Alejandro Rossi's 'Un Café avec Gorrondona' Dissects Literary Egos

Alejandro Rossi, a Mexican writer and former co-editor of literary magazines Vuelta and Plurial alongside Octavio Paz, has published a new book titled 'Un Café avec Gorrondona'. The work follows his 2000 short story collection 'Pluie de janvier'. The central character, Gorrondona, is a bitter and solitary literary critic who relentlessly imposes his views in conversation, especially when confronting the obscure writer Lenada. Through this narrative, Rossi satirizes the ego-driven hysteria of literary circles. The name 'Gorrondona' is deliberately suggestive of a venereal disease. The story unfolds in an unnamed geographical setting, presenting a metaphysical duel among writer, critic, and public—a scenario that would have pleased Borges. In other prose pieces within the volume, reality seems to overflow the book, exasperating the narrator. Rossi explores the tension between giving free rein to passions and restraining them, suggesting that life is a constant weaving of connections and that uncertainty defines human limits. The book was reviewed by Patrick Amine.