Novedad Hatje Cantz

Título: Sigalit Landau
Autores: Ariella Azoulay, Adi Efhal, Gabriele Horn, Sigalit Landau, Ruth Ronen
Número de páginas: 290
Editorial: Hatje Cantz
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Israel
ISBN: 978-3775721042

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "This volume presents Israeli installation artist Sigalit Landau's most recent project--a political take on ritualized eating as cultural metaphor, exhibited at Berlin's KW Institute in early 2008--alongside a comprehensive overview. The Dining Hall provokes a 'truly controversial discourse of a kind rarely found in today's art,' according to artforum.com."

Leyendo

Título: Big Questions # 6: Anoesia and the Matrideicidic Theophany
Autor: Anders Nilsen
Número de páginas: 50
Editorial: Drawn and Quarterly
Fecha original de publicación: 2004
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: n/d

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.drawnandquarterly.com) "While the idiot begins fending for himself, the plane hits his home. Algernon awakens underground, the pilot endures his post-crash frustration and the birds curiosity, and Louis & Morris arrive with disturbing news."

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Big Questions #1 (1999)
. Big Questions #2 (1999)
. Ballad of the Two Headed Boy (1999)
. Big Questions #3: Astrophysics (2000)
. Big Questions #4: Asomatognosia (2001)
. Big Questions #5: Nothingness (2002)
. Sisyphus (2003)
. Dogs & Water (2004)
. Big Questions #7: Dinner and a Nap (2005)
. Big Questions #8: Theory and Practice (2005)
. Big Questions #9: The Lost and Found (2006)
. Don't Go Where I Can't Follow (2006)
. Big Questions #10: The Hand That Feeds (2007)
. Big Questions #11: Sweetness and Light (2008)

Novedad Knopf

Título: The Widows of Eastwick
Autor: John Updike
Número de páginas: 320
Editorial: Knopf
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0307269607

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "Motivated by advancing age, loneliness, latent guilt and a sense of unfinished business, the erstwhile Witches of Eastwick return to their former Rhode Island coastal town in this tepid sequel to the 1984 novel. Alexandra, the fleshy Earth Mother; Jane, the wasp-tongued snob; and Sukie, a would-be a sexpot operating beyond her expiration date, have each survived the second marriages that took place following their flight from Eastwick in the early '70s, after a rival, Jenny Gabriel, died as a result of their spell. Where before they were strong, sassy, lusty and empowered, now in late middle-age they are vulnerable, fearful and in thrall to their aging bodies. Witchcraft is now beyond them; when they try to resurrect their supernatural powers to atone for their guilt, an inadvertent death ensues. While Updike remains amazingly capable of capturing women's thoughts about their bodies and their sex lives, the plot never gains momentum; the first hundred pages, in fact, are tedious travelogues covering the widows' travels to Egypt and China. Updike's observations about culture and social disharmony flash with their customary brilliance—a less than sparkling Updike novel is still an Updike novel. (Oct.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Ex-Basketball Player (1957)
. The Carpentered Hen (1958)
. The Poorhouse Fair (1959)
. The Same Door (1959)
. Rabbit, Run (1960)
. A & P (1961)
. Pigeon Feathers (1962)
. The Centaur (1963)
. Of the Farm (1965)
. The Music School (1966)
. Couples (1968)
. Midpoint (1969)
. Dance of the Solids (1969)
. Bech, a Book (1970)
. Rabbit Redux (1971)
. Museums And Women (1972)
. A Month of Sundays (1975)
. Marry Me (1977)
. Tossing and Turning (1977)
. The Coup (1978)
. Problems (1979)
. Too Far To Go (1979)
. Telephone Poles (1963)
. Rabbit Is Rich (1981)
. Bech Is Back (1982)
. The Witches of Eastwick (1984)
. Facing Nature (1985)
. Roger's Version (1986)
. Trust Me (1987)
. S. (1988)
. Rabbit At Rest (1990)
. Memories of the Ford Administration (1992)
. Brazil (1994)
. The Afterlife (1994)
. In the Beauty of the Lilies (1996)
. Toward the End of Time (1997)
. Bech at Bay (1998)
. Gertrude and Claudius (2000)
. Rabbit Remembered (2001)
. Licks of Love (2001)
. Americana(2001)
. Seek My Face (2002)
. Villages (2004)
. Terrorist (2006)

Novedad RIEA / Springer

Título: Spatial Pathology-Floating Realities
Autora: Margot K. Krasojevic
Número de páginas: 111
Editorial: RIEA/Springer
Fecha original de publicación: 2007
País: Reino Unido
ISBN: 978-3211715338

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Margot Krasojevic – architect and psychologist – is no longer an unknown quantity on the experimental architecture scene, although she is considered a member of the younger generation. Her lectures at well-known schools and centers such as the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, the University of Washington, the University of Australia or Beijing, to name only a few, and contributions to international publications have attracted great interest in her conceptual an visual work.
Krasojevic’s central interest is in the relationship between space and body, the question of the degree to which body and psyche adjust to existing typologies and vice versa.
The book designed by Büro Destruct is an image/text collage that comprises Krasojevic’s work over the last 10 years. It is meant for architects and students with an interest in experimental architecture and all those interested in spectacular digital visualizations."

Leyendo

Título: W the Whore
Autoras: Katrin De Vries, Anke Feuchtenberger
Traducción de: Mark Nevins
Número de páginas: 64
Editorial: Bries
Fecha original de publicación: 1996 (en holandés)
País: Bélgica
ISBN: 9076708088

Sinopsis: n/d

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Die kleine Dame (1997)
. Somnambule (1998)

Novedad Atlas & Co.

Título: Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel
Autor: Edmund White
Número de páginas: 256
Editorial: Atlas & Co.
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-1934633151

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Poet and prodigy Arthur Rimbaud led a life that was startlingly short, but just as dramatically eventful and accomplished. Even today, over a century after his death in 1891, his visionary poetry has continued to influence everyone from Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan to Patti Smith. His long poem A Season in Hell (1873) and his collection Illuminations (1886) are essential to the modern canon, marked by a hallucinatory and hypnotic style that defined the Symbolist movement in poetry. Having sworn off writing at the age of twenty-one, Rimbaud drifted around the world from scheme to scheme, ultimately dying from an infection contracted while running guns in Africa. He was thirty-seven.
Edmund White writes with a historian's eye for detail, driven by a genuine personal investment in his subject. White delves deep into the young poet's relationships with his family, his teachers, and his notorious affair with the more established poet Paul Verlaine. He follows the often elusive (sometimes blatant) threads of sexual taboo that haunt Rimbaud's poems (in those days, sodomy was a crime) and offers incisive interpretations of the poems, using his own artful translations to bring us closer to the mercurial poet."

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Forgetting Elena (1973)
. Nocturnes for the King of Naples (1978)
. A Boy's Own Story (1982)
. Caracole (1985)
. The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988)
. Genet: A Biography (1993)
. Skinned Alive (1995)
. The Farewell Symphony (1997)
. Marcel Proust (1998)
. The Married Man (2000)
. Fanny (2003)
Chaos (2007)
. Hotel de Dream (2007)

Novedad RIEA / Springer

Título: The Hanging Cemetery of Baghdad
Autores: Nannette Jackowski, Ricardo de Ostos
Número de páginas: 71
Editorial: RIEA/Springer
Fecha original de publicación: 2007
País: Reino Unido / Alemania
ISBN: 978-3211488720

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "The London-based NaJa and de Ostos architecture office was founded by Nannette Jackowski and Ricardo de Ostos as a platform for experimental architecture. The architects run their office as a studio that tackles the challenges arising from the manifold possibilities presented by urban situations and social dynamics by developing alternative urban concepts. One of their projects is the "Hanging Cemetery of Baghdad”, which they have continuously developed since 2004. In his introduction, Peter Cook says that as an architect, one could essentially go into denial in view of the harrowing situation in Baghdad. NaJa and deOstos research the situation and react with the language of experimental architecture."

