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Eduardo Galeano, the acclaimed author, journalist and historian from Uruguay, was introduced to a larger audience earlier this year when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gifted his book “Open Veins of Latin America,” to President Barack Obama. The much publicized exchange, which took place at the Summit of the Americas, propelled the book that outlines “500 centuries of the pillage of a continent” to number #2 on the Amazon.com bestseller list. For readers who just learned of his name this year, Galeano gifted the literary world with his latest ambitious effort, “Mirrors:Stories of Almost Everyone.” Translated into English and published by Nation Books, “Mirrors,” asks readers to gaze into the reflections of human history all too often ignored. Innovatively written in potent prose, Galeano’s book weaves more than six hundred short stories in a compelling retelling the past of our centuries and civilizations. Far from a dispassionate tome, “Mirrors” is an affront to establishment history, making its arguments succinctly and profoundly in vignettes colored with humor and a keen sense of irony. John Berger has said, “To publish Eduardo Galeano is to publish the enemy: the enemy of lies, indifference, above all of forgetfulness. Thanks to him, our crimes will be remembered. His tenderness is devastating, his truthfulness furious.” Galeano’s other works include among others, the trilogy “Memory of Fire,” “Soccer in Sun and Shadow,” and “Voices in Time.” Galeano spoke about his latest book “Mirrors,” earlier this summer in Northern California before a sold out crowd assembled at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Special thanks to our sister station KPFA for the recording of this speech.

GUEST: Eduardo Galeano, author of “Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone”