Taking Flight
A literary novella of magic realism
Published on 8. July 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-912054-09-1 (ISBN)
Description
When Tito is a child, his grandmother teaches him how to weave magic around the ones you love in order to keep them close. She is the master and he is the pupil, exasperating Tito's put-upon mother who, although exhausted from working long hours, is usually the focus of their mischief.
As Tito grows older and his grandmother's mind becomes less sound, their games take a dangerous turn. They both struggle with a particular spell, one that creates an illusion of illness to draw in love. But as the lines between magic and childish tales blur, so too do those between fantasy and reality.
In this beautifully told drama of the bond between grandson and grandmother, JT Torres delicately explores the complexities of family bonds - in which love is need, and need becomes manipulation, along with the pain and difficulties of dementia and mental ill health.
As Tito grows older and his grandmother's mind becomes less sound, their games take a dangerous turn. They both struggle with a particular spell, one that creates an illusion of illness to draw in love. But as the lines between magic and childish tales blur, so too do those between fantasy and reality.
In this beautifully told drama of the bond between grandson and grandmother, JT Torres delicately explores the complexities of family bonds - in which love is need, and need becomes manipulation, along with the pain and difficulties of dementia and mental ill health.
Reviews / Votes
'Torres's masterful prose, and his inspired confrontation with grief and alienation, will linger in my mind for a long time' -Amy Kurzweil, author of Flying Couch: a graphic memoir'The exquisite writing of JT Torres is on full display in this deftly told and spellbinding tale... [He] has crafted a masterpiece amidst the sweat drenching heat of Florida to the chilling darkness found in the shadows of rugged Alaskan mountains' -Don Rearden author of The Raven's Gift
'JT Torres' story is a masterful work written in the style of magic realism that slowly peels apart the passing down of the "immigrant experience" from one generation to the next, even when younger generations do not directly experience immigration itself' -Jill Flanders Crosby, Professor of Theatre and Dance, University of Alaska Anchorage
'Taking Flight is a not-to-be missed coming of age story that ranges from Miami to Orlando to Alaska as its hero learns to create his own galaxy, his own known world' -Karen Salyer McElmurray, author of Wanting Radiance
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 176 mm
Width: 109 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
118 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-912054-09-1 (9781912054091)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Born in Miami, Florida, JT Torres is of Cuban-American descent. He is an assistant professor of English at Quinnipiac University. Torres combines an MFA in creative writing with a PhD in educational psychology to understand how storytelling often frames the construction of a self. Taking Flight is his debut novella.