Books: Eduardo Galeano (Audio)

Have you ever visited South America, a vast continent, rich in history, breathtaking vistas, diverse heritages and continuous struggles?

South America, a continent unlike its northern neighbours, often brings its writers to my doorstep, speaking in Spanish, Portuguese and occasionally the indigenous Quechuan, languages I am not fluent in, but nonetheless speak with emotions I seem to understand.

This interview with Eduardo Galeano, part of the Washington Post series "Writing Life" brought a sneak preview into Galeano's most recent book "Mirrors." If Maria Arana's reading of the vignette "South" is any indication of the depth of Galeano's writing, a bifarcation of a mercury plain, we may all need to step back and peer intently into our own cracked mirrors, most especially now, in such troubling times. Other brief recollections by Galeano can be read here.

And, not incidentally, it was Galeano's book, Open Veins of Latin America, written more than 40 years ago, that President Chavez, Venezuela, gave President Obama, United States in April '09.