Evento Madre (Novedad Steidl / David Zwirner)

El mundo del arte está de plácemes porque ya puede adquirirse el nuevo libro sobre el artista alemán Neo Rauch, el pintor más importante con vida, que incluye las obras expuestas para su cuarta exposición individual con el reconocido galerista David Zwirner de la ciudad de Nueva York.

Título: Neo Rauch
Autores: Christian Viveros-Faune, Neo Rauch
Número de páginas: 48
Editorial: Steidl/David Zwirner
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos / Alemania
ISBN: 978-3865217431

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Following upon Neo Rauch's 2007 exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this exquisite catalogue presents new work by the artist, as seen in his fourth solo exhibition at David Zwirner gallery in the spring of 2008. (The New York Times' Karen Rosenberg deemed the new work "more of a Fellini film than a costume drama," by comparison.) One of his generation's most influential painters, Rauch continues the rich tradition of Leipzig figurative painting. Transforming typical industrious scenes into veritable dreamscapes, he transports viewers to a deeply personal and enigmatically symbolic universe. Rauch does not rely on existing imagery or models for his paintings, and while some begin as tiny sketches, he works his imagined scenes directly onto the canvas. He likens his process to reading a novel, with the paintings unfolding as surprisingly for their maker as for any viewer. Springing from dreams and shaped by experience both past and present, Rauch's instinctive imagery and automatic approach exceed straightforward Surrealist concerns and restrictive artistic practice.
Neo Rauch was born in 1960 in Leipzig, East Germany, where he continues to live and work."

Leyendo

Título: Your Disease Spread Quick
Autor: Tom Neely
Número de páginas: 22
Editorial: Robotic Boot
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: n/d

Sinopsis: n/d

Novedad Hatje Cantz

Título: Gerhard Richter: 4900 Colours
Autor: Gerhard Richter
Número de páginas: 144
Editorial: Hatje Cantz
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Alemania
ISBN: 978-3775723442

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.hatjecantz.de) "Gerhard Richter’s 4900 Farben (4900 Colours), 2007, is a major new work comprising bright monochrome squares randomly arranged in a grid formation to create stunning sheets of kaleidoscopic colour. It was created in parallel to his design for the south transept window of Cologne Cathedral, unveiled in August 2007, which is made up of 11,500 hand-blown squares of glass in 72 colours.
4900 Farben consists of 196 panels of 25 coloured squares that can be re-configured in eleven variations, from one large-scale piece to multiple, smaller paintings. Richter has developed Version II - 49 identically-sized paintings, each 97 x 97 cm – especially for the Serpentine Gallery. The fully-illustrated catalogue includes texts by Benjamin Buchloh, Peter Gidal and Birgit Pelzer."

Novedad Prestel

Título: Unseen Mendieta
Autora: Olga M. Viso
Número de páginas: 304
Editorial: Prestel
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Cuba / Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-3791339665

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Among the most compelling and iconic images of art in the 1970s are the pioneering investigations of performance and experimental media by Ana Mendieta. An American artist born in Cuba, she explored in her work her Caribbean roots through the lens of exile. She meticulously documented her ephemeral site-specific artworks, on beaches and in rivers, across flowery fields, and against walls of rock. Here for the first time, Olga Viso, the leading authority on the artist, presents a beautifully curated representative selection of photographs and drawings from the artist s archive, only a small selection of which has been previously published. The volume traces Mendieta s early studies as an art student in Iowa; the genesis of her signature works, the archetypal female forms known as siluetas; and public art projects, including ones being developed at the time of her tragic death in 1985. Interspersed throughout are revealing pages from Mendieta's notebooks: sketches, shopping lists for materials, recipes for gunpowder mixtures, and photographic source materials. Viso's accompanying essay reveals the artist s experimental approach and rigorous working methods, provides insights into the forces that inspired and shaped her work, and shows how the genius of Mendieta's vision has survived its physical manifestations."

Novedad Galaxia Gutenberg

Título: La ninfa inconstante
Autor: Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Número de páginas: 283
Editorial: Galaxia Gutenberg
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Cuba
ISBN: 9788481097757

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.casadellibro.com) "El libro inédito de Guillermo Cabrera Infante que su viuda da a conocer tras la muere del autor. Muestra a claras todas las facetas del estilo de Cabrera Infante: los juegos de palabras que tanto fascinaban a ese infatigable explorador del lenguaje, sus referencias cinematográficas y literarias, el gusto por las expresiones del habla popular y ese personalísimo y exquisito sentido del humor que puebla cada una de sus páginas."

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Así en la paz como en la guerra (1960)
. Tres tristes tigres (1964 y 1967)
. Exorcismos de esti(l) o (1976)
. La Habana para un infante difunto (1979)
. Mea Cuba (1992)
. Delito por bailar el chachachá (1995)
. Ella cantaba boleros (1996)
. Todo está hecho con espejos

Novedad Other Criteria

Título: Theories, Models, Methods, Approaches, Assumptions, Results and Findings
Autor: Damien Hirst
Número de páginas: 156
Editorial: Other Criteria
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Reino Unido
ISBN: 9781880154427

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Theories, Models, Methods, Approaches, Assumptions, Results and Findings was published to coincide with the exhibition of the same title at Gagosian Gallery, New York. All works contained in the exhibition are illustrated and accompanied by excerpts from the Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, a text by novelist Gordon Burn, and an essay by Dr George Poste, Chairman of the US Department of Defense Science Board on Bioterrorism. The book references the academic scientific research publications that have inspired Hirst’s work since the beginning of his artistic endeavours, placing the sculptures and paintings into what feels like a natural home. The diagram on the case shows the changes and processes affecting the body after death, and illustrated essay titles include The Epidemiology of Violence and Observations on Fatal Injuries to the Brain Stem and/or Upper Cervical Spinal Cord. These essays, and many more with their accompanying diagrams, tables and pie-charts, bring order and reason to unacceptably difficult events, like much of Hirst’s work."

