Popular Spanish Titles, Spring 2006 | The New York Public Library

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Popular Spanish Titles, Spring 2006

	Ajuar funerario Iwasaki, Fernando This is a tribute to micro-narrative stories and terror literature in which Iwasaki succeeds in frightening us with a few sentences. (Peru).
	Al morir Don Quijote Trapiello, Andrés Like the characters in Cervantes’ novel that have gone on with their lives after having been touched by the spirit of Don Quijote, so do we nowadays when we feel the call for freedom and fight against injustice. (Spain).
	Aprendices de brujo Rodríguez, Antonio Orlando In the twenties, two young men from Bogota travel to La Habana to visit a legendary Italian diva. (Cuba).
	Asombros de sombras: falsos rostros Zapata, César Augusto Very short stories revealing the interior world of the characters that allows us to see their real faces beneath the masks of everyday life. (Dominican Republic).
	Azafrán García Marín, José Manuel Taking place in Andalucia in the year 1252 as Mukhtar ben Saleh, a wise man, walks the streets of Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada and witnesses how Islam, Christianity and Judaism interact. Also, the everyday life of booksellers and other tradesmen as well as the role of women in the society is depicted. (Spain).
	Bajo un cielo púrpura Rico Góngora, Montserrat Taking place at the ending of the Middle Ages here is the story of three people, one Jew, one Christian and one Muslim, born at the same hour under a purple sky, sign of ill-fated cataclysm. (Spain).
	La biografía difusa de Sombra Castañeda Veloz Maggiolo, Marcio In this novel myth and history are mixed to tell the legends, the relationship between Dominicans and Haitians, and the dissolution of the Trujillo dictatorship. (Santo Domingo).
	El brazo Ureña, Arturo Emilio A story between dream and reality mixed with actual public Dominican characters whose hidden lives show that they may not be who they are believed to be. (Dominican Republic).
	Un buen espejo Menjívar Ochoa, Rafael An unemployed television actor finds himself involved in the kidnapping and death of a rightist tycoon. These events shown on the news appear like theater although much bloodier and real than any play the actor has been in. (San Salvador).
	El conciliador Zapata, José Short stories enhancing how reality is a product of fiction and not the contrary. The individual is submitted to the collective reality and as he tries to avoid solitude, his freedom is limited. (Peru).
	Conjeturas de engaño Flores, Ronald The death of Dr. Eduardo Torres opens way to conjectures as to his obsession with the Nobel Prize in literature, his latest and unpublished novel and his function in the government. (Guatemala).
	Cuando besan las sombras Espinosa, Germán Two lovers are confronted with supernatural events in a house in Cartagena de Indias. The story of this experience is contrasted with the materialistic times in which we actually live. (Colombia).
	Cuentos de mujeres Miller, Jeannette Very short stories about life, marriage, lies, etc. (Dominican Republic).
	El detalle Somoza, José Carlos Here are the three short stories written by Somoza to this date: Planos, El Detalle and La Boca, relating three different sorts of obsessions. (Spain).
	El diluvio de un beso Krauze, Ethel In a world where love and laughter and hope are prohibited, a man and a woman nevertheless are in love and lost in that world trying to find their way to where they can belong. (Mexico).
	Ellos nos cuidan Delgado, Omar Here is the story of an exceptional character: Joaquín Edwards Bello, who is the author’s uncle and the great-grandson of Andrés Bello, a brilliant writer who was labeled as accursed and marginal. (Chile).
	En clave de luna Nuñez Olivas, Oscar This novel relates the horrific crimes that perturbed Costa Rican society in the mid-Twentieth century, as well as giving an insider view of the running of a newspaper. (Costa Rica).
	Las escaleras Castillo Rojas, Eduardo Very short melancholic stories about death, hardships, and misunderstandings. (Costa Rica).
	La fatiga del vampiro Morella, José Bruno has to interview a well-known Argentinean writer who is dying. He will give Bruno his last novel, a confession that totally destroys his biography. What is fiction, what is reality? (Spain).
	Guerra en la penumbra Alarcón, Daniel Short stories about wars that can be personal as well as national, intimate conflicts for marginalized people, who move and do not adjust, who fight and do not achieve anything. (Peru).
	La Habana en un espejo Guillermoprieto, Alma The author went to Cuba in the 70’s to give ballet lessons. This book re-creates the atmosphere of the time and gives a vivid portrait of Cuban society in the midst of the revolution, and the role of art in it. (Mexico).
	El hombre que llegó a un pueblo Tizón, Hector A man arrives in a remote village where he will be sheltered as long as he accepts becoming a kind of Messiah. Are we then what others think or want us to be? (Argentina).
	Imágenes letales Bonnefoy, Michel People will die when they see some images. To protect them the government imposes special lenses that filter reality. Here is a fable about manipulation to control others. (Chile).
