El manejo del absurdo en la novela es un arte bastante delicado pues se puede convertir en ridículo o tonto con solo pequeños errores. Estos están completamente ausentes en esta novela, en la cual la locura se explica a si misma a través de millones de pequeños sub cuentos que el autor logra enlazar una historia coherente, donde un cubano ex-veterano de la guerra de Angola en su desespero por escapar de un tigre alado imaginario ( o tal vez no) que lo persigue secuestra un grupo de muchachos que lo único que querían era un poco de sexo en su noche de graduación del colegio. Sin embargo esta trama es solo incidental para que el autor nos pueda presentar como en un mundo incoherente la "locura" es un medio tal válido para darle sentido como cualquier otro.

La novela es simplemente genial.

GANADOR DE UN PREMIO, ESTE LIBRO ES EXCELENTE POR SU TRATAMIENTO DE VARIOS TEMAS QUE SON PEREMNES Y QUE SON DE ACTUALIDAD, LA LOCURA, LA HOMOSEXUALIDAD, EL AMOR , EL DESAMOR, LA GUERRA, LA MUERTE , LA VIDA, EL INFORTUNIO. TODO SE UNE PARA FORMAR UNA TRAGEDIA DE UN SOLO DIA, PERO QUE TIENE SUS RAICES MUCHOS AÑOS ATRAS. ESTE LIBRO TAMBIEN TIENE SUS MOMENTOS DIVERTIDOS ( QUIEN HA DICHO QUE NO DEBE HABER HUMOR EN LA TRAGEDIA). EL INFORTUNIO QUE CAE SOBRE LOS PROTAGONISTAS ESTA LLENO DE FATALISMO Y CASUALIDADES, QUE HUBIERAN HECHO LA DIFERENCIA SI NO HUBIESEN PASASDO, PERO LA VIDA ES ASI , NO LA PODEMOS CAMBIAR Y TENEMOS QUE ACEPTARLA Y VIVIR CON NUESTROS ERRORES POR EL RESTO DE LA VIDA. FACILITO, AUNQUE HAYA MOSCARDONES QUE NOS NUBLEN LA VISTA Y TIGRES DE BENGALA QUE INVADAN NUESTRO SUEÑO, DEBEMOS SEGUIR ADELANTE Y NO DEJARNOS DOMINAR POR LA CAMISA DE FUERZA QUE ES EL MIEDO, SIEMPRE AMANDO A ALGUIEN , YA QUE NO AMAR A NADIE ES UNA INMORALIDAD. ES UN LIBRO EXCELENTE. SE LO RECOMIENDO A TODOS LOS QUE QUIERAN UNA TRAGEDIA MODERNA CON SABOR A CIUDAD.

LUIS MENDEZ

In this very good book Alberto writes of madness coexisting with the reality of separate cultures. Ghosts and people from beyond reach and caress the characters as they go about trying to fulfill the promise of a graduation which ends very badly for three of the seniors. Caracol beach starts with magic and realism but it gives way to tenderness and much humor. Very good.

Moravia's writing which I would not have encountered were it not for these elegant new paperback versions of his work is open to the bone. His honest revelations through his all too human characters are poignant, pointed, and penetrating. To any one interested in looking deep inside themeselves and their relationships: I recommend Contempt. Prepare to squirm.

somehow there is a new found celebration for contempt and everything associated with it. a year and a half ago, godard's contempt was finally re-released; a couple of months ago, two new books about casa malaparte allowed us to view the importance of the film's setting, most notably capri and it's culture, but now this new publication of moravia's contempt will allow everyone to view the masterpiece it truly represents.

I came here well equipped to offer my comments on the new editions of two of Moravia's works. I find that the "reviewer" before me has stolen my thunder. I cannot say it any better, but still I cam here to say something so I will. First, I agree with the previous "reviewer" on all counts. I congratulate the publisher for it's honest approach. It's clean, it befits Moravia's honesty. What do I mean? The titles of this book and it's companion piece: Contempt and Boredom. Simple and honest. Previously entitled A Ghost at High Noon and The Empty Canvas the titles never seemed to fit Moravia. These two new editions are ornamented (no not ornamented--wrong word--the illustrations are more) with Pierre Le Tan illustrations perfectly suiting the works. Displayed in the context of a honest classic book design. No gimmicks--just clean, honest work in whole. I've now in the interest of shelf space, done the unthinkable, I've removed the two previous editions of these books from my premises. If you possess them, replace them. These books are a bargain. If you're new to Moravia, do enter with these two books. It is difficult to capture, but Moravia is not as doom and gloom as we all must make him sound. He's honest and it can hurt, but it's worth it.

