"Gabriel Zaid . . . is a jewel of Latin American letters, which is no small thing to be. Read him—you'll see."—Paul Berman The first appearance in English of the poetry of Gabriel Zaid, this book comprises forty-two poems (in both English and the original Spanish), translated by a variety of English-speaking poets. Renowned in Mexico as one of his country's leading writers, Zaid has published two books in English, So Many Books and The Secret of Fame (both from Paul Dry Books). Late Again Translated by Eliot Weinberger It's so hard to coordinate: one hand over your head like a halo the other perpendicular to your navel. Nevertheless it's a universal law: people begin soaping at their bellies while other worlds turn around in their heads. Think with your stomach, said the happy Buddha. But we ruminate with our heads. "The subject matters of the 42 poems in this collection vary—some are more lyric, others more spiritual, and still others satiric—but their procedure is recognizably that of a single sensibility. Here is a poet who favors both simple imagistic compression, using for his images mainly the materials of the natural order (though here and there an automobile or an elevator will appear), and the dynamic expansions and shifts of perspective made possible by inventive juxtapositions. The final effect, of the individual poems as well as of the book, is of an outward movement, at times that of slow natural growth and at other times of explosion."—Sven Birkerts, Literal, Latin American Voices Gabriel Zaid's poetry, essays, social and cultural criticism, and business writings have been widely published throughout the Spanish-speaking world. He lives in Mexico City, Mexico, with the artist Basia Batorska, her paintings, three cats, and ten thousand books. Paul Dry Books has published his So Many Books and The Secret of Fame.