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away (1995)
. The Cancer Chronicles (2003)
. Damien Hirst's Pharmacy (2004)
. From the Cradle to the Grave: Selected Drawings (2005)
. I Want to Spend the Rest of My Life Everywhere, with Everyone, One to One, Always, Forever, Now (2006)
. Void (2008)
. The Death of God (2008)
. New Religion (2008)
. Romance in the Age of Uncertainty (2008)
. The Elusive Truth (2008)
. For the Love of God: The Making of the Diamond Skull (2008)
. Corpus: Drawings 1981-2006 (2008)
. Beyond Belief (2008)

Novedad McSweeney's

Título: Vacation
Autor: Deb Olin Unferth
Número de páginas: 240
Editorial: McSweeney's
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-1934781098

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "In this enthralling headscratcher of a first novel, Unferth (the story collection Minor Robberies) weaves an intricate tale of quests and escapes, of leaving and following. As a child, Myers falls out of a window, shattering his skull and unknowingly living the rest of his life with a misshapen head. Years later, he follows his wife, who spends her evenings following a man she doesn't know. The man, whom Myers identifies as a former classmate of his named Gray, is unaware that he is being doubly tracked. The marriages of both men fall apart, and Myers finds himself on vacation, traveling in search of Gray while Gray's ex-wife and daughter look for him, too. The problem is that Gray does not know where Gray is. If this all sounds puzzling, it is; still, with grace and skill, Unferth manages to weave together the most far-fetched of events. A subplot involving a dolphin untrainer and a woman in search of her birth father is distracting, and Unferth's wordplay can verge on the excessive, but a poignancy emerges in spite of Unferth's post-modern indulgences. (Sept.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Minor Robberies (2007)

Novedad Charta

Título: Richard Dupont: Terminal Stage
Autores: Richard Marshall, Nick Paumgarten, David Hunt, Richard Dupont
Número de páginas: 72
Editorial: Charta
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-8881586837

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "This volume documents the large-scale public installation of Richard Dupont's work at New York's Lever House in the spring of 2008--addressing the themes of biological metamorphosis and transformation that have been central to the sculptor's work since 2003, when he began working from three-dimensional digital scans of his body."

Novedad Houghton Mifflin

Título: The Development
Autor: John Barth
Número de páginas: 176
Editorial: Houghton Mifflin
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0547072487

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "From the iconic Barth come nine darkly comic stories set in a gated community on Maryland's Eastern Shore. In his trademark style—multiple endings, metaphysical musings, breaking the fourth wall—Barth presents a searing indictment of a certain sociological class in the later stages of life, when the worries of advancing age beset characters who are dealing with or anticipating infirmities, burdensome caregiving and wrenching losses. Barth's antic eye for character is undiminished; he fleshes out a spectrum of men and women who run the gamut of professions, political beliefs and financial status, and whose relationships include unwavering marital love, random flirting and adultery. The current(ish) events simmering in the background (the Bush administration's follies, Uganda and Darfur, and several hurricanes) ground the narrative and put the stories into a broader context outside the community's gates. Urbane, discursive and humorous, often bawdy and never sentimental, these stories would be an accessible way for new readers to discover Barth, and his fans, of course, will eat this up. (Oct.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. The Floating Opera (1957)
. The End of the Road (1958)
. The Sot-Weed Factor (1960)
. Giles Goat-Boy, or, The Revised New Syllabus (1966)
. Lost in the Funhouse: Fiction for Print, Tape, Live Voice (1968)
. Chimera (1972)
. Sabbatical (1982)
. The Tidewater Tales (1987)
. The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor (1991)
. Once upon a Time: A Floating Opera (1994)
. On with the Story (1996)
. Coming Soon!!! (2001)
. The Book of Ten Nights and a Night (2004)
. Where Three Roads Meet (2005)

Leyendo

Título: La alegría de la vida [Le dimanche de la vie]
Autor: Raymond Queneau
Traducción de: Carlos Manzano
Número de páginas: 248
Editorial: Alfaguara
Fecha original de publicación: 1952
País: Francia
ISBN: 8420422053

Sinopsis: (Tomada de la contraportada) "La obra de Queneau, trabada sobre una profunda base retórica y matemática, revolucionó la narrativa francesa tanto en su lenguaje como en su estructura. Zazie en el metro (Alfaguara, 1978), su novela de mayor popularidad, es brillante ejemplo de la transposición del lenguaje hablado al lenguaje escrito. Su lenguaje, su construcción secreta, su visión absurda -que recuerda a la del otro normando, Flaubert- le han valido una posición de avanzada en la renovación de la literatura francesa de este siglo. La alegría de la vida nos ofrece un abanico de personajes que son criaturas típicas del personalísimo mundo de Queneau. Valentin Brû se enrola como voluntario en el Ejército por cinco años. Cumplido el plazo, sigue siendo soldado de segunda. Entonces contrae matrimonio con una mercera de Burdeos, mucho mayor que él. Hacia 1936, una herencia les lleva a París. Valentin se pone a vender marcos para fotografías y su mujer se dedica a explotar en secreto ciertos dones de predicción, más o menos auténticos, bajo el nombre de Madame Saphir. Crónica de un mundo de entrañables personajes, en La alegría de la vida encontramos también una lúcida, sugerente y nada piadosa visión de la Francia de entreguerras. "

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Le chiendent [The Bark-Tree; Witch Grass] (1933)
. Pierrot mon ami [Mi amigo Pierrot] (1942)
. Exercices de style [Exercises in Style; Ejercicios de estilo] (1947)
. On est toujours trop bon avec les femmes [We Always Treat Women Too Well; Siempre somos demasiado buenos con las mujeres] (1947)
. Saint Glinglin (1948)
. Le Journal intime de Sally Mara [El diario íntimo de Sally Mara] 1950
. Zazie dans le métro [Zazie in the metro; Zazie en el metro] (1959)
. Les fleurs bleues [The Blue Flowers; Las flores azules] (1965)
. Le vol d'Icare [The Flight of Icarus; El vuelo de Ícaro] (1968)
. Contes et propos [Stories & Remarks] (1981)

Novedad Charta

Título: Jack Pierson
Autores: Enrique Juncosa, Wayne Koestenbaum, Rachel Thomas, Richard Marshall
Número de páginas: 436
Editorial: Charta/Irish Museum of Modern Art
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-8881586776

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "This publication--at once a daybook, a survey (it accompanies the artist's first exhibition in Ireland) and an artist's book--collects eight previous publications on the American artist Jack Pierson, several of which are long out of print. Pierson was among the first photographers to print pages with the imagery bleeding out of its usual white frame, and to deploy a bleached-out and overexposed style of photography that connotes a longing for a recent but already dimming past, littered with the props and players of yesterday's parties. By small increments, an emotional tone builds that is both warmly homoerotic and unabashedly wistful. All of these books were designed by the artist and are here reproduced in their original size and in chronological order.
Jack Pierson makes photographs, word sculptures, installations, drawings and artist's books that excavate the emotional undercurrents of everyday life, from the intimacy of romantic attachment to the remote idolizing of the famous. Pierson has often engaged celebrity culture, refusing ironic treatment of the subject to instead confess, or seem to confess, his own attraction to the fantasy life depicted in his artworks. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Cheim & Read, New York; Alison Jacques Gallery, London and Regen Projects, Los Angeles. His work is held in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art."

Menstrúfilo

Y bueno, ahora que la exposición de ANIM/alias ha quedado oficialmente inaugurada, me tomo la libertad de publicar la obra con la que participé. Se titula Menstrúfilo y fue el animal que el azar me asignó. A partir de dicha palabra imaginé a esta distinguida bestia y, tomando mi obra como base, el escritor Héctor Alvarado -autor de Cuentos del prójimo, El ojo de la Iguana, Enciclopedia para ciegos caminantes, La ventana de los deseos, Los pasos de la noche y Esa llaga, la memoria, entre otros- redactó el texto que aún no he tenido oportunidad de leer. Para quienes residen en la ciudad de Monterrey y zonas aledañas les informo que la exposición se quedará en los muros de la Casa de la Cultura de Nuevo León durante un mes. Si tienen tiempo los invito a que se den una vuelta. El apoyo a la literatura y el arte local es siempre bien recibido.