Nobody's Son: Notes From An American Life by Luis Alberto Urrea (who teaches creative writing at the University of Illinois, Chicago) is the deeply personal memoir of an American born to a Mexican father and an Anglo mother. Recounting a childhood thrust in the middle of different cultures and languages, Nobody's Son is about the search for balance, about coping with division and borders, and about the pain as well as the joy of being multicultural. Nobody's Son is a candid, engaging, thoughtful, thought-provoking, and very highly recommended autobiography.

From multinational beginnings impossibly diverse, Urrea leads us on a journey that explores how he became what he is, an American writer of the first order. Sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious, always heartfelt, it is a wonderful journey for the reader. Before he can write from the heart, an author must first know his heart. Luis Urrea knows his, and shares it with us beautifully.

All his stories are written from his soul. They always have been. I wish that I could have taken the pain away from his childhood. I'm glad that I have known him. I wish him much success in all he does. I knew he was a great writer. I'm glad others are seeing how good he is now!

Quando empese a leer el quijote, empese en espanol. Pero, en una clase de ingles mundial en la universidd me hisieron leerla en ingles. Lo que me sorprendio mas que qulquier cosa es que, mientras tenia todos los temas intacto en la tradusion en ingles, el libro perdio la bellesa de la utilisation del idioma como solo lo puede hacer cervantes. Para serles sincera el libro me confundio al empesarlo y la primera ves no entendi todo lo que habia que entener (como en todo libro bueno) pero desde la primera pajina me enamore de como cervates utilisaba las palabras simples del idioma. No usa palabras grandes y dificiles en si (aunque si hay algunas palabras antiquadas que tuve que buscar en dictionario) pero es como las junta que hace el libro la bellesa que es. Leerlo es un placer hasta si al principio no entiendes quienes son todos los personajes y porque estan haciendo lo que hacen, la belles de su idioma y las esenas que te pinta en tu mente, son suficiente.

Cuando yo estaba en la escuela y leí el Quijote por primera vez, la edición tenía un comentario que decía: "A Cervantes le bastó un sólo brazo para edificar la catedral de la literatura universal". Un poco exagerado (los españoles exageran casi siempre), pero no cabe duda que el Quijote a dejado huellas en la literatura universal y ha influenciado a tantos autores, como por ejemplo a Tolstoi. Muchos frases idiomáticas han sobrevivido los siglos no sólo en Castellano, sino también en otros idiomas tan exóticos como Alemán (mit Windmühlen kämpfen = acometer molinos de viento) o Ruso. Sinceramente El Quijote exije mucho del lector. Es una novela que hace que uno piense sobre muchos los fines de la vida. Y aunque no lo crean a veces se entiende mejor en otro idioma. Yo lo he leído en Alemán y Ruso y puedo afirmar eso.

Virgilio Krumbacher

Don Quijote de la Mancha

Que autoridad me ampara a mi un escritor de oscura estirpe a dedicar una parte de mis esfuerzos y devaneos literarios a escribir sobre el quijote?. No lo sé, y aun menos que otro puedo hablar pues no he osado terminar la tarea de leerlo. No sé que me detiene ante este clásico, es muy bueno en las partes que he leído, pero quizás su fama es lo que me no he ha dejado en paz para sentarme a leerlo y por eso he hecho como el mal amante o como el marino que deja la novia en el puerto y zarpa por otros rumbos. Esta novela, marca una división, un comienzo y un fin en las letras españolas y es increíble que tanta genialidad tuviera espacio en un hombre, que supo ver la vida desde las mazmorras, pues barrotes no hacen cárceles ni paredes fronteras para una imaginación que germina como pasto salvaje. Estamos llenos de quijotadas algunos, como yo que pretendo llegar a la cima a fuerza de lecturas y puedo quedar si la fortuna y una mano amiga no me ampara cazando molinos, que quien no es tonto se da cuenta de que los molinos de ahora no usan el viento, pero llevan señales por todo el orbe. El quijote debe usarse y reusarse, interpretarse y reinterpretarse a la luz de las modernas sanchezas de un pueblo que como Sancho sigue dormido a unos quijotes mucho menos sinceros detrás de una dulcinea de color verde que no es una marciana.... Lupus est homo homini ahora y siempre.

