This is a rarity in contemporary writing, a truly bilingual enterprise, as in Susana Chavez-Silverman's previous memoir, "Killer Cronicas." Chavez-Silverman switches between English and Spanish, creating a""linguistic "mestizaje" that is still a surprise encounter in the world of letters today, and the author forms one of a small but growing band of writers to embrace bilingualism as a literary force. Also like "Killer Cronicas," each chapter in "Scenes from la Cuenca de Los Angeles" is a "cronica," a vignette that began as intimate diary entries and e-mails and letters to lovers, friends, and ghosts from the past. These episodic chapters follow the Chavez-Silverman's personal history, from California to South Africa and Australia and back, from unfathomable loss to deeply felt joy. Readers drawn into this witty book will confront their own conceptions of boundaries, borders, languages, memories, and spaces.