Synopses & Reviews
Hailed as one of the most important Hispanic writers of his generation, Ilan Stavans is mostly known for his penetrating essays on culture. He is also a celebrated storyteller whose work has been translated into a dozen languages and has garnered numerous international awards. The Disappearance: A Novella and Stories contains three small, masterful gems. The novella "Morirse está en hebreo," is a thought-provoking meditation on continuity and tradition among Mexican Jews that takes place just as a decades-long one-party dictatorship is crumbling down. The volume also features "Xerox Man," an intriguing story about a book thief with a bizarre theological obsession, which was commissioned and broadcast by the BBC and has been widely anthologized. The title story "The Disappearance" is the resonant tale of a Belgian actor who kidnaps himself in an attempt to respond to neo-Nazi groups. Together, these three pieces offer an unforeseen vista of Jewish-Hispanic relations and confirm Stavans' reputation as a lyrical, daring, and original literary voice.Together, these three pieces offer an unforeseen vista of Jewish-Hispanic relations and confirm Stavans' reputation as a lyrical, daring, and original literary voice.
Review
"One of the most influential figures in Latino literature in the United States." --
The New York TimesReview
"Ilan Stavans is an intellectual force to reckon with." --
The Philadelphia InquirerReview
"Ilan Stavans beautifully demonstrates that the best way to suggest the extraordinary is through the ordinary." --
The Boston GlobeSynopsis
The Disappearance: A Novella and Stories contains three small, masterful gems. The novella "Morirse está en hebreo," is a thought-provoking meditation on continuity and tradition among Mexican Jews that takes place just as a decades-long one-party dictatorship is crumbling down. The volume also features "Xerox Man," an intriguing story about a book thief with a bizarre theological obsession, which was commissioned and broadcast by the BBC and has been widely anthologized. The title story "The Disappearance" is the resonant tale of a Belgian actor who kidnaps himself in an attempt to respond to neo-Nazi groups.
About the Author
Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture and Five-College 40th Anniversary Professor at Amherst College. His books include
The Essential Ilan Stavans (Routledge, 2000),
The Hispanic Condition: The Power of a People (Rayo, 2001),
On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language (Penguin, 2002), and
Dictionary Days: A Defining Passion (Graywolf, 2005). He is also the author of
Bandido: The Death and Resurrection of Oscar "Zeta" Acosta (Northwestern, 2003, sold 537 paper copies). Stavans has been the recipient of numerous awards, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship and Chile's Presidential Medal.
Table of Contents
Preface
The Disappearance
Morirse está en hebreo
Xerox Man