“This story befuddles expectations and foils them.”—Ariel Dorfman

It was the night before Christmas Eve. The clock had just struck midnight, and a thick blanket of damp air hung over Villaggio Coppola.

She stopped in front of a shop window full of umbrellas, and her friend, who was walking ahead of her, suddenly turned around: Carme, we'll get separated!

Last night, before falling asleep, she had realized winter was almost over.

We were only thirteen. We blended in, so we were invisible.

Why are you crying? he said. Over chess, over that knight?

The hospital odors do not offend anymore.

How in the world did Hans Marius Berenson end up in Lima?

What time was it? Who was that out there, and why were they continuing to ring my doorbell?

I still remember the first time I saw him.

Can it be that Maag could be in a position to manipulate clouds?

People hold hands . . . this one in front, the other by the feet, the other by and by, a tower of people toward the sky.

Rosa would no longer be falling off of horses. Instead, she would bag the manure of the circus animals and sell it to villagers.

. . . of sitting around the table and talking of voyages to faraway lands and strange events,—of how it all is, and how it may be, and how it always is, and, then again, infrequently; of secret plots…

from the very beginning some people said that it was a disorder.

She woke up long before the alarm.

I won't talk anymore, I won't say harsh words in the morning for a dream I embroider a flower of pearl on my bosom.

And in the desert between the two rivers the battle which had been going on for many days continued.

At the age of twelve I realized that I could do whatever I wanted with women.

And there she stood, with all her limbs exposed, wearing only a slip.

Such were my scruples that I voted to acquit all but two of the defendants.

The world is a vast tapestry, and everything in it happens at random.

My brother ran away from me at Kursky

The most brutal morning of his life started with interrupted sleep.

When Elisângela threw the box out, with all the authority of a woman who wears the pants, he didn't really care.

I don't blame my parents for what happened next, they had enough troubles.

It was so significant that I often, at least in my mind, return to the place where it all happened.

When she hugged me from behind and put her cold hands on my chest, my own hand holding the razor twitched.

I think that this compulsion of mine influenced my choice of career.

I can't stop thinking about them, Doctor, I said.

The seat was wet because something had made it wet.

My new position gave me contact with refugees from various communities in Copenhagen.

At eleven, it was decided that she would become a dancer.

The heat had loosened their lips and made them quick to speak.

Moira and I wait for Stalin's wife in a downtown café.

The sweat was pouring off me, and I was not in the mood.

Here and in many other places, İstanbul was preparing for the May Day rallies.

In April 1935, the Paris Central of the Communist Party found itself in an acutely embarrassing dilemma.

In the beginning was the fascination.

We all waited anxiously for your answer, your reaction.

There are nights when dreams run stories one into another...

My father abandoned my mother a few months after I was born.

Couldn't sleep. She was lying on the bed, eyes closed, but she hadn't the slightest sensation of sleepiness.

In previous centuries practically everybody got a regular and considerable dose of mind expansion because practically everybody ate rye bread.

A man who cannot resist something hot on his tongue will not be able to resist the spicy character of an Ethiopian woman.

The ape brought us the food, Father said and added, after a pause, and a book.

Through the crack, you could see the smiling face of a gray-haired woman.

My people, why do I behold you of sweet rice with honey all unaware?

I went to look for Martín even though he didn't like for me to go all the way to the riverbank.

Water as smooth as brocade flowed with boundless dignity toward somewhere over the horizon.

Ignacio Abel stopped in his tracks when, through the hubbub of Penn Station, he heard someone calling his name.

Ben, do you know why the dreams of children are always corrupted in the mouths of adults?

The bears are tame, I broke them in myself.

Ernst Spengler was alone in his attic apartment, ready to throw himself out the already open window when, suddenly, the telephone rang

So what is the moment? What does it look like?

Spreading out like a dense forest, shaking and rippling like a field of corn combed by the north wind, a hypnotic wave, a river above craggy peaks, the flock is like a cloud-filled sky when a storm is…

Captain Jonasen followed the dotted line in the atlas with his finger.

My only son has a soul mate I'm not fond of.

Edo was standing next to her, half a head taller, his arm wrapped firmly around her so she wouldn't blow away even though there was no wind.

After the rain, the clouds shrank and the sky shone silver.