Menstrúfilo (de la serie Pesadillas y otros placeres). Luis Panini. Collage digtal montado sobre madera. 29.8 x 29.8 cms. 2008.

Novedad Viking

Título: Pharmakon
Autor: Dirk Wittenborn
Número de páginas: 416
Editorial: Viking
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0670019427

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "In this ambitious but flawed novel about drug makers and drug takers, Wittenborn (Fierce People) unfurls the cautionary story of Dr. Will Friedrich, a psychopharmacologist at Yale in 1951, who teams up with a female psychiatrist to test an experimental mood-enhancing drug extracted from a leaf used by New Guinea witch doctors. Will tests the new med on a suicidal freshman, Casper Gedsic, and Casper's resulting homicidal outbreak will trouble Will for the rest of his life. Zach, the narrator and youngest Friedrich boy (conceived in the wake of Casper's freakout), comes of age during the tail end of the '60s, has a truncated brush with writerly success and cops a crippling habit. He and his three siblings end up disappointing Will as their lives run counter to his ambitions for them: daughters Fiona and Lucy forgo lucrative careers for more fulfilling lifestyles (Fiona becomes a painter, Lucy an aid worker), and Willy drops out of prelaw to study art. Unfortunately, the fates of the Friedrich children are of much less dramatic interest than that of their father, and as the novel shifts focus to their travails, this dysfunctional family narrative disappointingly peters out into irresolution. (Aug.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Fierce People (2003)
. Zoe (2004)
. Catwalk (2006)
. Casper (2007)

Que abran las jaulas, que los dejen salir

¿Qué? ANIM/alias Proyecto Colectivo de Literatura y Artes Visuales
¿Dónde? Casa de la Cultura de Nuevo León, Ave. Colón 400 ote. Monterrey, N. L., México
¿Cuándo? Hoy, a las 8:00 PM. (Las obras estarán expuestas durante 30 días)
¿Quién? Los que aparecen en la lista adjunta.

Novedad Harper Perennial

Título: The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982
Autora: Joyce Carol Oates
Número de páginas: 544
Editorial: Harper Perennial
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0061227998

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "Writing is... a drug, sweet, irresistible, and exhausting, writes Oates in this fascinating and significant record of an artist's life. She was 34 when she began this experiment in consciousness, which follows the gestation and writing of many of her most important works. Oates, readers come to realize, is intensely disciplined, exquisitely sensitive, unflaggingly—almost morbidly—introspective, concerned with philosophical issues, attuned to mysticism and acutely responsive to the natural world. Although she abhors being described as prolific, she writes daily, with feverish energy; she herself uses the word obsessed. If a day or two passes when she isn't writing, she feels profound worthlessness. Teaching, she reveals, is a vital component of her well-being, although it often leaves her exhausted. The journal records her relationships with contemporary authors, including Philip Roth, Susan Sontag, John Updike, Gail Godwin, Stanley Elkin, John Gardner and Donald Barthelme. She is candid about her intensely intimate marriage to Raymond Smith, her lack of maternal instinct and the hours she spends at the piano, an obsession almost equal to her writing. Overall, this journal immerses the reader in a complex, searching, imaginative personality—an artist who continues to refine her search for literary expression. 16 pages of b&w photos."

Otros títulos notables de la autora:
. By the North Gate (1963)
. Upon the Sweeping Flood And Other Stories (1966)
. The Wheel of Love And Other Stories (1970)
. How I Contemplated The World From The Detroit House Of Correction
. Marriages and Infidelities (1972)
. The Goddess and Other Women (1974)
. The Hungry Ghosts: Seven Allusive Comedies (1974)
. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? : Stories of Young America (1974)
. The Poisoned Kiss And Other Stories from the Portuguese (1975)
. The Seduction & Other Stories (1975)
. Crossing the Border: Fifteen Tales (1976)
. Night-Side (1977)
. All the Good People I've Left Behind (1979)
. A Sentimental Education: Stories (1980)
. Last Days: Stories (1984)
. Wild Saturday (1984)
. Raven's Wing: Stories (1986)
. The Assignation: Stories (1989)
. Heat And Other Stories (1991)
. Where Is Here? (1992)
. Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque (1994)
. Demon and other tales (1996)
. Will You Always Love Me? And Other Stories (1996)
. The Collector of Hearts: New Tales of the Grotesque (1998)
. Faithless: Tales of Transgression (2001)
. I Am No One You Know: Stories (2004)
. The Female of the Species: Tales of Mystery and Suspense (2006)
. High Lonesome: New & Selected Stories, 1966-2006 (2006)
. The Museum of Dr. Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense (2007)
. Wild Nights! (2008)

Premio Planeta de novela 2008

Para Fernando Savater por su novela La hermandad de la buena suerte.

Novedad Hatje Cantz

Título: Mathilde ter Heijne: If It's Me, It's Not Me
Autoras: Ulrike Muenter, Maggie Tapert, Mathilde ter Heijne
Número de páginas: 144
Editorial: Hatje Cantz
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Francia / Holanda
ISBN: 978-3775722506

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.hatjecantz.de) "Mathilde ter Heijne deals with themes such as the role of women in politically motivated suicides or the representation of female victims of violence and war in the media. She often uses a life-sized mannequin of herself as a stand-in actress in her videos and her works on CD-ROM, and she also does the voice-overs for each of her alter egos.
The artist’s book If It's Me, It's Not Me presents Mathilde ter Heijne’s working methods, concepts, and ideas of the last ten years in her distinct handwriting. A 'chronological archive of images' with a selection of quotes and illustrations of her works is supplemented by excerpts from literature and poetry, film and art-historical contributions, as well as interviews conducted by the artist with experts in fields of central importance for her recent work: woman’s role in society, suicide bombings, trauma therapy, and matriarchy research."

Novedad Charta

Título: Maja Bajevic
Autoras: Maja Bajevic, Lynne Cooke
Número de páginas: 144
Editorial: Charta/Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Sarajevo
ISBN: 978-8881586707

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Born in Sarajevo in 1967, rising performance, video and installation artist Maja Bajevic makes work that is socially, politically and psychologically charged in its ongoing investigation of identity. This first comprehensive monograph contains an extended interview with the artist. "

Leyendo

Título: Wormdye
Autor: Eamon Espey
Número de páginas: 128
Editorial: Secret Acres
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
ISBN: 978-0979960918
País: Estados Unidos

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Eamon Espey's Wormdye is a collection of interwoven tales that deftly illustrate the fever-pitched anxiety of modern life. With locales as varied as the River Styx, the Vatican, the island of Aegina and the Mitchell Corn Palace, Wormdye follows Marco, Tommy and others as they engage in the human struggle: work, religion, death and human sacrifice. Bleak and darkly funny, Wormdye uses myths and iconographic visuals to evoke a world-view that is both absorbing and upsetting, tragic and triumphant."

Man Booker Prize 2008

Título: The White Tiger
Autor: Aravind Adiga
Número de páginas: 288
Editorial: Free Press
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: India
ISBN: 978-1416562597

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "A brutal view of India's class struggles is cunningly presented in Adiga's debut about a racist, homicidal chauffer. Balram Halwai is from the Darkness, born where India's downtrodden and unlucky are destined to rot. Balram manages to escape his village and move to Delhi after being hired as a driver for a rich landlord. Telling his story in retrospect, the novel is a piecemeal correspondence from Balram to the premier of China, who is expected to visit India and whom Balram believes could learn a lesson or two about India's entrepreneurial underbelly. Adiga's existential and crude prose animates the battle between India's wealthy and poor as Balram suffers degrading treatment at the hands of his employers (or, more appropriately, masters). His personal fortunes and luck improve dramatically after he kills his boss and decamps for Bangalore. Balram is a clever and resourceful narrator with a witty and sarcastic edge that endears him to readers, even as he rails about corruption, allows himself to be defiled by his bosses, spews coarse invective and eventually profits from moral ambiguity and outright criminality. It's the perfect antidote to lyrical India. (Apr.)"

