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THE ANATOMIST by Federico Andahazi (Anchor)
History is the book world’s next big thing. An Argentinian psychotherapist journeys to woman’s nether regions to relate the discovery of the clitoris by a 16th-century Italian physician. Although it is historical bunkum, it is a jolly magical realist jape. The heresy that Mateo Colombo commits kindles the ire of the Inquisition. If the Pope doesn’t light the bonfire then I’ll torch him for coming up with a justification for female circumcision. The Anatomist ought to be earth-moving, but Andahazi did not quite touch my G-spot.
VISITORS FROM OZ by Martin Gardner (Penguin)
Gardner is a philosopher, a conjuror, a compiler of mathematical puzzles, and a founder member of the International Wizard of Oz Club. Who better to bring Dorothy et al back from Oz into late 20th-century America? Our Kansas girl meets Oprah and drops in on Wonderland. Childish stuff, and a loving tribute to the original, but strictly for fans (of the books, not the film).
MIDNIGHT MASS by Paul Bowles (Peter Owen)
This collection of stories is about outsiders. The collision between North Africa and the Nazarene culture of the white incomers to Tangier provides an obvious point of departure, but there are outsiders within each culture, too. Bowles’s snapshots of “abroad” are perfect examples of the economy and richness of the well-made short story.