Mexico: Almadía. 2010. 188p. ISBN 978-607-411-039-5. pap. $21.95. STORIES
Award-winning Mexican poet and translator Anaya presents a wonderful compilation of ancient Chinese stories that walk the line between fantasy and hyperreality to reveal wisdom and transcendence in everyday choices and chores. Work, fate, higher learning through observation, the absence of dualities, and such virtues as patience, compassion, and selflessness are some of the themes that these stories (sometimes only one or two paragraphs long) capture with mastery. The authors, anonymous philosophers and poets, grandparents of Zen and Tao, also employed creatures such as dragons and talking animals to inspire the exploration of the human nature and convey instruction through enlightening paradox. Anaya's prolog offers a general introduction to some of the stories' historical and psychological aspects. The selection makes for a funny and refreshing read with flashes of profound reflection. Recommended for public libraries with a Classic literature or mysticism collection.-Angela Lang, New York, NY
Venganza en Sevilla.
(Vengeance in Seville)
Asensi, Matilde.
Mexico: Planeta. 2010. 300p. ISBN 978-607-07-0364-5. pap. $19.95. HISTORICAL FICTION
Spain's Golden Age gets the swashbuckling treatment in Volume two of the "Martín Ojo de Plata" ("Martin Silver Eye") trilogy by best-selling Spanish author Asensi. This fast-paced tale of dual identity, deception, and revenge paints a colorful tableau of 1607 Seville, where 23-year-old Catalina Solís arrives from the Caribbean to exact revenge on one of Seville's most powerful families for the unjust imprisonment and death of her adoptive father. To gain access to the crooked Curvo clan, Catalina switches back and forth almost too effortlessly between her two identities: New World adventurer Martín Nevares and beguiling wealthy widow Catalina Solís. Asensi crafts a delightfully tortuous storyline bursting with evocative descriptions, rich characterization, and just enough archaic Spanish to add flavor and authenticity to the dialog without sounding pretentious or affected. At times, Catalina's ability to remain unrecognized while in character as Nevares stretches the bounds of credibility, but Asensi's gift for storytelling makes this detail easy to overlook. The author's thorough research of 17th-century Spain and its early ties to Latin America adds fascinating historical context. Recommended for bookstores and popular fiction collections.-Pamela Corante, Los Angeles
Yo amo a mi mami.
(I Love My Mommy)
Bayly, Jaime.
Spain/U.S.: Alfaguara: Santillana. 2010. 450p. ISBN 978-1-61605-089-4. pap. $19.99. FICTION
Peruvian Bayly is the consummate triple threat: TV host, journalist, and novelist. His works have earned him an avalanche of praise from critics and peers, including fellow Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa and the late Chilean Roberto Bolaño, who remarked that Bayly was one of the few authors who could write about “anything and everything.” Indeed, his literary works range from sex to drugs to politics, and he imbues them with the same wit, humor, and vitality he brings to his TV hosting duties. Now, the publisher has begun issuing new editions of Bayly’s dozen works—two of which have been adapted for the big screen—and including a prolog by the author. Of Yo amo a mi mami, originally published in 1999, Bayly here admits that he wanted to craft a novel about childhood innocence. Loosely based on Bayly’s childhood—the narrative features young Jimmy, who forms an unlikely bond with a female cook—the novel is written with literary panache, revealing not only Bayly’s chops as a novelist but also his love of flesh-and-blood characters. But a Bayly novel would not be a novel if it were not also simultaneously a critique by the author on the social trappings of religion, the class-based racism of the Peruvian oligarchy, and the machismo and homophobia of the modern Latin American man, all elements in evidence here. Recommended for libraries with literary fiction collections.—Michael Sosa, Brooklyn, NY
Bajo la piel de Channel.
(Beneath Channel’s Skin)
Moreno, Danilo.
Mexico: Almadía. 240p. 2010. ISBN 978-607-411-041-8. pap. $21.95. FICTION.