Luis Mendez

i don't have this book yet. i have already told hubby that he's getting it for me for valentines. everytime i go into the bookstore, i take it off the shelf and spend about a half hour just leafing through it and looking at the pictures. if you are not sure whether you want to put out the money to buy this book, do yourself a favor and see if they have a copy at the bookstore and look through it. i know you'll be convinced that it's worth the price. i plan on ordering my book rather than buying it off the shelf. there are several fold out sections in the book and i want to make sure they are in good shape. the pictures of the temples and tombs in the book are great. also lots of maps. i admit, i'm an egyptology geek, but i think anyone who is interested in egypt will enjoy this book. if egypt is a hobby/passion, this book is a must have. i know it's a bit pricey, but you're payig for a book full of fantastic color photographs and you defintiely get what you are playing for. you get your money's worth with this book. my only regret is that i have to wait 6 weeks til i can have my copy in my hot lil' hands. :)

I first saw this book after a four-week trip to Egypt, where our travels included as much as we could see between the relocated monument Ramses II built in honor of himself at Abu Simbel to the vicinity of El-Qahira (Cairo) and its monuments and museums. This book is the one I have chosen to "keep my memories fresh" and share them with others- it is that good, and more. The illustrations are brilliant; the informative text is thorough and illuminating without being pedantic or burying the photos and drawings. I only wish the Cairo Museum had books as good as this one! If you love Egypt, this book will live an active life on your coffee table.

The book contains over 300 magnificent photographs and illustrations of Egypt's monuments, treasures, archaeological discoveries and travelers. The reader will see the pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, the Faiyum, the Sinai, the Strait of Tiran, Nubia, Tanis, Esna, Luxor, Karnak, Philae, Dendera, Abu Simbel, Deir el-Bahri, the Valley of the Queens, Edfu, Kom Ombo and the Valley of the Kings, and will identify Ernesto Schiaparelli, Auguste Mariette, Jean-François Champollion and Howard Carter, among many famous discoverers. A history of this fascinating civilization, from ancient to modern Egypt, is included, as well as reconstructions of tombs, a bibliography and a glossary. For everyone to own.

This book revitalised my desire to read novels; for a long while, I thought novel was finished. But, no, not only it is not finished, it is still the best kind of reading. Maalouf manages to bring together all the essential elements: romance, gallantry, betrayal, suspense, surprise, hope, sorrow, pain, joy, you name it. I love reading his work but this one is something else. The scene where the hero meets his daughter in the asylum without actually knowing (but suspecting) who she is is going to make any reader tearful.

This is a very pleasant read. It is how a novel should be, effortless and touching essentially human issues, like love and destiny.

His third person narrative makes it interesting and allows Amin to voice his own thoughts throughout.

It is full of regional colors, characters and history, so typical of most of his writing. Quintessential Mediterane.

I was shocked to find out that his "Balthasar's Travels" is yet to be pubished here. I read the translation, it is a magnificient epic through medival Europe and Middle East, highly recommended also when it comes out this year. Amin is a master of historical context.

The heros of this book live a love story punctuated by wars, family tragedies and cultural and religious tensions. Most of the background events are the ones that have actually dominated our news for decades, but these folks actually live through it. In the end, their love seems to be the only thing that survives, or is it?

Highly recommended for a relaxing and warm reading that leaves a lasting taste and memory.

This is my personal favourite from Maalouf. For those who like his historical research, you will appreciate this Levantine history. For those who like a good novel, you will fall for his love story and for those who look for an eloquent narrator and an excellent writer, you will marvel at his words. This is one of very few books that made me cry!

A great book for those who wants to learn about Argentinian way of life and traditions. If you can read it in Spanish Language you'll apreciate it more. Regards.-

Listen, if yer at all like me, you've been looking for a BILINGUAL and reliable edition of this great work for some time. Well, I finally took a chance and got this one, AFTER buying the paperback also put out by State University of New York Press. First of all, this is a totally different translation (and I don't mean to say it's better or worse than the other one, just that they're not the same), it's not just the translation (it's a bilingual edition, with left pages in the original spanish, right pages in english), it's fully annotated (sometimes with the exact same explanations for certain words/passages for the english or the spanish reader, sometimes with particular explanations for just one versus the other, which leads me to believe the editors really gave some thought in their preparation of this volume), it's a beautiful, simple hardcover, it's illustrated (with extremely simple -- could be thought of as bad -- black and white reproductions of the classic Antonio Berni paintings), and it's COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED (which is to say it has BOTH Martin Fierro and the Return of Martin Fierro, which is very difficult to find let alone imagine someone being so kind enough to do). SO STOP BEING WISHY-WASHY ABOUT IT. THIS IS THE EDITION TO OWN. IT'S EXCEEDINGLY {inexpensive} FOR WHAT IT IS. IT'S BEAUTIFUL. REALLY. p.s. the lack of a description is what threw me off it for a while, too. that's why i'm including all of this here. enjoy.

