When Jacinto and I separated, I got into poetry. I started to read and write poetry as if it were the most important thing in the world. Before that, I had written a few little poems and I used to think I read a lot, but when he left I started to read and write for real. I didn't have lots of time, but I made time where I could.

- from The Savage Detectives

As National Poetry Month comes to a close--another month like any other, one in which I might have chosen to read more poetry or write about more poetry but did not--I realize that I'm reading a book in large part about a society or a people in which poetry is absolutely vital and that I can not imagine this novel being written in America, by an American, about America. I'm not entirely certain how I feel about that.