Bit of Everything, A

I see I am soaring too high, so I shall descend and speak more plainly. So writes nineteenth-century Spanish author Juan Valera in “Cordovan Woman,” one of a literary sextet found in the translation of his 1883 collection, A Bit of Everything. Whether readers resonate to the apologia of “Spring,” in which Valera regrets his inability to express sentiments eloquently, yet delivers those sentiments with unparalleled elegance, or to the warm humor of “Cordovan Woman” as he delivers self-deprecating comments about his writing skills (all delivered in the brilliant prose for which he has long been famous), Valera’s work is timeless. He holds us captive with his fascinating views of wealth in “A Bit of Chrematistics” and challenges us to think in “Women Writers in Spain and Praise of Saint Theresa,” “On Goethe’s ‘Faust’,” and “On Shakespeare.” Humor, philosophy, a dash of love and sensuality, along with insightful social observation make this book as fresh today as it was a century ago.