PositiveAsymptoteWhat is stranger than the narrator’s estrangement from himself is the foregrounded estrangement of the reader from the text, or any text, where words threaten to be \'empty,\' incomplete signifiers. We are not explicitly told why the exercises come to an end, or if they do at all, but are instead left with a text that operates as a metacommentary on writing ... That this is done throughout with humor, self-deprecating yet sincere introspection, and poetic insights into the mundane life of the narrator is Levrero’s primary success. Ultimately, Empty Words is a sufficiently striking full-length introduction of Levrero to the English-speaking world, as well as a not-too-serious reflection on the possibilities of writing and its relationship with internal and external worlds.