It is a spanish editio

Brilliant! An excellent book for those really concerned about the social and economical future of Latin America...For those who want to make a change.

excelent book, I really enjoy it because tell the true history of Latin America

Excelent Book, I am from Latin america and this book really discribes the true history of Latin America, I really recommend it!

The book provided a great deal of information about genetic distances and the relationships between populations. However, Mr. Martel's review includes lies and these lies must be addressed. First of all, the native North Africans were not "very blonde" or "nordic". In fact, the ORIGINAL population was as black as their rock art depictions of themselves (which just so happen to span the Sahara and date back nearly 10000yrs). Many of these Ancient Saharans were, however, completely abosorbed by an incoming of migrants from the Middle East. Perhaps these migrants are the people Mr. Martel is speaking of??? At any rate, with the dessication of the Sahara, most of the original Saharans (blacks) migrated South into The Sudan. In fact, they can still be found in West Africa today. They (especially the Fulani and Dogon) can be recognized in person as easily as they can be recognized in the Ancient Saharan depictions drawn by their ancestors.

Thus, despite Mr. Martel's comments to the contrary, the admixture seen in North Africans today is not so much the result of slaves (modern admixture) as it is the result of both modern admixture as well as ancient admixture - admixture which took place LONG before the Arabs ventured anywhere near the region. As for the Egyptians, they were from the same stock as the rest of North Africa and they almost always depicted themselves as brown and intermediate between and separate from both the white people of the North (Europe), the light skinned Semites (Middle East), and the darker, more Sudanese people of the South (Nubia).

Mr. Martel is not completely wrong in so far as SOME of these Middle Eastern migrants had blonde hair and light eyes (a few individual Lybians were depicted this way). But, such features were most probably seen at the same rate theyre seen in Middle Easterners and North Africans today. Neither people, however, are "Nordics", and to assume they descend from Nordics based on hair color alone is ridiculous. Blondism occurs in Aborigines... are we to believe they descend from Nordics as well? Somehow, I think not.

In this book, a group of Italian researchers present their study of the repartition of a sample of human genetic sequences, based on data they collected between 1978 and 1986. This is certainly very interesting for the study of human races, even if based on only a sample of sequences, many of them being not relevant for races. Although the authors acknowledge that some scientists were able to identify and classify the majors races, they pretend the concept of race is a failure because there is much intra-class variation for some DNA sequences within given races (by saying this they already implicitly recognize the existence of given races.) This is however the fallacy of strawman - attacking a caricatured enemy - for the concept of race never meant that there would not be great inner variation for specific sequences, but only that it is possible to cluster and classify human groups and that such classification should correspond to a higher degree of common ancestry for individuals of the same cluster, as the races are the result of micro-evolution. And given that we now know that most of the genome is not used, that the active genes are a very small proportion, the intra-class variability makes sense, as these genes are not expressed and thus not submitted to the selection of evolutionary pressure. It is enough to find some sequences clusters that correspond to the existing races to show that different races indeed exist, which the authors actually do (something confirmed recently by the result of the genome projects, finding that inter-races distance is 0,1 of the genome, something enormous given that most of the genome is not expressed, and that the distance between humans and monkeys is 1%, the difference between human races being then 10% of the differences between humans and the closest animals.) Besides, the same intra-classes variability is also observed among animal races and vegetal varieties, yet no scientist will say that this makes the concept of animal race or vegetal variety useless. Anyway, this misconception allows the authors to get a green light from the politically correct thought police and avoid censorship.

The book follows with an exposition of their data analysis method. The main issue is the distance measure for the genetic data, something new for me. Otherwise, they use standard methods of data mining / pattern recognition : design of classification trees, and clustering with principal component analysis (PCA, for which the authors use the PC acronym).

Then, after 60 pages, come their results, which make the rest of the book, 300, p, that is most of it. It is way too much to review in detail, I will make general comments.

Globally, when dealing with the main racial groups, their findings are corroborations of what was already known or supplementary information. The PCA gives a mapping corresponding to the main racial groups (Africans, Australoids, Mongoloids, Euripids.) .After 200 000 years of existence (at about -200 000), our African ancestors start to move northwards and evolve into the common ancestor of the non-African races. 100 000 years later, at -110 000, occurs the split between the Australoids and the Eurasian. And then at -80 000 the split between Mongoloids and Euripids, Europeans appearing very lately, at -20 000.

