I realized that searching was my symbol, the emblem of those who go out at night with nothing in mind, the motives of a destroyer of compasses. - Julio Cortázar

Consider this a middle of the night review. I've battled a head cold this week as well as family binge viewing of In The Thick Of It. It was an admixture of consequences that led me last night to collapse exhausted into slumber around 7 p.m. (it is now 3 a.m.) I am up now, though not entirely. These are the wee small house, to consider Blue Eyes. Allow me to clear the crust and consider this masterful collection. Adroitly translated by Alberto Manguel, Unreasonable Hours culls the authoritarian and paints it eerie and unsettling. The stories Tara, The School At Night, Unreasonable Hours and Nightmares each offer a furtive tremble to the encroach of the sinister state: a relude to the Disappeared. The story Second Time Round was my favorite, a meditation on boxing, mortality and escape. Despite the bestiary thus mentioned, the most disturbing experience of the collection was the final story Don't Blame Anyone which details the efforts of putitng on a sweater which becomes an existential exercise and ultimately a platform to suicide. ( )