In this new work from Colombian novelist Moreno, stripper and prostitute Channel tells her life story, often reflecting on her family and her rural, underprivileged upbringing and focusing mostly on her doomed relationship with Santiago, a charming but elusive psychiatrist. Channel is an incurable exhibitionist who also enjoys drinking and smoking dope. Although she has other friends and regularly has sex for money—one of her clients is an arguably too kinky presidential adviser—she remains obsessed with Santiago. Moreno shows some good taste when describing the melancholy moods of Bogota, but he’s a poor erotica author. Most of the time, Channel comes across more like a stereotypical male erotic fantasy than a flesh-and-blood character, making it difficult for the reader to connect with her. Throughout several pages, the author seems to use stock phrases taken from Penthouse letters (“he made me reach the sky”) just tinged with prudishness: “The little thing that tickles me all over my body….” Although occasionally amusing, this novel doesn’t add much to Colombia’s already oversexed and overdrugged contemporary narrative. Recommended as a secondary holding for large/popular fiction collections.—Carlos Rodríguez Martorell, East Elmhurst, NY
During the Napoleonic Wars, Cadiz was the safe haven of Spain. The Cadiz Courts, or national legislative body, even managed to establish Spain’s first constitution there in 1812. In this thrilling novel, however, the city is far from safe, as a series of brutal assassinations threatens the livelihood of all those trying to defend Spain against the French. Against this backdrop, six main characters, which include a police chief, a taxidermist, and a sailor, have their own lives to lead. This intricate weaving of plots provides a fascinating snapshot of life in a 19th-century Spain that is racked by lawlessness and uncertainty. At 700-plus pages, this dense and intricate story is being billed as a “novel of novels,” as well as Pérez-Reverte’s last historical work. The best-selling author of El capitán Alatriste, among others, is a versatile writer who is equally compelling when describing the city of Cadiz, the historical events that led up to the first written Spanish constitution, and the various plots that unite the main characters. While his novels do not differ greatly in style or tone, this one is a gripping read that will delight existing fans and appeal to aficionados of adventure stories, historical fiction, or crime novels. Recommended for all public libraries.—Alison Hicks, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
Cuentos de matrimonios.
(Stories on Marriage)
Various authors.
Argentina/U.S.: Alfaguara: Santillana. 2010. ISBN 978-987-04-1421-6. pap. $19.99. FICTION
As Argentinean author Claudia Piñeiro explains in the prolog, it is impossible to define marriage. However, the authors of these 17 stories—ranging from Giovanni Bocaccio (1313–75) to Leon Tolstoi (1828–1910) to Clarice Lispector (1926–1977)—all offer varying perspectives on the feelings, experiences, and actions of husbands and wives and the intricacies of marriage in general. In Mario Benedetti’s “Los pocillos” (“The Coffee Mugs”), Mariana’s husband has become blind. Taking advantage of his disability, Mariana regularly makes out with her brother-in-law in front of her husband…until the day her husband tells her he does not want to drink coffee from a green mug. In Rosa Montero’s hilarious “Las bodas de plata” (“Silver Wedding Anniversary”), a daughter narrates how the surprise party she and her siblings tried to organize to celebrate their parents’ 25th anniversary turned into a family drama and had to be cancelled twice. In the ancient narration “De lo que sucedió a un joven que se casó con una mujer violenta y de mal carácter” (“Of What Happened to a Young Man Who Married an Aggressive and Violent Woman,” by Don Juan Manuel (1282–1348), the author intends to give advice to men planning to marry a difficult woman by recounting the story of a man who threatened to kill his wife if she did not obey him. The endings are sometimes happy and sometimes sad, as with marriage itself, but all the stories artistically analyze the complexity of marriage while probing its very definition and relationship to love. Recommended for all bookstores and libraries.—María Elena Cruz, Boston, MA
Centauros. La aventura del conquistador Alonso de Ojeda.
(Centaurs: The Adventure of the Conquistador Alonso de Ojeda)
Vázquez-Figueroa, Alberto.
