Compensation Bureau

Born in Argentina in 1942, Ariel Dorfman spent ten years as a child in New York, until his family was forced out of the United States by the anti-communist frenzy stirred by Joe McCarthy. The Dorfmans ended up in Chile, where Ariel spent his adolescence and youth, living through the Allende revolution and the subsequent resistance inside Chile, and abroad after the dictatorship that overthrew Allende in 1973. Accompanied by his wife Angélica, he wandered the globe as an exile, finally settling down in the United States, where he is now Walter Hines Emeritus Professor of Literature at Duke University. Dorfman’s acclaimed work, which includes the play and film “Death and the Maiden,” and the classic text about cultural imperialism, How to Read Donald Duck, covers almost every genre available (plays, novels, short stories, fiction, essays, journalism, opinion pieces, memoirs, and screenplays). His award-winning books have been published in more than fifty languages and his plays performed in over one hundred countries. He contributes regularly to major papers and magazines worldwide and has been active in the defense of human rights.

"The Compensation Bureau is no tonic for our blues, but it qualifies as a warning to Look Up and see the stars and know our place before it’s too late. And Dorfman writes with love. The book is worth a read." — CounterPunch“Fascinating on many levels... A surreal apocalypse fantasy” — Stephen Sackur, BBC HARDtalk“An intriguing exploration of our species on the brink” — Morning Star“A brilliant sketch of a fantastical parable” — PopMatters