Synopses & Reviews
In September 1973, the military took power in Chile, and Ariel Dorfman, a young leftist allied with President Allende, was forced to flee for his life. In Feeding on Dreams, Dorfman portrays, through visceral scenes and powerful intellect, the personal and political maelstroms that have defined his life since the Pinochet coup. In Buenos Aires, hes on the run from death squads. Next, still holding out hope for Chiles return to democracy, he lives in ever-rotating safe houses in Paris and Amsterdam, where his loyalty to his political party and his wifes loyalty to him are dramatically tested. Finally he finds an uneasy refuge in America, his childhood home. And then, seventeen years after he was forced to leave Chile, Pinochet is out and Dorfman goes back to live there, setting in motion an unimaginable outcome.
Dorfmans wry and masterfully told account provides a page-turning tour of the past several decades of North/South political history and of the complex consequences of revolution and tyranny. He has lived in the aftermath of revolution, and his perspective could not be more relevant today.
Feeding on Dreams is a passionate reminder that “we are all exiles,” that we are all “threatened with annihilation if we do not find and celebrate the refuge of common humanity,” as Dorfman did during his “decades of loss and resurrection.”
Review
"A beautifully crafted, searing memoir . . . A somber, moving tribute to a life of ideals and struggle."
-- Kirkus Reviews "Gorgeously evokes his lifelong search for home, country, and belonging."
-- Publishers Weekly (review) "A tender and merciless memoir of what it means to change deeply because you have no choice." -
- Publishers Weekly (fall announcements)
Review
"A compelling, profound portrait of shattered expectations and transformation . . . A work to savor for its remarkable moments and extraordinary language." -- Boston Globe "A beautifully crafted, searing memoir . . . A somber, moving tribute to a life of ideals and struggle." -- Kirkus Reviews "Gorgeously evokes his lifelong search for home, country, and belonging." -- Publishers Weekly
"A multi-faceted journey that is geographical, personal and political . . . A complex, nuanced view of United States-Latin American politics and relations of the last 40 some years." -- Durham Herald-Sun
Synopsis
"A multifaceted journey that is geographical, personal and political . . . A complex, nuanced view of United States-Latin American politics and relations of the last forty some years." -- Durham Herald-Sun
"One of the most important voices coming out of South America." -- Salman Rushdie
In September 1973, the military took power in Chile, and Ariel Dorfman, a young leftist allied with President Allende, was forced to flee for his life. In Feeding on Dreams, Dorfman portrays, through visceral scenes and with startling honesty, the personal and political maelstroms that have defined his life since the Pinochet coup. Dorfman's wry and masterfully told account takes us on a page-turning tour of the past several decades of North-South political history and of the complex consequences of revolution and tyranny, excavating for the first time his profound and provocative journey as an exile and the consequences for his wife and family.
"Fascinating." -- San Francisco Examiner
"A great book that will simultaneously undo us and sustain us." -- Tikkun
Synopsis
Acclaimed author and human rights activist Ariel Dorfman delivers a memoir excavating, for the first time, his profound and provocative journey through revolution and exile.
“One of the most important voices coming out of Latin America.” —Salman Rushdie
“Ariel Dorfman is one of those rare, deeply feeling writers whose work is both wonderfully elegant and instilled with defiant spirit. Feeding on Dreams, his memoir of his years as an exile from Pinochet's Chile and his subsequent life as a writer, is unforgettable.” —Oscar Hijuelos
“A beautifully crafted, searing memoir by the Chilean-American writer . . . A moving tribute to a life of ideals and struggle.” —Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Chilean-American author and human rights activist Ariel Dorfman's many internationally acclaimed works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction include his bestselling memoir, Heading South, Looking North, which was the basis for the documentary film A Promise to the Dead, directed by Peter Raymont and shortlisted for the Oscars in 2008. His play Death and the Maiden, staged in over 100 countries, was made into a feature film by Roman Polanski. Dorfman is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Times Book Review, and Huffington Post. He is Walter Hines Page professor of literature and Latin American studies at Duke University, and his numerous international honors include his delivery of the Mandela Lecture in Johannesburg in 2010.