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[The Roof Rat Review.]

Domenico Starnone, Jhumpa Lahiri (trans). Ties. Europa Editions, 2017 (Lacci, 2014). Starnone/Lahiri make a fine pairing. I really don’t know why this iteration of middle-class realism is so much more satisfying than most, but I hope they keep mining this vein.

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Texts and images copyright (C) 2022 Pauline Kerschen. Layout adapted from the Single A Tumblr theme by businessbullpen. The Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) has zygodactylic feet, leaving X-shaped tracks with ambiguous direction. The Pueblo and Hopi used the X symbol to mislead evil spirits. Border folklore in the early twentieth century held that a roadrunner would lead a lost traveler back to his path. In Mexico the roadrunner is known as paisano, countryman.