Electric Literature 25 Best Novels of 2014 Largehearted Boy Favorite Novels of 2014 "An extraordinary new literary talent."--The Daily Telegraph "In part a portrait of the artist as a young woman, this deceptively modest-seeming, astonishingly inventive novel creates an extraordinary intimacy, a sensibility so alive it quietly takes over all your senses, quivering through your nerve endings, opening your eyes and heart. Youth, from unruly student years to early motherhood and a loving marriage--and then, in the book's second half, wilder and something else altogether, the fearless, half-mad imagination of youth, I might as well call it—has rarely been so freshly, charmingly, and unforgettably portrayed. Valeria Luiselli is a masterful, entirely original writer."--Francisco Goldman In Mexico City, a young mother is writing a novel of her days as a translator living in New York. In Harlem, a translator is desperate to publish the works of Gilberto Owen, an obscure Mexican poet. And in Philadelphia, Gilberto Owen recalls his friendship with Lorca, and the young woman he saw in the windows of passing trains. Valeria Luiselli's debut signals the arrival of a major international writer and an unexpected and necessary voice in contemporary fiction. "Luiselli's haunting debut novel, about a young mother living in Mexico City who writes a novel looking back on her time spent working as a translator of obscure works at a small independent press in Harlem, erodes the concrete borders of everyday life with a beautiful, melancholy contemplation of disappearance. . . . Luiselli plays with the idea of time and identity with grace and intuition." —Publishers Weekly

In The Lost, Julian soon learns a startling truth and must put his life in several strangers hands or perish himself. Learning about who he really is and what he was destined to do, Julian grasps for a sense of understanding in his own life while staving off the malicious advents of an insane, power thirsty murderer. After losing everything he holds dear, he must struggle to seek justice and find revenge before he loses himself on the way.

People normally consider life’s tribulations as challenges. Does it follow that whoever sheds many tears has also experienced the fullness of life? In this inspirational memoir, author Eo shares her philosophy that to live on earth is not just to experience enjoyment and delight, but also to understand feelings of sorrow and suffering. Sweetness and sunny days along with darkness and bitterness are subtle flavors of life. Those who taste life fully will understand how poetic it can be.