Rumbos
Gabriel González Núñez

Rumbos is a collage of narratives that reflect on the fragile border between the supernatural and everyday life. Gabriel González Núñez shares extraordinary and ordinary tales with characters that range from starving vampires to apathetic immigration judges through tempted angels and disillusioned young adults, where the main actor is time and its enigmas.

In the stories "El ángel herido" and "Del café y otros demonios" under the chapter Rumbos de aire, González Núñez tells us about the world of angels whose protagonists fall and fall back to earth due to temptation. In "El ángel herido", the writer describes a nameless angel-child, who is constantly attracted by the brilliance of the crustallina, is wounded by touching them, inevitably falling into the material world. The angel is always rescued by mortal children who at the end of the narrative confess to being angels who decided to stay on earth. In "Del café y otros demonios," the author reminds us of the immutable story of the struggle between good and evil. Ángel, still winged, trapped in the human world, and chased by Bello, a disheveled messenger of the devil, tries to overcome his addiction to coffee, the reason he remains tied to mortality.

In Rumbos de tierra, González Núñez descends his stories to earthly space and takes us through courthouses, conference rooms, and lonely roads. In this part, individuals are confronted, not with supernatural beings, but with other human beings trying to subsist in a globalized world. "Martes a media mañana" refers to a common day in a family court disputing a domestic violence case. During the trial, the narration addresses what happened and how the convicted person assaults his partner verbally and physically, even threatening her and her family with deportation. The end of the story is not surprising, nor it is out of the ordinary in any court, in any country.

Gabriel González Núñez is originally from Montevideo, Uruguay and is currently a professor of translation at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He received the Premio Platero del Club de Libro en Español by the United Nations for short story. His works also include children's books and poetry. 
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Rumbos is a publication by Jade Publishing. Click here to purchase.

Reviewed by
Laura Patricia Garza
​7/19/2021

Laura Patricia Garza (PhD) is a Lecturer at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She is specialized in US Hispanic literature. Her research focuses on Texas border women writers and teaches a variety of literature and culture courses.

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