Synopses & Reviews
Using the intimate rhyme scheme of Byron's great picaresque Don Juan and the narrative devices of Pushkin's enduring Eugene Onegin, D'Aguiar creates poetry dazzling in its inventiveness and wonder. Moving from the Civil War to the present day, Bloodlines follows the lives of five characters, each trying to escape the bonds of slavery. Among them is the narrator, who knows neither of his parents because, by the time he is born, his black mother has been sold back into slavery and dies in childbirth, and his white father has been indentured as a boxer in a traveling fair. Cursed by the thwarted love of his parents, the narrator is condemned to bear witness until the races become equal. He speaks to us of his quest for freedom.
Review
"DAguiar once again shows himself willing and able to follow his formidable imagination wherever it leads him. Readers who choose to accompany him will find it to be a fruitful journey." (
The Washington Post Book World)
"A brilliant venture. . . . A wild voyage tossed by love, sex, and violence; its funny, satirical, serious." (Baltimore Sun)
Review
"A brilliant venture. . . . A wild voyage tossed by love, sex, and violence; it's funny, satirical, serious." (Baltimore Sun)
Review
"DAguiar once again shows himself willing and able to follow his formidable imagination wherever it leads him. Readers who choose to accompany him will find it to be a fruitful journey." (
The Washington Post Book World)
"A brilliant venture. . . . A wild voyage tossed by love, sex, and violence; its funny, satirical, serious." (Baltimore Sun)
Synopsis
MOVING FROM the Civil War to the present day, "Bloodlines follows the lives of five characters, each trying to escape the bonds of slavery. Among them is the narrator, who knows neither of his parents because, by the time he is born, his black mother has been sold back into slavery and dies in childbirth, and his white father has been indentured as a boxer in a traveling fair. Cursed by the thwarted love of his parents, the narrator is condemned to bear witness until the races become equal. He speaks to us of his quest for freedom.
About the Author
Fred D'Aguiar teaches at the University of Miami. He was raised in Guyana and southeast London before coming to the United States. He is the author of three novels and four books of poetry.