Longlisted for the National Book Award
Longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism
Finalist for the Amber Hollibaugh Award for LGBTQ+ Social Justice Writing
Named One of Best Books of the Year by NPR, Elle, Kirkus, Reader’s Digest, Paste, HipLatina, and Book Riot
Most Anticipated by Book Riot, Hip Latina, Electric Lit, Screen Rant, and Write or Die
“Villarreal leaps across seemingly insurmountable boundaries in this stunning book of interwoven essays and shattered, artfully reassembled memoir . . . [She] deftly blends her own family’s stories with unique insights into realms like grunge and indie music, Jennifer Lopez rom-coms, the life and death of Selena and the meanings of Game of Thrones.”
—NPR, Best Books of the Year
“A revelation… to be studied, savored, re-read and discussed”
—Melissa Castillo Planas, Latinx Pop Magazine
“Combining cultural criticism with memoir, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal’s Magical/Realism is that precious sort of essay collection—one that casts a wide lens over a vast subject matter (in this case, “Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders”) but draws insights that feel singular and provocative. Examining colonialism’s impact on imagination, untangling the threads between “fantasy” and “magical realism,” and relaying the impact of fantasy on her own healing, Villareal makes ample use of pop culture: Fans of Star Wars, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, Kurt Cobain, and video games will be delighted (and challenged) by her brilliant analysis.”
—Elle, “Best Non-Fiction Books of 2024”
“Magical/Realism is a woven adventure of intergenerational wisdom and personal power told with razor-sharp cultural criticism . . . An ode to the far reaches of one’s capability to affect change in the past and the future through a transcendent relationship with the present moment.”
—Paste, “Best Non-Fiction Books and Memoirs of 2024”
“A wholly original read full of fantasy, hope, and magic.”
—HipLatina, “The Best Books by Latinx Authors Published This Year”
“This collection of essays is a modern exploration of topics such as loss, colonialism, migration and gender through the lens of pop culture. It provides a reflective narrative that prompts readers to reconsider their perspectives on these subjects.”
—Los Angeles Times, Des Los Reads
“This nonfiction read is one of my favorite books of the year and it is my mission to make more people read it… I slapped my desk in emphasis while thinking about this book again just now. It’s that good.”
—Vanessa Diaz, Book Riot
“Magical/Realism is the perfect non-fiction work for fiction lovers. Vanessa Angélica Villarreal’s essays explore her journey of reconnection with her heritage and ancestors in Mexico while using current popular media, like Game of Thrones, to explore cultural erasure and the damages of migration and colonialism.”
—Screen Rant
“Searing, deeply affecting, and profoundly moving . . . The future-dreaming and re-worlding that Villarreal enacts across her genre-bending chapters, quite frankly, opens new worlds of healing both for herself and for readers.”
—Southern Review of Books
“The fresh perspective and distinctive voice of poet Villarreal drive this smart collection… the meditations on fantasy narratives incisively probe how fictional worlds reflect and intersect with the real one. Readers will be spellbound.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred)
“With brilliant insight and masterful writing, Villarreal examines fantasy at close range…the magic of this collection is the elasticity and brilliance with which Villarreal is able to take critical analysis and connect it to her own experiences. A wondrous book that will change the way you think about fantasy and magic.”
—Kirkus (starred)
“Not only is this intimate essay collection a healing listen, but it repositions cultural criticism on the map as a meaningful and resonant form of catharsis.”
—Audible
“Magical/Realism is staggeringly good; it’s been ages since I’ve been this moved, challenged, and devastated by an essay collection. An energetic, paradigm-shifting book.”
—Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House
“A stunning, provocative, and essential book that lights up the mind. Villarreal’s ferocious imagination is matched only by a roving intellect and so much heart that these essays will stay with you for a long time after reading. One of my favorite nonfiction collections of the past decade.”
—Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author
“Villarreal possesses endless talent. As she connects the dots between the various extraordinary and mundane realisms that haunt our daily lives, she displays a poet’s command of form, making this work sing with resonance. A banger.”
—Camonghne Felix, author of Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation
“Vanessa Angelica Villarreal’s Magical/Realism is the impossible book that does so much so well and still retains a distinct and propulsive voice. Villarreal’s formal variousness illuminates and usefully complicates her subjects, but the bedrock upon which she engages her intellectual might is a big beating heart—there are lines here that made me, a non-crier, actually well-up. About her father who taught himself to play guitar while his migrant laborer parents worked, Villarreal writes: ‘He was not a rare mind dreaming in a place that suppresses dreams with debt and labor. What is rare is that he almost made it.’ Often, for Villarreal, tenderness presents itself as a kind of rage, a rage that emerges from an ability to perceive the interiority of the harmed. Our loss, how rare this rage—without any accompanying smug back-patting—feels in the contemporary critical discourse. Our luck, to find in such abundance here.”
—Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!
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