swirl of contemplation and mystery, expanding our understanding and appreciation of what literature can be and what it can do.

Sergio Pitol Demeneghi (b. 1933 in Puebla), one of Mexico''s most acclaimed writers and literary translators, studied law and philosophy in Mexico City, and served for over thirty years as a cultural attaché in Mexican embassies and consulates across the globe, which is reflected in his diverse and universal writing. In recognition of the importance of his entire canon of literary work, Pitol was awarded the Juan Rulfo Prize in 1999 (now known as the FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages), and in 2005 the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish language world.

George Henson is currently completing a PhD in humanities (with an emphasis on literary and translation studies) at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his BA from University of Oklahoma, and his MA from Middlebury College. His most recent published translations have included new works by Elena Poniatowska and Andrés Neuman.

"Sergio Pitol is not only our best active storyteller, he is also the bravest renovator of our literature."—Álvaro Enrigue in Letras Libres

"Pitol is probably one of Mexico''s most culturally complex and composite writers. He is certainly the strangest, most unfathomable, and eccentric. . . . [His] voice . . . reverberates beyond the margins of his books."—Valeria Luiselli, author of Faces in the Crowd

"Reading him, one has the impression . . . of being before the greatest writer in the Spanish language in our time."—Enrique Vila-Matas

The Journey features one of the world''s master storytellers at work as he skillfully recounts two weeks of travel around the Soviet Union in 1986. From the first paragraph, Sergio Pitol dislocates the sense of reality, masterfully and playfully blurring the lines between fiction and fact.

This adventurous story, based on the author''s own travel journals, parades through some of the territories that the author lived in and traveled through (Prague, the Caucasus, Moscow, Leningrad) as he reflects on the impact of Russia''s sacred literary pantheon in his life and the power that literature holds over us all.

The Journey, the second work in Pitol''s remarkable "Trilogy of Memory" (which Deep Vellum is publishing in its entirety), which won him the prestigious Cervantes Prize in 2005 and inspired the newest generation of Spanish-language writers, represents the perfect example of one of the world''s greatest authors at the peak of his power.

"One of Mexico''s most culturally complex and composite writers." —Publishers Weekly

From the renowned Mexican literary master and author of the Trilogy of Memory (Deep Vellum) comes Mephisto''s Waltz, bringing together the best short stories from celebrated writer Sergio Pitol''s oeuvre. The Xavier Villaurrutia award-winning collection includes the titular story, Pitol''s personal favorite. Selected by the author, each story is a glimpse into the works that first gained Pitol his status as one of the greatest living Mexican writers and showcases the evolution of his unique literary style.

Sergio Pitol (1933-2018) was one of Mexico''s foremost writers and winner of the prestigious 2005 Cervantes Prize. He is the author of the three books in the Trilogy of Memory series: The Art of Flight, The Journey, and The Magician of Vienna, published in English by Deep Vellum. He is renowned for his intellectual career in both the fields of literary creation and translation.