Novedad Seven Stories Press

Título: Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy
Autora: Savannah Knoop
Número de páginas: 224
Editorial: Seven Stories Press
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-1583228517

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "In January 2006, The New York Times unmasked Savannah Knoop as the face of the mysterious author JT LeRoy. A media frenzy ensued as JT’s fans, mentors, and readers came to terms with the fact that the gay-male-ex-truck-stop-prostitute-turned-literary-wunderkind was really a girl from San Francisco, whose middle-aged sister-in-law, Laura Albert, wrote the books.
Girl Boy Girl is the story of how Savannah led this bizarre double life for six years, trading a precarious existence as a college dropout for a life in which she was embraced by celebrities and artists—Carrie Fisher, Courtney Love, Mary Ellen Mark, Winona Ryder, Asia Argento, Sharon Olds, Gus Van Sant, Mike Pitt, Calvin Klein, Shirley Manson, to name a few—and traveled the world. Telling her side of the story for the first time, Savannah reveals how being perceived as a boy gave her a sense of confidence and entitlement she never had before. Her love affair with Asia Argento is particularly wrenching, as they embark on an intimate relationship that causes more alienation than closeness. As Savannah and Laura struggle over control of the JT character, Savannah realizes the limits of the game, and is relieved when it’s over. Inadvertently, she finds herself through the adventure of being someone else."

Novedad Verlag Scheidegger and Spiess

Título: Dalí and Me [Dalí et moi]
Autora: Catherine Millet
Número de páginas: 240
Editorial: Verlag Scheidegger and Spiess
Fecha original de publicación: 2008 (2005, en francés)
País: Francia
ISBN: 978-3858817112

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Salvador Dalí’s (1904–89) surrealist paintings such as The Persistence of Memory and The Metamorphosis of Narcissus are internationally beloved for their unforgettable images and eccentric metaphors for the human condition. His lesser-known but equally intriguing writings, on the other hand, are remarkably coarse, describing human bodies and evocations of sexuality with a bewildering mixture of crude realism and naïve simplicity.
Dalí and Me is an account by art historian and controversial author Catherine Millet of a highly personal encounter with the artist’s celebrated paintings and self-reflective writings. One of the first studies of the notoriously idiosyncratic artist’s essays, this revolutionary book reveals all the narcissism, anxiety, and visual genius of the most famous—and infamous—of the surrealists.
Based on years of scrupulous research into Dalí’s life and art yet deeply enriched by Millet’s autobiographical journey, this landmark volume uncovers the reverberations of Dalí’s influence on his friends and contemporaries. In its explorations of both Millet’s and Dali’s inner workings, Dalí and Me ultimately becomes an argument in book form that personal involvement can be the key to understanding one of the most compelling oeuvres in art history."

Otros títulos notables de la autora:
. Yves Klein (1992)
. L'art contemporain (1997)
. L'art contemporain en France (1998)
. La vie sexuelle de Catherine M. (2001)
. L'art contemporain : Histoire et géographie (2006)
. Jour de souffrance (2008)

Novedad Pantheon

Título: Breakdowns
Autor: Art Spiegelman
Número de páginas: 72
Editorial: Pantheon
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Suecia / Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0375423956

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "The creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus explores the comics form...and how it formed him!
This book opens with Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, creating vignettes of the people, events, and comics that shaped Art Spiegelman. It traces the artist's evolution from a MAD-comics obsessed boy in Rego Park, Queens, to a neurotic adult examining the effect of his parents' memories of Auschwitz on his own son.
The second part presents a facsimile of Breakdowns, the long-sought after collection of the artist's comics of the 1970s, the book that triggers these memories. Breakdowns established the mode of formally sophisticated comics that transformed the medium, and includes the prototype of Maus, cubist experiments, an essay on humor, and the definitive genre-twisting pulp story 'Ace Hole-Midget Detective.'
Pulling all this together is an illustrated essay that looks back at the sixties as the artist pushes sixty, and explains the obsessions that brought these works into being. Poignant, funny, complex, and innovative, Breakdowns alters the terms of what can be accomplished in a memoir."

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Maus: A Survivor's Tale (1986)
. Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began (1991)
. In the Shadow of No Towers (2004)

Novedad Knopf

Título: The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo [Män som hatar kvinnor]
Autor: Stieg Larsson
Traducción de: Reg Keeland
Número de páginas: 480
Editorial: Knopf
Fecha original de publicación: 2005, en sueco
País: Suecia
ISBN: 978-0307269751

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "Cases rarely come much colder than the decades-old disappearance of teen heiress Harriet Vanger from her family's remote island retreat north of Stockholm, nor do fiction debuts hotter than this European bestseller by muckraking Swedish journalist Larsson. At once a strikingly original thriller and a vivisection of Sweden's dirty not-so-little secrets (as suggested by its original title, Men Who Hate Women), this first of a trilogy introduces a provocatively odd couple: disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist, freshly sentenced to jail for libeling a shady businessman, and the multipierced and tattooed Lisbeth Salander, a feral but vulnerable superhacker. Hired by octogenarian industrialist Henrik Vanger, who wants to find out what happened to his beloved great-niece before he dies, the duo gradually uncover a festering morass of familial corruption—at the same time, Larsson skillfully bares some of the similar horrors that have left Salander such a marked woman. Larsson died in 2004, shortly after handing in the manuscripts for what will be his legacy. (Sept.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. The Girl who Played with [Fire Flickan som lekte med elden] (2006)
. The Aircastle that Blew Up [Luftslottet som sprängdes] (2007)

Leyendo

Título: Mesmo Delivery
Autor: Rafael Grampá
Número de páginas: 56
Editorial: AdHouse Books
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
ISBN: 978-8560018031
País: Brasil

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.adhousebooks.com) "Mesmo Delivery is the full color debut sequential work by Eisner Award-winning Brazilian creator Rafael Grampá. The story is one of mystery and action, as Rufo, an ex boxer, must deliver the goods while promising to NEVER open or inspect his cargo. Mayhem ensues as the precious cargo becomes the goal of others. Wizard calls it Convoy meets The Twilight Zone."

ANIM/alias (Invitación formal)

Novedad Houghton Mifflin

Título: The Best American Comics 2008
Editores: Lynda Barry, Jessica Abel, Matt Madden
Número de páginas: 416
Editorial: Houghton Mifflin
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0618989768

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com "This newest addition to the Best American Series returns with a set of both established and up-and-coming contributors. Editor Lynda Barry and brand-new series editors Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, acclaimed cartoonists in their own right, culled the best stories from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, and the web to create this cutting-edge collection, 'perfect for newbies as well as fans'. This volume features such luminaries as Chris Ware, Seth, and Alison Bechdel alongside beloved daily cartoonists like Matt Groening."

