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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsMe, Who Dove Into the Heart of the Worldby Sabina Berman
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A transporting and brilliant comic novel narrated by an unforgettable woman: Karen Nieto, an autistic savant whose idiosyncrasies prove her greatest gifts.
As intimate as it is profound, and as clear-eyed as it is warmhearted, Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World marks an extraordinary debut by the award-winning Mexican playwright, journalist, and poet Sabina Berman. Karen Nieto passed her earliest years as a feral child, left alone to wander the vast beach property near her family's failing tuna cannery. But when her aunt Isabelle comes to Mexico to take over the family business, she discovers a real girl amidst the squalor. So begins a miraculous journey for autistic savant Karen, who finds freedom not only in the love and patient instruction of her aunt but eventually at the bottom of the ocean swimming among the creatures of the sea. Despite how far she's come, Karen remains defined by the things she can't do — until her gifts with animals are finally put to good use at the family's fishery. Her plan is brilliant: Consolation Tuna will be the first humane tuna fishery on the planet. Greenpeace approves, fame and fortune follow, and Karen is swept on a global journey that explores how we live, what we eat, and how our lives can defy even our own wildest expectations. Review:"Classified as a 'highly functioning autistic' but known to herself simply as 'Me,' the remarkable narrator of Mexican poet and playwright Berman's entrancing debut is happiest at the bottom of the sea, among her beloved tuna. Karen Nieto was found as a child living in squalor and taught to speak by her caring Aunt Isabelle, who returns to Mazatlán to resuscitate the family cannery business. Though it becomes clear that Karen's IQ lies, as Isabelle bluntly put it, 'between imbecile and idiot,' Karen also has vision, specifically to bring humane fishing practices to the cannery, Consolation Tuna Ltd., where she loves watching the fish, or, when that isn't possible, walking around in a wetsuit and diving mask. In college — in scenes that bring to mind Temple Grandin's early struggles to be recognized in her field — Karen butts heads with a professor renowned for his development of humane slaughter techniques. Though higher education isn't for her, the professor's ideas fuel her transformation of Consolation Tuna into the world's first humane tuna fishery, despite protests from radical animal rights groups. The unique voice — lyrical and questioning, is powerful enough to carry the story, but the conservation plot line adds an extra boost. Agent: Thomas Colchie." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review:"A novel of extraordinary sensitivity...it will move you more than you can imagine." El Mundo (Spain)
Review:"Little by little, without our realizing it, this haunting book leads us to a jarring question: Can it be that first we simply are, and only later we think? Our heroine Karen Nieto responds with a resounding 'Yes!' For whether or not we're aware of it, first and foremost we exist, and then we think." Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Academy Award-nominated director of Babel and 21 Grams
Review:"She's stolen my heart. Rebellious, misunderstood, gifted. I cant get her out of my head. An unforgettable tale about the freedom to be different." Ana Maria Matute, winner of the Cervantes Prize (2010) and author of Celebration in the Northwest
Review:"Berman is one of the most celebrated modern writers in the Spanish language...[her] use of the first-person narrative effectively entangles the reader....Both humorous and touching, this novel ultimately questions whether words are things in or about the world." Library Journal
Review:"[An] entrancing debut....The unique voice — lyrical and questioning, is powerful enough to carry the story, but the conservation plot line adds an extra boost." Publishers Weekly
Review:"Gifted Mexican playwright and novelist Sabina Berman's Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World has won my heart, and will yours. This untamed, disarming wild child who sits on the beach of a Mexican fishing village, shouting at the sea, slowly learns to explore and fully inhabit her intensely felt universe. Karen Nieto, who progresses from inarticulate niece, to tuna boathand, scuba diver, college savant, marine ecologist, business tycoon, world traveler — and, yes, even total failure — offers her readers an unforgettable glimpse of the delights, the comedy and the heartbreak each of us ultimately experiences as we dive into the heart of the tenuous, ever-changing world." Laura Esquivel, author of Like Water for Chocolate
Synopsis:“Enthralling...A hymn to the sacred connection among all species.”—O, The Oprah Magazine An unforgettable woman proves that a persons eccentricities can also be her greatest gifts. When Isabelle Nieto comes to Mexico to take over the family business, a failing tuna cannery on the coast, she finds a wild young girl wandering the beaches near her familys home. So begins a miraculous journey for autistic savant Karen Nieto, who finds freedom not only in the love and patient instruction of her aunt Isabelle, but eventually at the bottom of the ocean swimming among the creatures of the sea. Her gifts with animals are finally put to good use at the familys fishery, and her plan to revolutionize the company is brilliant: Consolation Tuna will become the first humane tuna fishery on the planet. Greenpeace approves and fame and fortune follow, and Karen is swept on a global journey that defies even her wildest expectations. As intimate as it is profound, as clear-eyed as it is warmhearted, Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World plunges us to inspiring depths, and we resurface with a new wonder for our world —and for all the creatures living in it. Synopsis:A transporting and brilliant novel narrated by an unforgettable woman: Karen Nieto, an autistic savant whose idiosyncrasies prove her greatest gifts
As intimate as it is profound, and as clear-eyed as it is warmhearted, Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World marks an extraordinary debut by the award-winning Mexican playwright, journalist, and poet Sabina Berman. Karen Nieto passed her earliest years as a feral child, left alone to wander the vast beach property near her family's failing tuna cannery. But when her aunt Isabelle comes to Mexico to take over the family business, she discovers a real girl amidst the squalor. So begins a miraculous journey for autistic savant Karen, who finds freedom not only in the love and patient instruction of her aunt but eventually at the bottom of the ocean swimming among the creatures of the sea. Despite how far she's come, Karen remains defined by the things she can't do—until her gifts with animals are finally put to good use at the family's fishery. Her plan is brilliant: Consolation Tuna will be the first humane tuna fishery on the planet. Greenpeace approves, fame and fortune follow, and Karen is swept on a global journey that explores how we live, what we eat, and how our lives can defy even our own wildest expectations. About the AuthorSabina Berman is a four-time winner of the Mexican National Theatre Prize for her plays; she also writes filmscripts, poetry, prose, and journalism, and has published several novellas. Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World, which will be published in twenty-five territories, is her first novel. She lives in Mexico.
Lisa Dillman teaches in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Emory University and has translated numerous works of fiction by Argentine, Mexican, Catalan, and Spanish writers. She lives in Decatur, Georgia. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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