(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Review: ‘Last Philosopher in Texas’ invites readers into author’s world of possibility [1] ['Special To El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] Date: 2024-06-19 By Tim Z. Hernandez / Special to El Paso Matters Let’s begin with the book’s cover: A man walks through an endless corridor. He is surrounded by a universe of ideas and voices and superstitions in the form of books. He himself is carrying a small box, or a book, or a briefcase in his right hand, and we only see him from the back. The man is a silhouette. An empty vessel. An avatar that can take any face we decide to place on him. It’s an ambiguous dreamscape, which can be viewed as terrifying, or heaven, depending on who you are, and what you choose to believe. This is your invitation into the multiverse of the brilliance of El Paso author Daniel Chacón, whose latest book, “The Last Philosopher in Texas: Fictions and Superstitions,” is the latest pick of the El Paso Matters Book Club. The author begins with giving us “The Order of Things,” which is to suggest that whatever you, dear reader, had going on before you cracked open the book might have actually been in disorder. And now the last philosopher (in Texas) will be setting the record straight for you. What record? Could be the Akashic record or could be your grandpa’s oldies on vinyl. And in the strange and magical world of “The Last Philosopher,” both would be correct. Learn More Q&A with ‘The Last Philosopher in Texas’ author Daniel Chacón The El Paso author talks about his latest book, his inspiration and aspirations, and why we sometimes ask ourselves, “Am I the dreamer or the dreamed?” He gives us the first story, “My Crazy Tía.” Enter a tía, who is familiar to all of us, and her young niece, who still maintains an air of innocence. And as crazy tías often do, she spins an outlandish tale that captures her young niece’s imagination. In this case, it is about the possibility of time travel. And you want to read this story carefully because if you know anything about Chacón’s work, and the powerful resonance he weaves in the short story form, then you know somehow, at some time, the details of this story will return when you least expect it. In fact, it’s safe to say that everything about Chacón’s writing deals with the unexpected. This is what has always made his stories so appealing and provocative. Here is an author whose roots are firmly planted in the hardened brown soil of his cultural past, but rarely, if ever, does he lean on the antiquated stories that have been repurposed and regurgitated time and again by lesser writers. Instead, he takes those wings and leaps bravely into the unknown. Chacón is an original thinker, artist, and writer, who in the span of his life’s work so far, has invented his own style — a combination of storyteller, philosopher, mystic and outrider. “The Last Philosopher in Texas” is the author at the full-blown height of his abilities. From Page 1 to the very end, we get the unlikely convergence of people, relationships and realities that have become his trademark. For instance, Jesus in an El Paso Starbucks. Or a specific ballpoint pen with an attitude. Or a 90s sitcom, a lesbian tía, and the dead. His stories are almost the set-ups of jokes, in which the endings are uniquely sharp, witty and surprising. But always, just as in life, the particulars of our mundane existence circle back to find us. As if he writes to remind us that we are such strange and glorious creatures – beautifully flawed, playful and pathetic even, but always ready and willing to place our belief in something greater than ourselves. And it’s this combination of circularity and the supreme imaginative that is the genius of Chacón’s writing. You will find this in the collective trove of stories that makes up his entire oeuvre. However, this latest offering, “The Last Philosopher in Texas,” contains something that none of his other books have: superstition on its side. This is his seventh book, and I believe the one that lands him a seat at the grand table reserved for literary masters. Tim Z. Hernandez is an associate professor at the University of Texas at El Paso’s Bilingual M.F.A. in Creative Writing program. His book, “All They Will Call You,” is a past selection of the El Paso Matters Book Club. 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