Spain: Zeta Bolsillo: Ediciones B, dist. by Spanish Pubs. 2010. 397p. ISBN 978-84-9872-335-9. pap. $14.95. FICTION
Best-selling Spanish writer Vázquez-Figueroa has authored over 60 novels, a number of which have been turned into films, as well as a six-volume autobiography. He has traveled the world, lived in northern Africa for almost 15 years, was a professional deep sea diver and journalist, and is the inventor of a cutting-edge desalinization technique. It is perhaps his love of the sea that compelled him to take us across the Atlantic Ocean with renowned conquistador Alonso de Ojeda, traveling along with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage and “discovering” parts of the New World and its inhabitants on that and subsequent expeditions. An exhilarating character, Alonso de Ojeda (c. 1466–1515) was a genuine historic figure whose life was previously fictionalized by controversial Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and by Vázquez-Figueroa himself. Here, the novelist paints a fresh, vivid, and entertaining portrait of the conquistador during his travels: he is a fun loving, sword-wielding fortune hunter, set on discovering new lands despite the troubles he encounters, cannibals and all. Notwithstanding the unfortunate stereotypes of the Caribbean indigenous populations, the author manages to make the story very enticing. Recommended for all bookstores serving fans of historical fiction.—Sophie Lavoie, Univ. of New Brunswick, Fredericton
In this semiautobiographical novel, his most intimate work yet, Vila-Matas (winner of the Premio Herralde de Novela) paints a luminous portrait of a depressed man about to turn his life around. Once a respected literary publisher with a busy nightlife, Samuel Riba is now a recluse—a hikikomori (in Japanese, a misanthropist), as he calls himself—a solitary man who lives in Barcelona, engrossed in his own thoughts. Things went downhill since he was forced to close his small publishing company two years before, right when a nearly fatal drinking binge forced him to stop any alcohol consumption. Now about to turn 60, Riba is constantly revisiting his life, his parents’ expectations, his wife’s decision to become a Buddhist, and his favorite literary works. He is particularly obsessed with James Joyce’s Ulysses, which he considers the literary masterpiece of all time. Months prior, he had a vivid dream in which he and his wife were having a great time in Dublin, a city he had never visited before, until she discovers that he has been drinking again. At the doorsteps of the Coxwold pub, he embraces her and they both cry inconsolably as an overwhelming feeling of rebirth takes hold of him. Inspired by the dream and now determined to reinvent himself in this foreign land, Riba organizes a trip to Ireland with three friends. They will celebrate Bloomsday and then conduct a symbolic funeral for Riba’s publishing company right in the cemetery where Bloom buries his friend Paddy Dignam. Not long after landing, Riba has a feeling that he is fulfilling a prophecy: the hotel pub’s name is John Cox Wilde. “Lucid and logical” (as in Ulysses’s sixth chapter) but also emotionally complex, this novel is peppered with cinematographic scenes, humorous thoughts, and memorable lines. Though narrated in third person, the story takes us mainly through Riba’s thoughts, which allows readers to get a sense of his vulnerability, sense of humor, and internal conflicts. A tour de force, this novel has to be Vila-Matas best work yet.—Ximena Diego, Brooklyn, NY
This collection comprises five diverse personalities, all poets and each an aspect of the intricate consciousness of one man, Roque Dalton, a Salvadoran writer who sought justice through verse as well as action and whose work is timeless. Dalton became an avid participant in the guerilla army called el Ejercito Revolucionario del Pueblo and at the same time began publishing poetry with political and sarcastic undertones that make his work so identifiable. Five personas, both male and female, are evident throughout, offering a relentless taste of honesty that could only come from someone who understands the struggle of a misrepresented people. And yet there are aesthetic investigations as well; “Arte Poetica 1974,” a poem written by Timoteo Lúe, a law student (and one of Dalton’s aliases), dictates this poet’s love of art and creativity: “Poesía/ perdóname por haberte ayudado a comprender/ que no estás hecha solo de palabras” (“Poetry/ forgive me for having had to help you understand/ that you are not made only of words”). A great addition to any collection; recommended for all students and lovers of poetry.—Rick Villalobos, Villa Park P.L., IL
Negocios y espiritualidad.
(Business and Spirituality])
Inamori, Kazuo.
tr. by Alicia García Bergua.
