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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionseBook editionsSomething to Declareby Julia Alvarez
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:"Reading Julia Alvarez's new collection of essays is like curling up with a glass of wine in one hand and the phone in the other, listening to a big-hearted, wisecracking friend share hard-earned wisdom about family, identity, and the art of writing." —People The rich and revealing essays in Something to Declare offer Julia Alvarez's dual meditations on coming to America and becoming a writer. In the first section, "Customs," Alvarez relates how she and her family fled the Dominican Republic and its oppressive dictator, Rafael Trujillo, settling in New York City in the 1960s. Here Julia begins a love affair with the English language under the tutelage of the aptly named Sister Maria Generosa. Part Two—"Declarations"—celebrates Alvarez's enduring passion for the writing life. From the valentine to mythic storyteller Scheherazade that is "First Muse," to a description of Alvarez's itinerant life as a struggling poet, teacher, and writer in "Have Typewriter, Will Travel," to the sage and witty advice of "Ten of My Writing Commandments," Alvarez generously shares her influences and inspirations with aspiring writers everywhere. Review:"This is the first collection of essays from the noted poet and novelist Julia Alvarez. Truth be told, I like her poems better: they are crisper, tighter, so often simply wonderful. These essays are autobiographical, airy and simple and sometimes a little flat. Many of the essays circle a primary concern for Alvarez: her sense of location and inheritance as part of her identity as a writer. Being an American novelist living in Vermont who has been pegged as an important Latino voice in contemporary literature, Alvarez is concerned to present herself more simply as a working, struggling writer. All the same, the voices of her family and the questions of her critics and readers keep bringing her back to the fundamental question of where she fits, of where her writing comes from, and what it can be called. The answer might best be found in her poems and novels, and left at that. These aren't bad essays, by any stretch. The writing, as one might expect, is fine, and many of the stories about her childhood are especially evocative. Particular fans of Alvarez's work will surely be interested in the autobiographical material, as will students of Latin American literature." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review) Synopsis:This first nonfiction work by this acclaimed novelist includes 24 personal essays on her writing life as well as her experience emigrating from the Dominican Republic. About the AuthorJulia Alvarez is the author of the novels How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies (a national Book Critics Circle Award finalist), and Yo!. She has also published two poetry collections (Homecoming and The Other side/El Otro Lado) and a collection of essays (Something to Declare). Table of ContentsSomething to Declare to My Readers Part One: Customs Grandfather's Blessing Our Papers My English My Second Opera I Want to Be Miss America El Doctor La Gringuita Picky Eater Briefly, a Gardener Imagining Motherhood A Genetics of Justice Family Matters Part Two: Declarations First Muse Of Maids and Other Muses So Much Depends Dona Aida, with Your Permission Have Typewriter, Will Travel A Vermont Writer from the Dominican Republic Chasing the Butterflies Goodbye, Ms. Chips In the Name of the Novel Ten of My Writing Commandments Grounds for Fiction Writing Matters
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Biography » Literary
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