In the remaining 200 pages, the authors deal with each local populations, proceeding continent by continent, and comparing the local races together. Interestingly, they add a lot of environmental and cultural information. But here they miss the most relevant, namely the history and anthropology that is relevant to the given population, which makes them miss important considerations and analysis. For example they seem to believe that the Basque are an ancient Indigenous population, failing to know the well established facts that they arrived very late (in the 8th century) and are believed to have come from the Caucasus. It would have been interesting to compare the Basques with the populations of the Caucasus, instead of comparing them with the native Western Europeans. Or they fail to know that the native populations of North-Africa (Berbers, Kabyls, etc.) were very blond and tall Nordic people, as is attested by the Egyptian, Greek and Roman antic sources, as well as by their Arabs conquerors. And when the Spanish conquered the Canari Island, the Berbers (Ganches) they found there were also Nordics. The genetic change of the North-African population occurred after the Arabs imported many African (Negroids) slaves, as they did in many other places, like Egypt, Palestine, etc. This the authors ignore, speaking only of the Arab genetic influence (which was probably insignificant.) It would have then relevant to compare the North-Africans with the Nordics and with the Negroids, and see how close they are to each, and the same for those Berbers populations in the mountain who did not so much racially mix and often have light hair of eyes. To their credit, the authors find out with their genetic analysis that the North-Africans have Caucasoid ancestors.

In conclusion, this book is a mine of interesting data analysis. It would have been though quite better if the authors had teamed up with historians competent in the field of racial history, or with true anthropologists (anthropology having becoming ethnology.) Let's hope that the next similar book, which will exploit the data of the human genome, will be able to improve this. Anyway, human diversity, as long as intermixing does not destroy it, is a thrilling subject that illuminates history, as this book shows.

Cavalli-Sforza presents the nearest approximation possible to the correlation of all measurable human genes, markers and attributes. You might think of the work as the "unified field theory" for evloutionary biology, culture and linguistics.

While the heft even of the abridged version is imposing, the component parts are manageable for those who already have basic statistical knowledge or who are willing to pay attention to the author's explanations. The world's populations are addressed in geographic chunks, and then at various appropriate points, more general conclusions drawn from the pieces.

Given the advances in genetic research acheived since publication, the model may ultimately prove more valuable than the particular contents...but for this decade the contents are fascinating.

As a English Literature major I am always looking for something different, something that truly pushes the language. David Fernandez is to be commended for taking literature to an new and interesting level.

Yes, at first it may be difficult for the eyes to get accustomed to the omition of puncuation, but eventually everything is forgotten and you are in the midst of a bold, creative endeavor. I'm not quite sure that the new form adds to the story (perhaps I need a second reading) but it adds an attraction. Finally, a fiction that is not concentrating on breaking plot cliches, but rather breaking overhyped-grammatical stereotypes.

This book is compelling not simply because of the plot, the setting, or its relevance to many Gen X'ers lives, but because of its profound psychological insights into human beings themselves. These characters are so HUMAN that it is impossible to have simple, one-dimensional feelings about them, and it is equally impossible not to identify with them at some level. Mr. Fernandez has eerily captured the essence of being human -- not with perfect and punctuated prose, but with a completely original form that forces readers to read and to think beyond themselves. An excellent, unusual book whose greatest achievement is to present the everyday in a way that is anything but ordinary.

In fiction, it is always refreshing to find a voice that both challenges the reader and weaves an interesting tale. David Alberto Fernandez has such a voice, and Alexstasia is a carefully crafted novel which reveals the simple power of the written word. The book breaks with grammatical conventions and tells the tale of the trials and tribulations of a twenty-something married couple living in South Florida. The novel is the troubling story of Hispanic Generation X'ers reaching for more; Anastasia Ordonez, a handicapped woman dealing the psychological effects of a car accident, and Alejandro Guzman, a man frustrated by lack of opportunities in his lfe and overwhelmed by the inactivity of his wife. As the tension builds on an eventful day, more of their lives are revealed, until the page-turning culmination of the story which unites these particular people living in a particular place with a greater human whole. A well-written book, Alexstasia isn't easy reading. The book is complex and open to layers of interpretation. And although the differences in punctualization and capitalization eventually become invisible, the mind-set of Anastasia is shown in uncompromising detail. Her despair in her inability to walk creates havoc in the couple's relationship and in the lives of all the characters. The unhappiness of two leads to something else; at first it seems like violence, but actually it is something more. If you are interested in psychological novels or fiction that defies simple definition, Alexstasia is highly recommended. by Alan Richman (lbooks@yahoo.com), Washington, DC