Mexico: Alamah. 2009. 149p. ISBN 978-607-11-0216-4. pap. $16.99. SPIRITUALITY/BUSINESS
Recently named CEO of Japan Airlines, Inamori is an organic chemist by training, the founder of the multinational manufacturing company Kyocera, and an ordained Buddhist cleric. His unusual background makes for a book that’s atypical of both the business and the spirituality genres. Inamori calls the reader to mindfulness in business and in life and to the development of a life philosophy that will serve as a compass, without which one will be doomed to failure or anomie. He urges assimilating into all our efforts the very purpose of life: to illuminate the heart and perfect the soul through generosity, ethical action, devotion, effort, concentration, and wisdom. Success, he insists repeatedly, is the product of one’s way of thinking multiplied by determination and ability, but the greater of these is the first. Much of Inamori’s message can be distilled to the Buddhist proverb, “All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” While most of the examples he uses come from the business world, Inamori’s ideas are equally applicable to any life path. His precise, logical, and incisive style renders the abstract palatable for more concrete thinkers. Recommended for bookstores and public libraries where motivational books are popular.—Carolyn Kost, Stevenson Sch. Lib., Pebble Beach, CA
Contenedor de silencios.
(Container of Silences)
López, Siro
Spain: Khaf: Edelvives. 2010. 171p. ISBN 978-84-263-7234-5. pap. $24.95. ART/ART HISTORY
As we evolve into an increasingly visually sophisticated society, artists are often the first to manipulate and poke holes in the visual paradigms that shape our lives. López, a Spanish agitprop artist, graphic designer, and activist, presents the reader with a challenge, or, in his own words, “a workbook” of images and stark text designed to provoke thought and discussion. Each image is by turns comedic and aggressively political, echoing the propaganda and media that saturates our daily lives. At times the humor serves as a vehicle to absorb harsh truths, but López can be heavy-handed, punishing the viewer for having thought anything was funny at all. He does well with his simpler icon-based graphic work, where the message is clear and punchy, but his use of photo imagery falls short; the viewer is given so much to look at that the message is lost. Ultimately, these artworks do not seem suited to the monograph format and might be better showcased on the web. Recommended for art history departments with an interest in contemporary Spanish art.—Laura Torres, Somerville, MA
La fe de grafiti.
(The Faith of Graffiti)
Mailer, Norman (text) & Jon Naar (photogs.).
tr. by Camila Enrich. Spain: 451 Editores. 2010. 128p. ISBN 978-84-92891-03-0. pap. $36.95. PHOTOGRAPHY
Originally published in 1975, this book features the collaborative efforts of famed novelist Mailer and photographer Naar to provide a provocative defense of a reviled art form. The book had been out of print and difficult to find despite its reputation as a seminal document of New York City’s graffiti movement. As evidenced by this reissue, Mailer’s essay is still a fresh perspective on graffiti art and an important document about 1970s New York. Mailer gives us a glimpse into the lives and energy of artists who marked the city while also providing a scholarly context to the movement. Naar’s documentary-style photographs are simply stunning. The viewer ends up feeling a perhaps misplaced nostalgia for a grittier yet dynamic and soulful New York. At the time, graffiti art had not yet taken on the complex, air-brushed look that was common in in the 1980s. The tags are simple: a mark, a name, a way of declaring identity, a sense of self, a roll call. As the tags layer, the graffiti becomes a textile that wraps the city in colorful obscenities. Highly recommended, especially for academic libraries.—Laura Torres, Somerville, MA
Gabriela Mistral. En verso y prosa.
(Gabriela Mistral: In Verse and Prose)
Mistral, Gabriela.
Goic, Cedomil, Ed.
