Synopses & Reviews
Fascinated by the idea of Western civilization as being a sequence of numerous misinterpretations and misrepresentations, these 19 essays cover a broad range of topics with the unifying theme being the crossroads where politics and the imagination meet. An essay on linguistics and culture discusses the shaping of Latin Americas collective identity; Perus modern history is approached as a bloody battle between enlightenment and darkness; and in critiques of Octavio Paz and Gabriel García Márquez, Ilan Stavans reflects on the dichotomy between pen and sword in the Hispanic world. In
Letter to a German Friend, Stavans returns to his fate as a Jew in the Southern Hemisphere, and in
The First Book, he connects his passion for literature to his initiation into Jewishness. Finally, in a meditation on Columbuss afterlife, he reflects on the many ways in which we reinvent ourselves in order to make sense of the chaotic world that surrounds us.
Review
“Stavans is lively and intelligent, eclectic, sharp-tongued.” —Peter Matthiessen
“Ilan Stavans is an inventive interpreter of the contemporary cultures of the Americas.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Synopsis
From terrorism in Peru to the art of translation, machismo in Hispanic civilization to Gabriel García Márquez, Art and Anger is nineteen insightful literary essays about Latin America in the eyes of the world.
About the Author
Ilan Stavans is Professor of Spanish at Amherst College and the author/editor of more than 20 books.
Table of Contents
Introduction * Letter to a German Friend * Two Peruvians * The First Book * Las Mariposas * The Master of Aracataca * The Verbal Quest * Art and Anger * Pessoas Echoes * Of Arms and the Essayist * Vuelta: A Succinct Appraisal * Discoveries * Mexico: Four Dispatches * The Adventures of Maqroll * Felipe Alfau * The Brick Novel * The Latin Phallus: A Survey * Translation and Identity * Tongue Snatcher * Hello Columbus