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To treat the Uruguay lover in your life to some great gifts or to read by yourself. The Guru has chosen some of her favourite books by Uruguayans or about Uruguay for your pleasure.
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By Karen A Higgs. Forget those travel guides with dry laundry list of things to do. The Guru’Guay guides, as one reader said, have passion and soul. And this is the very latest edition—just out November 2024. Guru’Guay guides are the only ones written by an author who is based full-time in the country. Indispensable for getting the most out of Uruguay whether you’re a visitor or relocating.
By Karen A Higgs. This companion guide to the Uruguay guide, has 124 pages devoted to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, but it looks at Uruguay’s society and culture in general. Your burning questions as a foreigner are answered. For example, how did this Latin American country get to have complete separation of church and state over a hundred years ago? It covers expressions used on the street and what they mean. There’s even a chapter dedicated to ‘the Uruguayan character’, a chapter of entirely personal anecdotes about presidents to petty thieves. And of course, because it’s a city guide there are over sixty pages on food and drink and things to do (including architectural highlights, shopping, live music and great day trips).
🔗 Buy Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo on Amazon (140 five-star reviews)
By Pablo Vierci. This is the definitive account of the world’s greatest survival story. Published almost 50 years after the horrific Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes mountains, this is the one account that all the survivors signed off on. The story of course is well known, since being told in a major Netflix film. “Alarmingly gritty, moving and powerfully told, journalist Pablo Vierci recounts the unsettling stories of the sixteen survivors in intimate detail. Drawing on exclusive interviews, Society of the Snow delves into the tragedy of the crash and how it radically redefined the rest of the survivors’ lives. Ultimately, however, the book is a touching testament to the strength of faith, friendship, and the resilience of the human spirit.” But prior to the film, just a handful of international visitors would pass through the Andes 1972 museum in the old city of Montevideo and scarcely an Uruguayan. Now it’s packed. In a small society like the Uruguayan one, the survivors have finally been given the position and recognition they deserve. And the values that carried the survivors through their ordeal really say a lot about Uruguay. Available in hardback and paperback in January 2025.
By W. H. Hudson. This 1885 fictional chronicle of an Englishman going native in Uruguay was declared the best work of gaucho literature by legendary Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. Hemingway also cited it in The Sun Also Rises. It’s a hugely entertaining read and so insightful. I wished that I had read it when I first came to Uruguay. Despite the fact that it was written over 140 years ago, after I had finished reading, I felt that I understood Uruguay so much better. It was originally written in English.
By Pablo Brum. A real page-turner. The former president of Uruguay, José ‘Pepe’ Mujica, became a global icon in the early 2010s. The BBC called him “the world’s poorest president” due to his notoriously austere lifestyle, eschewing luxury and protocol like no other head of state. “According to Mujica himself, all of his conduct and ideology is rooted in his time as a guerrilla: as a Tupamaro. Beginning in the late 1960s, the uprising of the Tupamaros shook Uruguay and rippled across the Western world. Born in a middle-class, urbanized society, these guerrillas did not fight within the natural shelters of jungles and mountains, but rather in the concrete maze of the city. Infiltrating residences, bars, movie theaters, sewers, police stations, and mansions, the Tupamaros were everywhere and nowhere. Uruguay’s under-resourced police had to face the world’s most sophisticated urban insurgents. The Tupamaros employed diverse, though often contradictory, tactics: from hunger relief commandos and the armed propaganda that gave them the Robin Hood title, to taking hostages and descending into murderous terrorism. This is the first complete English-language history of the Tupamaros and of Mujica, who under the codename Facundo was directly involved in many operations. As the president himself has said, the way to understand him as both man and politician is as a Tupamaro.” Written by Pablo Brum, an Uruguayan intelligence and cybersecurity professional on the faculty at Georgetown University.
By Eduardo Galeano. Eduardo Galeano (1940-2015) was an Uruguayan journalist and author most well-known for his classic work denouncing five centuries of “the pillage of a continent”, Open Veins of Latin America. When it appeared in 1971, it was considered so incendiary that it was banned across South America. Despite that, it offers a wealth of historical information in simple language in short vignettes, making the Spanish version a perfect gift for the Spanish student in your life. As well as being one of Latin America’s most prominent progressive, Galeano was also a huge football fan. Soccer in Sun and Shadow has been called: “One of the greatest, magical, and most lyrical accounts of the beautiful game”. Galeano was often seen about Montevideo, especially in the window of the café Brasilero in the old city, until his death in 2015. I’ve bought this for multiple football lovers in my life, of all ages, and everyone loves it.
