Two Authors

It might not be obvious from the beginning but there are two different authors to this memoir. No, I am not accusing Paternostro of fraud. It is true that there is one person writing this memoir but the way she approaches it, splits her in two. One is the serious journalist with an edge, from America who is viewing everything with an unbiased attitude but not writing completely formal. Journalist Paternostro comes out whenever historic or any information is presented not directly having to do with her. The other "author" is foreign/Colombian Paternostro who talks about her family and mixes her life as an American and a Colombian. Having two sides to the story, the reader gets both ideas for every topic.

War is a topic some understand more than others. Paternostro doesn't pretend from the beginning of the memoir that she knows everything. All the information she gives sounds like her journalism self and not her Colombian self. She explains the different conflicts in Colombia in a clear way that anyone can understand but when she talks about her own personal experiences, she becomes foreigner in a Colombians body. She states facts about the M19, the paramilitary, and any sort of informative aspect, in a straight and informative way but not completely formally. This is really helpful to those that have no idea what the situation in Colombia is like and how it got this way. To give an example here is how the author explained how more people joined M19:

"In the early seventies, Manuel Marulanda ordered Lucho Otero, one of his commanders to form and urban cell. Otero called on his university pals, mainly middle class public school kids, although the call reached the boys of the elite, especially those around in Bogotå, who were already hooked up to what was going on around the world." (page 67)

The information is there but it is not fully formal. Word choices like "kids", "pals", and "hooked up", give the information an informal way that a newspaper would not use but adds to Paternostros style.

When Paternostro writes about her family and her own views, she still has a formal edge to her but adds her own personal views on subjects and feelings. She is there as her Colombian self, participating in gatherings and meeting up with old acquaintances but manages to sneak an explanation of something through her American views.For example when she is visiting people, you can see the difference in her writing:

"I like to sit around these women talking together uncensored and unrestrained. It allows me to take the temperature of cultural politics, important to my idea…" (page 72)

The writer uses the word "I" a lot which is used mostly in informal writing. She does not talk about facts or figures but rather what she likes and doesn't like which is something completely personal.

By having these "two Paternostros" explaining Colombia, the reader gets information and an inside scoop. Its as if the normal news and the scandalous news mix together to make one story around one topic. It gives this memoir a very unique style.