The impulse to tell the truth was not as great as the fear of being left off the page.

Reading the [The Verso Book of Dissent] is like encountering the best version of our angry selves.

The quotes are often poignant or funny (one man before the firing squad requests a bulletproof vest) and often don't register as much more than interesting historical documents from centuries past. But read in aggregate, all that pain piles up. Essentially, Elder has amassed a collection of what people say when they know they are going to die, the final product of what could be seen as psychological torture.

I don't think my moped could outrun a cheetah.

The impulse to tell the truth was not as great as the fear of being left off the page.

Bonsai won the Chilean Critics Award for best novel of the year in 2006and it's easy to understand why.

"How could you love something so destructive?" I ask. "Because this wolf doesn't care if your heart is whole or not," you say. "It tastes just the same."