Perú/U.S.: Alfaguara: Santillana. 2010. 758p. ISBN 978-84-204-0559-9. pap. $15.99. POETRY
The magnitude of the work of this Chilean poet, the first Latin American and fifth woman to receive the Nobel Prize (she won in 1945), is apparent by the abundance of praise in the short studies, forewords, and essays that open this compilation—a total of 13. Mistral’smystic source, personal life, and work are discussed in the prolog, but it is Carlos Germán Belli’s travelog ruminations on the places where Mistral set foot that truly tie the reader to the work. Winding through Mistral’s deep timbre, grand vowels, and biblical enunciation is a tender nostalgia for the rivers, ridges, and flowers of the Elqui Vally her childhood home. Impassioned and fervent, Mistral’s poetry emanates from a life of arduous struggle and tragedy, also reflecting the anguished voices of the oppressed. While “Desolación” (“Desolation”) may be her darkest and most personal work, “Lagar” (“Wine Press”) teems with the voices of women in love or despair and reveals a patient Mistral awaiting death. Included in the anthology are poems from the four books Mistral published in her lifetime, unedited poems published posthumously (such as “Poem of Chile”), and a collection of her prose. This authoritative edition is recommended for any library or bookstore with a Spanish collection.—Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Palo Alto, CA
Cuando éramos honrados mercenarios. Artículos 2005–2009.
(When We Were Honorable Mercenaries: Articles, 2005–2009)
Pérez-Reverte, Arturo.
Mexico/U.S.: Alfaguara: Santillana. 2009. 625p. ISBN 978-607-11-0381-9. pap. $24.99. ARTICLES
This is a collection of the weekly columns written by noted novelist Pérez-Reverte (see El asedio, reviewed above) for XLSemanal from 2005 to 2009 (many were also published by La Nación in Argentina and Milenio in Mexico) in which he speaks his mind about current world events and popular culture in a chatty, informal style. The essays are organized chronologically, each one an easily digested, bite-sized two and a half to three pages. Pérez-Reverte brings his Everyman’s voice to a wide variety of situations, ideas, and themes that range from the trivial to the transcendent: from women’s behinds (feminism and free speech) to F. Scott Fitzgerald to political corruption and the sad state of the world economy. While the themes are universal, Pérez-Reverte’s vocabulary is definitely not. He uses many local words and terms that will likely be unfamiliar to many readers, which necessitates keeping a dictionary at hand. Recommended for large public and academic libraries.—Sara Martinez, Hispanic Resource Ctr., Tulsa City–Cty. Lib. Syst., OK
La otra raza cósmica.
(The Other Cosmic Race)
Vasconcelos, José.
tr. by Heriberto Yépez. Mexico: Almadía. 2010. 152p. ISBN 978-607-411-042-5. pap. $17.95. ESSAYS/PHILOSOPHY
Nearly 100 years after the peak of his intellectual influence, Vasconcelos remains a titan of Latin American thought. In 1925, the philosopher, hands-on revolutionary, and educator (the first Mexican secretary of education, he was known throughout the hemisphere as the “Maestro de las Américas”) published La raza cósmica, a book whose consequences for postcolonial identity issues are still thunderous. The following year, Vasconcelos was invited to the United States by the Harris Foundation for a series of lectures titled “The Latin American Basis of Mexican Civilization”; as translator Yépez observes in his extensive introductory note to this volume, the title sounds dry enough—yet the content between these covers is impassioned. Yépez’s title is elaborate wordplay: though the lectures essentially parallel the themes of La raza cósmica, the bilingual Vasconcelos published them in English and carefully aimed his messages at a U.S. audience. This edition thus complements the better-known original by offering insights heretofore unavailable to Spanish-language readers. It is also a timely reminder of the noble brilliance of the great young philosopher, a light that faded regrettably in the embittered second half of his life. The eponym of the controversial mega-library built in Mexico City during Vicente Fox’s presidency, Vasconcelos himself is a contentious figure in many respects because of the profound shifts in his thinking that blemished his later years. A useful prolog by Leonardo de Jandra, along with the translator’s note, sets in context these essays on race, democracy, and development in Latin America—as well as in the United States. Vasconcelos spoke about diversity and ethnicity in terms that surely few in his 1920s Chicago audience had ever heard and that many Americans have still failed to grasp 85 years later. An excellent choice for academic collections.—Bruce Jensen, Kutztown Univ. Lib., PA
ALSO IN TRANSLATION
FICTION
El eco negro.
