Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders

Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders

Longlisted for the National Book Award Longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism Shortlisted for the 2025 Housatonic Book Award for Nonfiction Shortlisted for the Reading the West Book Award in Memoir A brilliant, singular collection of essays that looks to music, fantasy, and pop culture—from Beyoncé to Game of Thrones —to excavate and reimagine what has been disappeared by migration and colonialism. Upon becoming a new mother, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal was called to Mexico to reconnect with her ancestors and recover her grandmother’s story, only to return to the sudden loss of her marriage, home, and reality. In Magical/Realism , Villarreal crosses into the erasure of memory and self, fragmented by migration, borders, and colonial and intimate violence, reconstructing her story with pieces of American pop culture, and the music, video games, and fantasy that have helped her make sense of it all. The border between the real and imagined is a speculative space where we can remember, or re-world, what has been lost—and each chapter engages in this essential project of world-building. In one essay, Villarreal examines her own gender performativity through Nirvana and Selena; in another, she offers a radical but crucial racial reading of Jon Snow in Game of Thrones ; and throughout the collection, she explores how fantasy can help us interpret and heal when grief feels insurmountable. She reflects on the moments of her life that are too painful to remember—her difficult adolescence, her role as the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrants, her divorce—and finds a way to archive her history and map her future(s) with the hope and joy of fantasy and magical thinking. Magical/Realism is a wise, tender, and essential collection that carves a path toward a new way of remembering and telling our stories—broadening our understanding of what memoir and cultural criticism can be. Longlisted for the National Book Award Longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism Finalist for the Amber Hollibaugh Award for LGBTQ+ Social Justice Writing Named One of Best Books of the Year by NPR, Elle , Kirkus , Reader's Digest , Paste , HipLatina, and Book Riot Most Anticipated by Book Riot , Hip Latina , Electric Lit , Screen Rant , and Write or Die “Villarreal leaps across seemingly insurmountable boundaries in this stunning book of interwoven essays and shattered, artfully reassembled memoir . . . [She] deftly blends her own family’s stories with unique insights into realms like grunge and indie music, Jennifer Lopez rom-coms, the life and death of Selena and the meanings of Game of Thrones.” —NPR, Best Books of the Year "A revelation… to be studied, savored, re-read and discussed” — Melissa Castillo Planas, Latinx Pop Magazine "This is one of my favorite books of all time. Villarreal is an absolute genius of a writer, cultural critic, and thinker." — Jaquira Diaz, Elle "Combining cultural criticism with memoir, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal’s Magical/Realism is that precious sort of essay collection—one that casts a wide lens over a vast subject matter (in this case, “Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders”) but draws insights that feel singular and provocative. Examining colonialism’s impact on imagination, untangling the threads between “fantasy” and “magical realism,” and relaying the impact of fantasy on her own healing, Villareal makes ample use of pop culture: Fans of Star Wars , Game of Thrones , The Lord of the Rings , Kurt Cobain, and video games will be delighted (and challenged) by her brilliant analysis." —Elle , "Best Non-Fiction Books of 2024" “ Magical/Realism is a woven adventure of intergenerational wisdom and personal power told with razor-sharp cultural criticism . . . An ode to the far reaches of one’s capability to affect change in the past and the future through a transcendent relationship with the present moment.” — Paste , “Best Non-Fiction Books and Memoirs of 2024” “A wholly original read full of fantasy, hope, and magic.” —HipLatina, “The Best Books by Latinx Authors Published This Year” “This collection of essays is a modern exploration of topics such as loss, colonialism, migration and gender through the lens of pop culture. It provides a reflective narrative that prompts readers to reconsider their perspectives on these subjects.” — Los Angeles Times , Des Los Reads “This nonfiction read is one of my favorite books of the year and it is my mission to make more people read it… I slapped my desk in emphasis while thinking about this book again just now. It’s that good.” —Vanessa Diaz, Book Riot "Magical/Realism is the perfect non-fiction work for fiction lovers. Vanessa Angélica Villarreal's essays explore her journey of reconnection with her heritage and ancestors in Mexico while using current popular media, like Game of Thrones , to explore cultural erasure and the damages of migratio