Most of these texts should be available at the UBC bookstore, or you may prefer to order them from Pulp Fiction, “Vancouver’s legendary independent bookstore,” which is often able to offer them at a lower price, though they sometimes need up to two weeks to get the books in. (Where I know the Pulp Fiction price, I indicate that below.)
You will not be required to read all these books, so do not buy them before the first day of class, except for the compulsory texts, which are in bold. Beyond these compulsory texts, please read this short guide to the texts, which should help you decide which you want to read.
Below, I am also providing links to online versions of some, if not all, of the texts. But my very strong suggestion is that, where possible, you buy the physical books rather than relying on digital versions.
- Agualusa, José Eduardo. The Book of Chameleons. [$19.99 from Pulp Fiction]
- Arguedas, José María. Deep Rivers. Trans. Frances Horning Barraclough. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2002.
- Arlt, Roberto. Mad Toy. Trans. Michele McKay Aynesworth. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002. [$29.62 from Pulp Fiction]
- Bombal, María Luisa. The Shrouded Woman. House of Mist and The Shrouded Woman. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995. 155-259.
- Breton, André. Nadja. Trans. Richard Howard. New York: Grove, 1960. [$22.95 from Pulp Fiction]
- Calvino, Italo. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler. Trans. William Weaver. New York: Harcourt, 1981. [$21.60 from Pulp Fiction]
- Duras, Marguerite. The Lover. Trans. Barbara Bray. New York: Pantheon, 1985. [$20.99 from Pulp Fiction]
- Ferrante, Elena. My Brilliant Friend. Book One: Childhood, Adolescence. Trans. Anne Goldstein. New York: Europa, 2012. [$23.40 from Pulp Fiction]
- Laforet, Carmen. Nada. Trans. Edith Grossman. New York: The Modern Library, 2008. [$18.99 from Pulp Fiction]
- Lispector, Clarice. The Hour of the Star. Trans. Benjamin Moser. New York: New Directions, 2011. [$18.00 from Pulp Fiction]
- Luiselli, Valeria. Faces in the Crowd. Trans. Christina MacSweeney. Minneapolis: Coffee House, 2014. [$22.85 from Pulp Fiction]
- Manea, Norman. The Trenchcoat. Compulsory Happiness. Trans. Linda Coverdale. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1994. 191-259.
- Moravia, Alberto. Agostino. Trans. Michael Moore. New York: New York Review of Books, 2014. [$22.95 from Pulp Fiction]
- Piglia, Ricardo. Money to Burn. Trans. Amanda Hopkinson. London: Granta, 2003.
- Proust, Marcel. “Combray”. Swann’s Way. Trans. Lydia Davis. London: Penguin, 2003. 1-191. [$24.95 from Pulp Fiction]
- Rodoreda, Mercè. The Time of the Doves. Trans. David Rosenthal. Minneapolis: New Graywolf, 1981. [$22 from Pulp Fiction]
- Saramago, José. Death with Interruptions. Trans. Margaret Jull Costa. New York: Mariner, 2009. [$23.99 from Pulp Fiction]
- Zobel, Joseph. Black Shack Alley. Trans. Keith Warner. London: Penguin, 2020 (1997). [$17.30 from Pulp Fiction]