(The Black Echo)
Connelly, Michael.
tr. by Helena Martin. Spain: RocaBolsillo: Roca, dist. by Spanish Pubs. 2010. 487p. ISBN 978-84-96940-80-2. pap. $14.95. FICTION
This was best-selling author Connelly’s first novel and the work that introduces us to the incomparable Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch. It’s essential for Spanish-language readers who love thrillers.–Barbara Hoffert
El observatorio.
(The Overlook)
Connelly, Michael.
tr. by Javier Guerrero. Spain: RocaBolsillo: Roca, dist. by Spanish Pubs. 2010. 221p. ISBN 978-84-96940-79-6. pap. $13.95. FICTION
Crime fiction master Connelly (Echo Park) delivers again with this expanded version of a 16-part serial originally published in the New York Times Magazine. The novel finds Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch one year after the Echo Park case, with a new partner, Ignacio Ferrara, and a new assignment in the elite Homicide Special division. Bosch is called to investigate what appears to be a typical homicide, but when the FBI arrives, Bosch faces something much bigger. The victim was a medical physicist forced to steal radioactive material from a cancer clinic before his death, and Bosch, FBI Agent Rachel Walling, and others are drawn into a search for the stolen material and the terrorists suspected of the heist. Bosch’s tenacity reveals unexpected layers to the case and a surprising resolution of the crime. The plotting is fast-paced, with the action taking place within 12 hours. Not surprisingly, Connelly’s latest is a real page-turner. For all popular fiction collections. [LJ 4/1/07]
Amor sin escalas.
(Up in the Air)
Kirn, Walter.
tr. by Eva Carballeira. Spain/U.S.: Suma de letras: Santillana. 2010. 326p. ISBN 978-607-11-0437-3. pap. $19.99. FICTION
In this quirky and unsettling novel (his third after Thumbsucker), Kirn manages to capture on paper much of what is worst about our present age. Ryan Bingham, a business flyer, is six days from attaining his personal goal of one million miles on his frequent-flyer account. He’s in the air so much that he has no actual real-world address, having become, instead, a resident of “Airworld,” where “my hometown papers are USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.” Bingham’s job is CTC (Career Transition Counseling) helping large companies fire their executives with minimal legal risk. The job is wearing him down, but he’s determined to reach his mileage goal, and this determination, amazingly, provides sufficient suspense to carry the reader along from airport to airport. Kirn has a gift for exploiting telling details about our consumption-mad culture, hinting at dark marketing conspiracies that will have us all buying strange items within the month, as though we were simply puppets of the marketing companies. Recommended for most fiction collections. [LJ 7/01]
Los hombres que miraban fijamente a las cabras.
(Men Who Stare at Goats)
Ronson, Jon.
tr. by Carlos Abreu. Spain: Ediciones B, dist. by Spanish Pubs. 2010. 282p. ISBN 978-84-666-4244-6. pap. $26.95. FICTION
Passing through walls. Killing goats with a cool gaze. Just some of the paranormal activities the U.S. Army’s First Earth Battalion reputedly tried to accomplish. From the author of the equally weird but scary Them. [Prepub Alert, LJ 12/04]
Infiel. Historias de transgression.
(Faithless: Stories of Transgression)
Oates, Joyce Carol.
tr. by MariCarmen Bellvar. Spain/U.S.: Alfaguara: Santillana. 2010. 547p. ISBN 978-607-11-0417-5. pap. $21.99. FICTION
These 24 stories from the prolific Oates range widely, but none of them is sweet and gentle. Once again, Oates demonstrates her interest in and her skill at portraying sin, obsession, and crime.—BH
La última canción.
(The Last Song)
Sparks, Nicolas.
tr. by Iolanda Rabascall. Spain: Roca, dist. by Spanish Pubs. 2010. 444p. ISBN 978-84-9918-040-3. pap. $20.95. FICTION
An angry daughter, off to visit her divorced dad, has a revelatory summer. Made into a movie starring Miley Cyrus that did not exactly shine, but Sparks is a best-selling author with quite a following.—BH
NONFICTION
Las grabaciones de Bill Clinton. Diario confidencial del Presidente 1993-2001.
