Multiple Choice

Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell, 101 pages.

An interesting literary work whose structure is, according to the notes in the back of the book, "based on the Chilean Academic Aptitude Test, which students took in December each year from 1967 through 2003."

Zambra is some sort of gem, turning sections from "Excluded Term," "Sentence Order," "Sentence Elimination," and "Reading Comprehension" into moving and effective stories about family, loss, and the Chilean government.

One of my favorite stories, in the reading comprehension section, titled(?) "Text #3" includes the question:

89. After reading this text, you would rather:
A) Not have read it.
B) Not have children.
C) Have many children.
D) Not have a father.
E) Have a parrot.