Paul Schuette dijo (a propósito del Nobel de Literatura 2008)

Acabo de recibir un mensaje de texto de parte de uno de mis mejores amigos al que generalmente califico de "enciclopédico". El mensaje, de indiscutible naturaleza austera, dice:

Who the fuck is Le Clézio?

¿Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio?

Aunque el nombre del escritor francés Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio ha tenido cierta resonancia en los últimos cinco años cada vez que se habla de posibles candidatos al Premio Nobel de Literatura, anoche me sorprendió escucharlo. No, no estoy decepcionado, soy un gran admirador de la literatura francesa, pero de Le Clézio no he leído ni una sola línea. Hace dos años, en la FIL 2006, compré un ejemplar de este autor. Se titula El atestado y es su primera novela, publicada originalmente en francés cuando apenas contaba con 23 años. No tenía la intención de adquirirla, pero al no poder encontrar Révolutions ni en inglés ni en español, la cual me fue altamente recomendada, decidí comprar El atestado. Aún no la he leído. Quizá la concesión del premio me motive a leera pronto, no lo sé. Lo que es más importante, espero que en los próximos meses su obra comience a traducirse mucho más, y que las versiones en inglés y en español experimenten un masivo proceso de reimpresión y que sean mejor distribuidas, porque de momento es casi imposible encontrarlas. Habrá que descubrir a Le Clézio.

Título: El atestado [Le procès-verbal]
Autor: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Edición y traducción de: Susana Cantero
Número de páginas: 336
Editorial: Cátedra
Fecha original de publicación: 1963
ISBN: 8437612985
País: Francia

Sinopsis: (Tomada de la contraportada) "El protagonista de El atestado es un héroe solitario y anónimo que se busca a sí mismo en la confrontación con el medio, que huye hacia adelante sin rumbo ni destino, agredido por geografías urbanas hostiles. El atestado es un relato realizado bajo palabra, in situ y de viva voz, para dar fe de algo de lo que uno ha sido testigo ocular, y jugando con el doble sentido que proporciona el título francés, un 'proceso a la palabra'."

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. The Flood [Déluge] (1966)
. Material Ecstasy [L'Extase matérielle] (1967)
. Beloved Earth [Terra Amata] (1967)
. Haï (1971)
. Mydriase (1973)
. The Giants [Les Géants] (1973)
. Journeys Beyond [Voyages de l'autre côté] (1975)
. Chilam Balam Prophecies [Les Prophéties du Chilam Balam] (1976)
. Mondo and other stories [Mondo et autres histoires] (1978)
. The Stranger on the Earth [L'Inconnu sur la Terre] (1978)
. Three Holy Cities [Trois villes saintes] (1980)
. Desert [Désert] (1980)
. The Prospector [Le Chercheur d'Or] (1985)
. Journey to Rodrigues [Voyage à Rodrigues] (1986)
. The Mexican Dream or Broken Thought [Le Rêve mexicain ou la pensée interrompue] (1988)
. Spring and other Seasons [Printemps et autres saisons] (1989)
. Wandering Star [Étoile errante] (1992)
. Pawana (1992)
. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo [Diego et Frida] (1993)
. Quarantine [La Quarantaine] (1995)
. The Golden Fish [Poisson d'or] (1997)
. Sung Celebration [La Fête chantée] (1997)
. Serendipity [Hasard] (1999)
. Burnt Heart and other romances [Cœur Brûle et autres romances] (2000)
. Révolutions (2003)
. The African [L'Africain] (2004)
. Ourania (2005)

Premio Nobel de Literatura 2008

¡Para Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio!
"author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization"

Nacido en Niza, Francia en 1940

Algunos títulos notables del autor:
. The Deposition [Procès-verbal] (1963)
. The Flood [Déluge] (1966)
. Material Ecstasy [L'Extase matérielle] (1967)
. Beloved Earth [Terra Amata] (1967)
. Haï (1971)
. Mydriase (1973)
. The Giants [Les Géants] (1973)
. Journeys Beyond [Voyages de l'autre côté] (1975)
. Chilam Balam Prophecies [Les Prophéties du Chilam Balam] (1976)
. Mondo and other stories [Mondo et autres histoires] (1978)
. The Stranger on the Earth [L'Inconnu sur la Terre] (1978)
. Three Holy Cities [Trois villes saintes] (1980)
. Desert [Désert] (1980)
. The Prospector [Le Chercheur d'Or] (1985)
. Journey to Rodrigues [Voyage à Rodrigues] (1986)
. The Mexican Dream or Broken Thought [Le Rêve mexicain ou la pensée interrompue] (1988)
. Spring and other Seasons [Printemps et autres saisons] (1989)
. Wandering Star [Étoile errante] (1992)
. Pawana (1992)
. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo [Diego et Frida] (1993)
. Quarantine [La Quarantaine] (1995)
. The Golden Fish [Poisson d'or] (1997)
. Sung Celebration [La Fête chantée] (1997)
. Serendipity [Hasard] (1999)
. Burnt Heart and other romances [Cœur Brûle et autres romances] (2000)
. Révolutions (2003)
. The African [L'Africain] (2004)
. Ourania (2005)

Mantra Nobel

Cruzo los dedos y en silencio repito dos nombres con la esperanza de escuchar uno de ellos dentro de media hora:

Joyce Carol Oates
António Lobo Antunes
Joyce Carol Oates
António Lobo Antunes
Joyce Carol Oates
António Lobo Antunes
Joyce Carol Oates
António Lobo Antunes
Joyce Carol Oates
António Lobo Antunes

Dentro de 1 hora...

Novedad Alfaguara

Título: La voluntad y la fortuna
Autor: Carlos Fuentes
Número de páginas: 560
Editorial: Alfaguara
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: México
ISBN: 978-8420474298

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.alfaguara.santillana.es) "Lamida por mansas olas nocturnas en una playa del Pacífico, la cabeza cortada de Josué Nadal cuenta, recuerda, divaga. Sabe que es la número mil en lo que va de año y que gobierna la delincuencia (traficante o corporativa) con tal cinismo que incluso se celebra el mal como si fuera el bien de la voluntad y la fortuna. En México no hay tragedia: todo se vuelve telenovela.
Josué aspiró a entender el mundo en tanto Jericó, su amigo entrañable, llegó a admirar a Caín. Ambas voluntades chocan tras recabar agravantes en la premeditación y alevosía de Asunta Jordán, mujer indómita. En cambio, Lucha Zapata representa el peligro de la generosidad y el amor. El vasto reparto de esta obra incluye Filopáter, el cura rebelde; el magnate Max Monroy; el abogado Antonio Sanginés, intermediario entre estado y empresa; Miguel Aparecido, encarcelado por propia voluntad, y por encima (o por debajo) la matriarca, la Antigua Concepción.
¿Por qué si hay cinco tigres en una jaula cuatro se alían para matar a uno? Esta novela iniciática, espesa como el corazón de las tinieblas, propone algunas respuestas."

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Los días enmascarados (1954)
. La región más transparente (1958)
. Las buenas conciencias (1959)
. La muerte de Artemio Cruz (1962)
. Aura (1962)
. Cantar de ciegos (1964)
. Zona Sagrada (1967)
. Cambio de piel (1967)
. Cumpleaños (1969)
. Todos los gatos son pardos (1970)
. El tuerto es rey (1970)
. Los reinos originarios (1971)
. Terra Nostra (1975)
. La cabeza de la hidra (1978)
. Agua quemada (1983)
. Gringo Viejo (1985)
. Cristóbal Nonato (1987)
. La Campaña (1990)
. Dos educaciones (1991)
. El espejo enterrado (1992)
. Geografía de la novela (1993)
. Los hijos del conquistador (1994)
. La Frontera de Cristal (1995)
. Los años con Laura Díaz (1999)
. Instinto de Inez (2001)
. En esto creo (2002)
. La Silla del Águila (2003)
. Inquieta compañía (2004)
. Contra Bush (2004)
. Los 68 (2005)
. Todas las familias felices (2006)

Dentro de 5 horas...