	Los informantes Vásquez, Juan Gabriel The journalist Santoro writes a book about the life of a German woman who arrived in Colombia just before the Second World War, but his father does not take it well. Here is the story of private and public betrayals during events that happened in Colombia in the forties. (Colombia).
	El inútil de la familia Edwards, Jorge Here is the story of an exceptional character: Joaquín Edwards Bello, who is the author’s uncle and the great-grandson of Andrés Bello, a brilliant writer who was labeled as accursed and marginal. (Chile).
	La inutilidad Lalo, Eduardo This is the adventure of a student in Paris who is not be able to adjust or to choose between two women, and who finally comes back to San Juan where he finds an even worse exile. (Puerto Rico).
	La isla de la pasión Restrepo, Laura Taking place in 1908, a Mexican captain, his wife, and a group of soldiers and their families are guarding a small atoll against a possible French invasion. Forgotten there, they will try to survive in spite of diseases and desperation. (Colombia).
	La Mara Ramírez Heredia, Rafael A novel that describes human migrations (here between Guatemala and Mexico) and all the problems that arise from them such as violence, degradation, and fear. (Mexico).
	Los mundos que amo Chaviano, Daína A novel about experiencing various strange happenings that usually one would not relate for fear of being laughed at. (Cuba).
	La noche de Morgana Benavides, Jorge Eduardo Short stories revealing the anomalies, both fearsome and absurd, which lie beyond the surface of everyday life. (Peru).
	Nuestro GG en La Habana Gutiérrez, Pedro Juan Taking place when Graham Greene arrives in La Habana in 1955, this novel recreates a moment in Cuban history, as well as a reflection on the art of writing and the power of the written word. (Cuba).
	La otra mano de Lepanto Boullosa, Carmen A very rich and literary book influenced by Cervantes’ Novelas Ejemplares, relating the adventurous life of María, a Flamenco dancer, who disguised as a man participates in the military expedition of the Saint League. (Mexico).
	Polvo en el viento Lunar, Lorenzo The story of two siblings,Yuri and Yenia, one of them being accused of a murder he has not committed, and the collapse of their lives. (Puerto Rico).
	Los rojos de ultramar Soler, Jordi The author relates the story of his own family and of those who lost the Spanish Civil War and had to emigrate. They will have to abandon Europe and settle down in Mexico to start all over again while fighting Franco from far away. (Mexico).
	El salón del ciego Victoria, Carlos Three short novels and three short stories depicting the human condition in Cuba or in exile. (Cuba).
	Sandro (una historia clínica) Volonteri, Monica Here is a parody of the psychoanalytic reasoning through the story and the psychoanalysis of a patient. (Puerto Rico).
	El señor Amarillo Curiel Rivera, Adrián Told as a fable whose characters are men and women, here are the voices of eight people who have been maimed by reality and who are expecting salvation from el señor Amarillo. (Mexico).
	Si hubo una historia de amor Pérez Angosto, Octavio How long can love survive? The death of the tycoon Francisco Javier de Landa will free many of those whose lives were ruined by him. (Mexico).
	La trenza de la hermosa luna Montero, Mayra Taking place during the Haitian upheaval against Jean-Claude Duvalier, this book is a tribute to Haiti and the struggle of its people to achieve integrity and sovereignty. (Cuba).
	Tu rostro mañana. Parte 2: Baile y sueño Marías, Javier This is the sequel of the adventures of Jaime or Jacobo or Jacques Deza, who is in the Secret Services and has the ability to see what people will do in the future. This is also a meditation on all the things we do without wanting and how we convince ourselves that they do not count or did not happen. (Spain).
	El último sonido de caracol Casanova, Tina Recreating the world of the Taínos Indians in the heart of the mountains, this historical novel includes a present investigation about the disappearance of a famous archeologist in that area. (Puerto Rico).
	La velocidad de la luz Cercas, Javier A story based on experiencing evil and guilt through a friendship that develops between a young aspiring Spanish novelist and a veteran of the Vietnam war who meet in a college in the Midwest. (Spain).
	Viaje al norte Pérez Angosto, Octavio Six young people decide to go north because they cannot find work in their hometown of San Martin. At the same time the wealthy Gumaro is defeated in the elections by Dr. Artemio Sanchez, who is honest and will try to help develop San Martin. (Mexico).
	Y en medio de nosotros la tele como un dios Celorio, Adela Do we live according to what we see on television or is television imitating our lives? Here is a humoristic novel about the influence of television on the Mexican middle-class.(Mexico).
	Zorro Allende, Isabel Here is the real story of the legendary hero, Zorro, a.k.a. Diego de la Vega caught in between two worlds. (Chile).
Compiled by Pascale Pine, Spanish Specialist. Donnell World Languages