Interestingly enough, Le Corbusier flew to Buenos Aires with the master of flight, Antoine du Saint Exupery. He gave a few lectures there and later on his return to Paris drew up on his own initiative a series of urban proposals for Buenos Aires. Nothing happened until a surgeon, Dr.Curutchet, sought his services for the design of his house and clinic at La Plata, Argentina. The book charts the design of this transitional house which sits right in the phase shift from the smooth purist villas to the rough tectonic gestures of his postwar years. It was aslo the model for his urban ambitions for Argentina, like the Citrohan protoype for Europe in the twenties. It is also the first modular building. The book offers a context and the detailed process of the design from the atelier in Paris to the remote site. Le Corbusier never saw the site nor the finished house. The book provides an appraisal of the work of a relevant architect. This house encapsulates almost all of his salient principles, ie, The Five Points. Two essays by the author explore the spatial and formal qualities of the house, from his post-purist painting compositions to promenade architecturale. It is more than a guide book and provides an insight into Le Corbusier's design process. It also helps belie the notion that Le Corbusier was an arrogant formalist who could not tolerate suggestions or collaboration.

Wood's book is a very informative account of a little known episode in US and Paraguayan history. The exploration of the Water Witch was central in a set of events that followed: the opening of the river waterways, the end of the isolation of Paraguay and, as a consequence, its diminished safety, that led to its destruction in the 1865-1870 war. The limits of the book are its lack of context (Perry's expedition to Japan for instance, the US expedition against Paraguay in 1855, the consequences of the opening of the riverways), some imprecisions (the battle of Monte Caseros is placed some 500 km. from where it was fought) and the poor quality of the illustrations.

An excellent find, a quality in the writing captures the hazy clarity of dreams and old photographs. Telling the story of a young man caught up in strange affairs in a new town, Casares creates both a greatly readable piece of semi-magical realism and an entertaining piece of storytelling. I found myself opening it at random time after time to enjoy the scenery he paints, and the intriguing characters that populate them. If you enjoy the style of south american literature, but still need a solid plot to carry you onwards, this should prove a enjoyable diversion.