Dentro de 10 horas...

Novedad Knopf

Título: Dangerous Laughter
Autor: Steven Millhauser
Número de páginas: 256
Editorial: Knopf
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0307267566

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly): "Phenomenal clarity and rapacious movement are only two of the virtues of Millhauser's new collection, which focuses on the misery wrought by misdirected human desire and ambition. The citizens who build insulated domes over their houses in The Dome escalate their ambitions to great literal and figurative heights, but the accomplishment becomes bittersweet. The uncontrollably amused adolescents in the book's title story, who gather together for laughing sessions, find something ultimately joyless in their mirth. As in earlier works like The Barnum Museum, Millhauser's tales evolve more like lyrical essays than like stories; the most breathlessly paced sound the most like essays. The painter at the center of A Precursor of the Cinema develops from entirely conventional works to paintings that blend photographic realism with inexplicable movement, to—something entirely new. Similarly, haute couture dresses grow in A Change in Fashion until the people beneath them disappear, and the socioeconomic tension Millhauser induces is as tight as a corset. Though his exaggerated outlook on contemporary life might seem to be at once uncomfortably clinical and fantastical, Millhauser's stories draw us in all the more powerfully, extending his peculiar domain further than ever. (Feb.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Portrait of a Romantic (1977)
. In the Penny Arcade (1986)
. From the Realm of Morpheus (1986)
. The Barnum Museum (1990)
. Little Kingdoms (1993)
. Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer (1996)
. The Knife Thrower (1998)
. Enchanted Night (1999)
. The King in the Tree (2003)

Se nos fue Paavo Haavikko (1931-2008)

Hace apenas una semana que incluí al poeta y dramaturgo Paavo Haavikko en la lista de posibles candidatos para el Premio Nobel de Literatura 2008. Hasta hace unas horas Haavikko era el escritor finlandés más importante con vida. Su muerte es sin duda en extremo lamentable y seguramente fomentará la traducción del resto de su obra al inglés, además de otros idiomas. O por lo menos espero que así sea.

Paavo Haavikko (1931-2008)

Algunos títulos notables del autor:
. The Winter Palace [Talvipalatsit] (1959)
. Twenty and One [Kaksikymmentä ja yksi] (1974)
. The Horseman [Ratsumies] (1974)
. The King Goes Forth to France [Kuningas lähtee Ranskaank] (1974)
. Kullervo's Story [Kullervon Tarina] (1982)
. Anastasya and I [Anastasia ja minä] (1992)

Leyendo

Título: Caravansary
Autor: Álvaro Mutis
Número de páginas: 64
Editorial: Fondo de Cultura Económica
Fecha original de publicación: 1981
ISBN: 9681608461
País: Colombia

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.fondodeculturaeconomica.com) "Octavio Paz ha dicho del poeta colombiano: 'Mutis es un poeta de la estirpe más rara en español: rico sin ostentación y sin despilfarro. Necesidad de decirlo todo y conciencia de que nada se dice. Amor por la palabra, desesperación ante la palabra, odio a la palabra: extremos del poeta. Gusto del lujo y gusto por lo esencial, pasiones contradictorias pero que no se excluyen y a las que todo poeta debe sus mejores poemas. Lujo y, ya se sabe, 'orden y belleza', es decir, economía en la expresión.'"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. La Balanza (1948)
. Los elementos del desastre (1953)
. Reseñas de los hospitales de Ultramar (1955)
. Diario de Lecumberri (1960)
. Los trabajos perdidos (1965)
. Summa de Maqroll el Gaviero (1973)
. La mansión de Araucaíma (1973)
. La verdadera historia del flautista de Hammelin (1982)
. Los emisarios (1984)
. Crónica regia y alabanza del reino (1985)
. Un homenaje y siete nocturnos (1986)
. La Nieve del Almirante (1986)
. Ilona llega con la lluvia (1987)
. Un bel morir (1989)
. La última escala del Tramp Steamer (1989)
. La muerte del estratega (1990)
. Abdul Bashur, soñador de navíos (1991)
. Tríptico de mar y tierra (1993)

Novedad Harper Perennial

Título: Broken
Autor: Daniel Clay
Número de páginas: 336
Editorial: Harper Perennial
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Reino Unido
ISBN: 978-0061561047

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "English writer Clay's disjointed debut traces the story of Skunk Cunningham, an 11-year-old girl living with her father, brother and au pair. One day, Skunk watches as local thug Bob Oswald beats teenager Rick Buckley. Bob, whose five daughters go to school with Skunk, is one-dimensionally horrible and has no qualms about bullying kids or teachers as he protects his daughters. Skunk and crew, meanwhile, spend their days in school steering clear of the Oswald girls, who are as psycho as their father. Between bouts of violence, things in the British suburb are quiet, and Rick becomes a virtual prisoner in his home, only to later emerge as a broken and violent beast. The novel is nearly plotless and overflows with generalized nastiness, and the grim proceedings, while initially discomforting, don't do anything except pile on and become banal. (Sept.)"

Invitación

Están todos invitados a la exposición ANIM/alias que se inaugurará el día jueves 16 de octubre en la Casa de la Cultura de Nuevo León a las 8:00PM.
¿De qué se trata?
36 escritores y 36 artistas plásticos fueron invitados a participar para la creación de un bestiario que incluye 36 animales de especie desconocida. Una rifa se llevó a cabo en un bar de la ciudad de Monterrey en donde se depositaron los nombres de los escritores, bestias y artistas plásticos en 3 urnas distintas. Una a una se fueron eligiendo las papeletas con la finalidad de encontrarle creadores plásticos y literarios a cada uno de estos extraños seres a través de una imagen y un texto de aproximadamente una cuartilla. Yo participé con un collage y el animal que se me asignó fue "Menstrúfilo". A partir de esa palabra desarrollé el personaje y mi contraparte, el escritor Héctor Alvarado -organizador y coordinador del evento-, le otorgó vida literaria.
Quedan todos invitados.

Fortunata y Jacinta

Fortunata

Jacinta

Anoche soñé...

Que le otorgaban el Premio Nobel de Literatura 2008 al escritor israelí Amos Oz. No me molestaría, pero prefiero que se lo concedan a Joyce Carol Oates o a António Lobo Antunes. Que se lo entreguen a Oates me parece casi imposible este año, pues en el 2007 se lo concedieron a otra mujer angloparlante (Doris Lessing), aunque no pierdo la esperanza. En fin, soy un terrible profeta, nunca he llegado a acertar. La Academia Sueca siempre me sorprende, aún no logro procesar al agraciado del 2005, Harold Pinter, mucho menos a los que lo obtuvieron en 1997 y el 2000, Darío Fo (sin comentarios) y Gao Xingjian (una de las bibliografías más raquíticas en la historia del Premio), repectivamente. En el 2004 me llevé una muy grata sorpresa cuando se lo dieron a Elfriede Jelinek: Sí, muy merecido.