(The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President)
Branch, Taylor.
tr. by Maria Luisa Rodriguez Tapia. Spain: RBA, dist. by Santillana USA. 2010. 766p. ISBN 978-84-9867-756-0. pap. $27.99. BIOGRAPHY/POLITICS
In secret, often late-night sessions, Pulitzer Prize winner Branch (America in the King Years) met with Bill Clinton almost 80 times during his presidency to tape record Clinton’s ruminations across a variety of topics. The author would direct the discussions by asking poignant questions and would follow up by recording his own take on the conversations. Branch now presents the results of this collaboration (with Clinton also having used his recorded thoughts for his own memoir, My Life). Covered here, in what the author acknowledges is neither history nor autobiography, are all the major topics, along with many personal and political anecdotes. Branch excellently captures Clinton’s emotions, notably frustration with speaker of the house Newt Gingrich and the Republican Congress, and anger over his impeachment and with the media’s emphasizing the salacious details of the Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky matters. Especially revealing is Clinton’s speaking of a bitter argument with Vice President Al Gore over the reasons Gore lost the 2000 election. Branch’s lucid writing and keen interviewing skills keep this book from being a disjointed series of ramblings. Will fascinate informed readers and American presidency scholars. [LJ 9/15/09]
Comprometida. Una historia de amor.
(Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage)
Gilbert, Elizabeth.
tr. by Gabriela Bustelo. Spain/U.S.: Aguilar: Santillana. 2010. 277p. ISBN 978-1-61605-076-4. pap. $18.99. MEMOIR
After her Brazilian boyfriend is denied re-entry at a border crossing, Gilbert is faced with no other option but to marry him if they want to continue living together in the United States. Despite her previous insistence never to re-marry (familiar to readers of her phenomenally successful Eat Pray Love), Gilbert comes to terms with the institution after several months of enforced exile abroad with her boyfriend. This well-researched, thought-provoking investigation into marriage in the Western World, interspersed with her own personal journey to the altar, is highly recommended for anyone considering tying the knot.—Lauren Gilbert [“Memoirs,” BookSmack!, 11/5/09]
Lo que vio el perro y otras aventuras.
(What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures)
Gladwell, Malcolm.
tr. by Pedro Cifuentes. Spain/U.S.: Taurus: Santillana. 2010. 427p. ISBN 978-1-61605-074-0. pap. $19.99. ARTICLES/ESSAYS
Gladwell (The Tipping Point) has gathered 22 of his pieces that have appeared in The New Yorker since 1996, arranging them into three sections: “Obsessive, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius,” “Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses,” and “Personality, Character and Intelligence.” Fans who are not familiar with Gladwell’s articles will be delighted to discover that his shorter work contains the same level of insight, wit, and talent for making the mundane fascinating as they’ve come to expect from his longer work. Gladwell’s writing here is filled with colorful characters, acute analyses, and intriguing questions. However, be warned that the organization of the articles by topic rather than by date can be confusing, especially since much of what Gladwell is discussing has since changed. For instance, although articles about the Challenger explosion, the stock market, and Enron all have postscripts, the original publication dates are indicated neither in the table of contents nor at the start of the pieces, frustrating readers’ attempts to learn what time period each article covers. Fans of Gladwell’s writing will want to add this to their bookshelves. [LJ 11/15/09]
La sabiduria de la menopausia. Cuida de tu salud fisica y emocional durante este periodo de cambios.
(The Wisdom of Menopause)
Northrup, Christiane, M.D.
tr. by Amelia Brito A. Spain/U.S.: Urano. 2009. 696p. ISBN 978-84-7953-727-2. pap. $27.95. HEALTH
Author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, a million-copy best seller, Oprah regular Northrup helps women prepare for menopause, both physically and emotionally. [Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/00.]
ublinesca.
Vla-Matas Enrique.
Reader Comments (1)
Hi:
I have a book that will be published in Mexico DF shortly. It is currently available
free at my website: http://www.idiomaamericano.org. It can be downloaded in
English, Spanish or Portuguese as a pdf file. I hope you find it interesting and
will give it a review.
Posted by Russel Blair on September 15, 2010 08:50:46PM
