How I Became a Nun

\"Mystory,thestoryof\'howIbecameanun,\'beganveryearlyinmylife;Ihadjustturnedsix.Thebeginningismarkedbyavividmemory,whichIcanreconstructdowntothelastdetail.Before,thereisnothing,andafter,everythingisanextensionofthesamevividmemory,continuousandunbroken,includingtheintervalsofsleep,uptothepointwhereItooktheveil.\"SostartsCesarAira\'sastounding\"autobiographical\"novel.Intenseandperfect,thisinventednarrativeofchildhoodexperiencebristleswithdramatichumorateachstageofgrowingup:afirsticecream,school,reading,games,friendship.ThenovelbeginsinAira\'shometown,CoronelPringles.Asself-awarenessgrows,thestoryrushesforwardinatorrentofanecdoteswhichtransformaworldofuneventfulhappinessintosomethingelse:theanecdotebecomesadventure,andadventure,fable,andthenlegend.Betweenmemoryandoblivion,realityandfiction,CesarAira\'sHowIBecameaNunretainschildhood\'smaintreasures:therealityoffableandthedeliriumofinvention.Afewdaysafterhisfiftiethbirthday,Airanoticedthethinrimofthemoon,visibledespitetherisingsun.Whenhiswifeexplainedthephenomenontohimhewasshockedthatforfiftyyearshehadknownnothingabout\"somethingsoobvious,sovisible.\"ThisepiphanyledhimtowriteHowIBecameaNun.Withasubtleandmelancholicsenseofhumorhereflectsonhisfailures,onthemeaningoflifeandtheimportanceofliterature.,TheideaoftheNativeAmericanlivinginperfectharmonywithnatureisoneofthemostcherishedcontemporarymyths.Buthowtruthfulisthislarger-than-lifeimage?AccordingtoanthropologistShepardKrech,thefirsthumansinNorthAmericademonstratedalloftheintelligence,self-interest,flexibility,andabilitytomakemistakesofhumanbeingsanywhere.AsNicholasLemannputitinTheNewYorker,\"Krechismorethanjustaconventional-wisdomoverturner;hehasaseriouslargerpointtomake....Conceptslikeecology,waste,preservation,andeventhenatural(asdistinctfromhuman)worldareentirelyanachronisticwhenappliedtoIndiansinthedaysbeforetheEuropeansettlementofNorthAmerica.\"\"OffersamorecomplexportraitofNativeAmericanpeoples,onethatrejectsmythologies,eventhosethatbothEuropeanandNativeAmericansmightwishtoembrace.\"?WashingtonPost,