Reino Animal. (Animal Kingdom)

Reviewed by María Elena Cruz -- Críticas, 2/15/2007

The 25 short stories in this work have only one thing in common: they all refer, in some way or another, to an animal. Winner of the 1998 Alfaguara prize, Ramírez [Margarita, está linda la mar (Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea Is, Curbstone, 2005)] is better known for his novels, but this collection highlights his ability to deliver good literature in different genres. In the hilarious “El día que habló la carpa” (“The Day the Carp Spoke”), a deported illegal Hispanic worker recounts how, when he was working at a Jewish butchery in the United States, a carp spoke in Hebrew to him and to the Jewish owner of the business. In other stories, such as “Shakira y la Mosca” (“Shakira and the Fly”), the relationship between animals and humans is less direct. A boy nicknamed La Mosca (“The Fly”) tries to get to Miami to meet pop-singer Shakira but is deported to Mexico. Each story begins with a picture and a brief scientific description of the featured animal. Though the use of colloquialisms in some stories might make them difficult to understand, most are easily read, and all are enjoyable. These stories do not have as many layers of interpretation as Ramírez’s novels and might seem simpler in form; however, the collection succeeds in effectively exploring how humans relate to animals in a variety of ways. Recommended for all bookstores and libraries.