Texas: The Great Theft
Carmen Boullosa, Samantha Schnee (translation)An imaginative writer in the tradition of Juan Rulfo, Jorge Luis Borges, & Cesar Aira, Carmen Boullosa shows herself to be at the height of her powers with her latest novel. Loosely based on the little-known 1859 Mexican invasion of the United States, Texas is a richly imagined evocation of the volatile Tex-Mex borderland. Boullosa views border history through distinctly Mexican eyes, & her sympathetic portrayal of each of her wildly diverse characters—Mexican ranchers & Texas Rangers, Comanches & cowboys, German socialists & runaway slaves, Southern belles & dancehall girls—makes her storytelling tremendously powerful & absorbing.
Shedding important historical light on current battles over the Mexican–American frontier while telling a gripping story with Boullosa's singular prose & formal innovation, Texas marks the welcome return of a major writer who has previously captivated American audiences & is poised to do so again.
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Carmen Boullosa is one of Mexico's leading novelists, poets, & playwrights. She has published over 12 novels, 3 of which have been published by Deep Vellum in English translation. Boullosa has received numerous prizes & honors, including a Guggenheim fellowship. A poet, playwright, essayist, & cultural critic, Boullosa is a Distinguished Lecturer at City College of New York. Other novels translated into English include Before (tr. Peter Bush, Deep Vellum, 2016), Heavens On Earth (tr. Shelby Vincent, Deep Vellum, 2017) & The Book of Anna (tr. Samantha Schnee, Coffee House Press, 2020).
Samantha Schnee is the founding editor of Words Without Borders. Her translation of Boullosa's Texas: The Great Theft was shortlisted for the PEN America Translation Prize. She lives in Houston, Texas.