Staff Picks: The Story of My Teeth

Taylor recommends The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli:

If you’re someone who likes to have fun reading a book you gotta check this one out. It’s (as the title “implies”) the story of a man’s teeth. His name is Highway and he’s the greatest auctioneer in the world. He was born an ugly baby. He is humble and discreet and sanguine and an amazing performer.

One of the things that makes Highway the best auctioneer in the world is his storytelling abilities and in a few sections we get to see him in action—that is to say: contained in this novel are some delightful and bizarre microfictions that are like a little secret bonus treasure from Valeria Luiselli.

Filled with fortune cookie fortunes, esoteric quotes from famous philosophers, and a wild array of literary allusions, this charming book is sort of an adventure tale and sort of a summer reading list (I highly recommend checking out at least one story from every author Luiselli name drops) and it all comes together to make one hell of a character piece. The narration is killer. The format is divisive and functional. It was written in collaboration with the workers of a Jumex factory and it reflects the relationships/separations between art and commodity, value and desire, family and self.

I wouldn’t say this book is dark, but it gives me all the good feelings of a dark book. Nothing terribly strange or traumatic happens (yo, real talk, this is not a story about tooth pain or any sort of physical pain so if that’s something that makes you shudder there’s nothing to worry about), but it is the story of a rather eccentric person living a less than typical life, so… don’t wait around. Valeria Luiselli is one of the best writers out there today and The Story of My Teeth is ready for you to read it.