By George Reid Andrews. Many people are surprised to learn that Uruguay has a significant Afro-Uruguayan population. The new census is expected to show possibly 14% of the population. When I was interviewing key players from the community, many referenced this book written by an academic from the US. Afro-Uruguayans have played an outsized role in Uruguay’s national life, defining much of the country’s culture and art and creating the second-largest black press in Latin America. Check it out in paperback or for Kindle.
By Fernanda Trías. Long listed in 2024 for the US National Book Award for translated literature, Pink Slime (an inspired translation for the original title, Mugre Rosa) is a harrowing, Latin American Gothic novel set in a city—very reminiscent of Montevideo—ravaged by a mysterious plague. Fernanda Trías was born in Uruguay and is the award-winning author of three novels, two of which have been published in English. She holds an MFA in creative writing from New York University. Translation rights for her work have been sold in 15 languages.
Article first published on December 5 2024 and updated last on the date above
Namasté — Vegetarian restaurant in Montevideo
Namasté is more than just a vegetarian restaurant in Montevideo. This colourful, family-run spot has been serving vegetarian and vegan food since 2008. And the food is only part of the experience. Come for a relaxed meal, stay for the atmosphere, the friendly service and the chance to slow down for a while.
Dance tango in Uruguay. Whether a complete newbie or you already dance, the tango scene in Montevideo is a great way to make friends.
Estancia Los Plátanos – Authentic 6th generation ranch
Venture into deep Uruguay to Estancia Los Platanos, a working ranch. Just 3 guestrooms—and there’s a gorgeous indoor pool.
Nominate your favourites for the 2027 Montevideo Guru’Guay guide
Do you love a business in the capital that absolutely MUST be in our next best selling Montevideo guidebook?
Ignacio Fuentes, RE/MAX – Recommended Montevideo realtor
Montevideo real estate made easy—foreigners trust this realtor for smooth, reliable rentals and property purchases.
Estancia El Cangüé – Cattle & roses in Paysandú
Home to Uruguay’s biggest rose collection, this 200 year west Uruguay estancia is the perfect destination for outdoor adventure or a wedding.
Martín Pescador – Sierras ranch 1 hr from ocean
Just an hour inland from the beaches of Punta and José Ignacio, the perfect Uruguay estancia, horse riding and trekking.
Uruguay LGBT rights – A trailblazer for over a century
Did you know Uruguay is among the most LGBT-friendly countries worldwide? Small nation. Big equality record.
TEFL Uruguay: new qualification for foreigners and Uruguayans to teach English abroad
TEFL Uruguay comes to Montevideo in 2027: Four-week face-to-face training for foreigners and English-fluent locals.
Expats in Uruguay spill the beans: What life is really like
We interview foreigners in Uruguay who moved here from principally English-speaking countries so you can learn from their mistakes.
Dance tango in Uruguay. Whether a complete newbie or you already dance, the tango scene in Montevideo is a great way to make friends.
Did you know Uruguay is among the most LGBT-friendly countries worldwide? Small nation. Big equality record.
Despite its pint size population, Uruguay football has one of the most successful national teams in soccer history.
Discover what the weather in Uruguay is *really* like throughout the year, based on 25+ years experience living in Uruguay.
Uruguay makes history once again. Euthanasia in Uruguay is now legal. We learn what went on behind the scenes from the most visible campaigner.
La Celeste’s—Uruguay’s footy team—major matches deserve a great venue. A classic Montevideo football bar & the iconic city hall esplanade.
9 responses
Here’s one by Eduardo Mariani, fiction about a non-fictional person, a charrúa exiled to France in 1833: “Laureano.” I’ve tried to find Mariani’s earlier works, “Fratelli” and “La Tinta Invisible,” but no luck. (I’ve used quotation marks because I haven’t figured out how to get either italics or red letters –let’s see how that turns out.)
How about Carolina de Robertis: The invisible mountain (not sure about the title, as I didn’t read it in english)
Hey Anne, That’s a book we recommend in our reading chapter in the Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo — so totally with you there! — Karen
I think you left a gem behind: La Uruguaya. <3
You know, I was going to recommend it. It’s called The woman from Uruguay in translation. But as it’s written by an Argentine and only plays out for one day in Uruguay it didn’t make the cut 🤣 Thanks, Carolina! — Karen
Great recommendations!
Glad you like them, Manu! How many have you read?? 🙂
Karen, George Reid Andrews also wrote The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1800-1900 (University of Wisconsin Press, 1980), in which he refers to them as “forgotten but not gone.”
Thanks, Wayne!