Sergio Pitol's Nocturne de Boukhara: Four Stories of Literary and Musical Reflection

Mexican writer Sergio Pitol (born 1933), a master of Latin American literature, releases "Nocturne de Boukhara" with Éditions Les Allusifs. The collection comprises four short stories that weave together literary and musical references. The first story, "Mephisto-Valse," takes its title from Liszt's piano composition and follows a Mexican pianist's erotic and virtuosic interpretation; Liszt wrote the piece in Weimar as a commentary on a scene from Goethe's Faust. "Le récit vénitien de Billie Upward" is set in Venice with a Jamesian atmosphere, incorporating Borges, Joyce's Ulysses, and Casanova. "Asymétrie" blends music and literary history, reflecting on symmetry in art from Altamira to the Bauhaus. The title story recounts a journey whose secrets the author knows intimately. Pitol's work consistently links reflection to fiction, opening narratives with premonitory moments that form original stimuli. Each book forms a constellation of sensations and literary intelligence.