It Must Be a Misunderstanding

Reviews

"Her work has altered the landscape of Mexican poetry in a way that is comparable to John Ashbery’s in the U.S." — Poetry

"Our losses have a way of locking us inside ourselves. But in It Must Be a Misunderstanding, Bracho endeavors against the odds to forge an “avid, intimate alliance / with the species,” keeping her eyes on the vanishingly few things that bind her to someone whose reality she’s no longer privileged to share." — Andrew Chan, 4Columns

"Like Paz, Bracho proceeds through association, moving from one motif to the next, rather than sketching a unified description. Her images, however, are less symbolic than his and more tactile (pulp, juice, moss), and her music, which Gander superbly re-creates, is less ringing and more sensual, slowed down by punctuation." — Ratik Asokan, Poetry Foundation

"[A] surreal world that hasn’t been destroyed but altered. Thanks to Gander’s translation, this book offers us that gift: to see into this other world with wonder and curiosity." — Iris Jamahl Dunkle, The Colorado Review

"To describe her mother’s progressive unmooring from language and time, Bracho uses an elemental vocabulary of images—boats, a queen, birds, plants, music—as she draws the reader into a state of disorientation, guided by dream logic and sometimes fear...[in] Gander’s lucid, sonorous translation." — Heather Green, Poetry Foundation

"The influential Mexican poet turned 70 last year, and this generous introduction to her work is beautifully translated by Forrest Gander, himself a leading US poet....Bracho’s consistently unusual images are profoundly illuminating, and her special gift is to bend them to make us think. She can be both metaphysical and full of human emotion – often, the two at once. “Only love offers us the dimension of the real / its dark force /curving.”" — The Guardian

"Anyone who has experienced a loved one’s trajectory through Alzheimer’s might wonder how a book of poetry focused on that harrowing experience could be uplifting. But Coral Bracho’s It Must Be a Misunderstanding, translated by Forrest Gander, is not only tender and compassionate, but leaves the reader suffused in the mystery of being." — Meryl Natchez, Zyzzyva

"Bracho never sentimentalises or reverts to memory loss clichés. Instead, she builds on meaning and emotions through an observant use of irony, and psychological and philosophical insight, sometimes even dark humour, in order to excavate family drama with generosity, love, and understanding. This is an essential collection from one of the most insightful poets writing today in Mexico." — Poetry London

"This is a book with as much depth of soul as scope of craft. It may be appreciated as a contribution to the philosophy of consciousness, an elevation of language’s possibilities, or as a worthy tribute to a deceased beloved. It Must Be a Misunderstanding has an aura of compassion, curiosity, and tenderness that readers will find evocative and nutritive at the same time." — Constance Hansen, Harvard Review