Amos Oz (Israel, 1939)

Novedad First Second

Título: The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard
Autores: Eddie Campbell, Dan Best
Número de páginas: 128
Editorial: First Second
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Reino Unido
ISBN: 978-1596433014

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly): "‘He flies through the air with the greatest of ease – the daring young man on the flying trapeze!’
Step right up, Ladies and Gentlemen, for a glorious spectacle of graphic literature beyond your wildest imaginings, in which young Etienne discovers that replacing his uncle as the Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard, world-renowned acrobat and head of a circus troupe, is every bit as difficult as it appears to be.
Etienne is swept up in wonder and work even as he struggles to keep up his grandiose façade, while every day his chances for happiness slip further away. For Etienne, taking a stand for his own happiness is as daring as any trick the Amazing Remarkable Leotard could perform.
Eddie Campbell and Dan Best bring to life the historical story of the daring young man on the flying trapeze in a tale filled with wonders and marvels."

Novedad Knopf

Título: Nothing to Be Frightened Of
Autor: Julian Barnes
Número de páginas: 256
Editorial: Knopf
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Reino Unido
ISBN: 978-0307269638

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly): "In this virtuosic memoir, Barnes (Arthur & George) makes little mention of his personal or professional life, allowing his audience very limited ingress into his philosophical musings on mortality. But like Alice tumbling through the rabbit hole, readers will find themselves granted access to an unexpectedly large world, populated with Barnes's daily companions and his chosen ancestors (most of them dead, and quite a few of them French, like Jules Renard, Flaubert, Zola). This is not 'my autobiography,' Barnes emphasizes in this hilariously unsentimental portrait of his family and childhood. Part of what I'm doing—which may seem unnecessary—is trying to work out how dead they are. And in this exploration of what remains, the author sifts through unreliable memory to summon up how his ancestors—real and assumed—contemplated death and grappled with the perils and pleasures of pit-gazing. If Barnes's self-professed amateur philosophical rambling feels occasionally self-indulgent, his vivid description delights. (Sept.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Metroland (1980)
. Before She Met Me (1982)
. Flaubert's Parrot (1984)
. Staring at the Sun (1986)
. A History of the World in 10½ Chapters (1989)
. Talking it Over (1991)
. The Porcupine (1992)
. Letters from London (1995)
. Cross Channel (1996)
. England, England (1998)
. Love, Etc. (2000)
. Something to Declare (2002)
. The Lemon Table (2004)
. Arthur & George (2005)

Leyendo

Título: The Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert [Les Sous-sols du Révolu: Extraits du journal d'un expert]
Autor: Marc-Antoine Mathieu
Traducción de: Joe Johnson
Número de páginas: 62
Editorial: ComicsLit
Fecha original de publicación: 2006 (en francés)
ISBN: 978-1561635146
País: Francia

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "The second of a four-volume series copublished by NBM and the Louvre invites artists to create a story involving the museum. Mathieu's follows an expert hired to catalogue a vast, half-ruined museum; he encounters inhabitants living in the lower reaches who have no understanding of the location or its contents. A Kafkaesque catalogue of paradoxes ensues: paintings kept in the dark so the light will not damage the colors that no one will ever see; statues restored then broken then defaced to keep their states "authentic"; a frame maker who considers his contribution the true definition of painting. As years go by, the expert becomes old and unkempt as further and further levels of absurdist cataloguing are discovered. Eventually, he discovers the deepest layers and the secret behind the Mona Lisa, even as he passes his journal on to another "expert" for a continuation of these meaningless attempts to quantify art without perceiving its beauty. The story is rendered in grim, gray tones, which make the endless rounds of the museum workers look all the more fruitless. Like the expert, readers will be glad for the rays of real light and art at the end of this dark satire. (Feb.)"

Otros títulos notables del autor:
. Paris-Mâcon (1988)
. L'Origine (1990)
. La Qu... (1991)
. Le Processus (1993)
. Le Début de la fin (1995)
. La 2,333e Dimension (2004)
. La Mutation (1995)
. Le Cœur des ombres (1998)
. Mémoire morte (2000)
. Le Dessin (2001)
. Le Peintre Touo-Lan (2004)
. L'Ascension et autres récits (2005)
. La Voiture symétrique (2007)

Novedad Merrell Publishers

Título: The House of Viktor & Rolf
Autoras: Caroline Evans, Susannha Frankel
Número de páginas: 256
Editorial: Merrell Publishers
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Holanda
ISBN: 978-1858944609

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Famed for their high-concept catwalk shows and extravagant collections, the radical Dutch design duo Viktor & Rolf have taken the fashion world by storm over the last 15 years. This sumptuously produced book is the most comprehensive exploration of Viktor & Rolf’s work to date, and includes an essay by the fashion historian Caroline Evans, an interview with the designers, a detailed biography and perceptive texts on each collection. Particular attention is given to signature looks from such collections as Atomic Bomb and Russian Doll, which showcase the duo’s unique blend of cool irony and surreal beauty. Featuring style shots by some of the world’s most celebrated photographers, catwalk images, behind-the-scenes snapshots and portraits, The House of Viktor & Rolf is a stunning tribute to two of the most original designers in haute couture."

Octubre 9

La Fundación Nobel acaba de dar a conocer la fecha y hora en la que se anunciará el resultado del Premio Nobel de Literatura 2008. Al parecer este año la comisión dictaminadora se compadeció de sus devotos seguidores al no prolongar la agónica espera hasta la segunda semana de los Premios, (¿habrán tenido algo que ver las controvertidas declaraciones de Horace Engdahl, el Secretario Permanente de la Academia Sueca, con respecto a la "insularidad" de la literatura estadounidense para apresurar la deliberación?) Esto quiere decir que ya se ha tomado una decisión, o son dos candidatos los que quedan en la etapa final antes de tomar dicha decisión. La noticia se hará pública este jueves 9 de octubre a las:

1:00PM (CET; Central European Time) Estocolmo, Suecia.

6:00 AM (CDT; Central Daylight Time) Monterrey, N.L., México.

4:00AM (PDT; Pacific Daylight Time) Los Ángeles, CA, Estados Unidos.

Novedad Yale University Press

Título: An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons & True Stories
Edtor: Ivan Brunetti
Número de páginas: 400
Editorial: Yale University Press
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0300126716

Sinopsis: (Tomada de www.amazon.com) "Comic art is a vital, highly personal art form in which change—rapid and unpredictable—is the norm. In this exciting new anthology, comic artist Ivan Brunetti focuses on very recent works by contemporary artists engaged in this world of change. These outstanding cartoonists, selected by Brunetti for their graphic sophistication and literary style, are both expanding and transforming the vocabulary of their genre.
The book presents contemporary art comics produced by 75 artists, along with some classic comic strips and other related fine art and historical materials. Brunetti arranges the book to reflect the creative process itself, connecting stories and art to each other in surprising ways: nonlinear, elliptical, sometimes whimsical, even poetic. He emphasizes continuity from piece to piece, weaving themes and motifs throughout the volume.
As gorgeously produced as Brunetti’s previous anthology of graphic fiction, this book does full justice to the creative work of Art Spiegelman, Chris Ware, Charles Burns, Gary Panter, and the other prominent or emerging comic artists who are currently at work at the cutting edge of their medium."

Novedad Knopf

Título: The Gone-Away World
Autor: Nick Harkaway
Número de páginas: 512
Editorial: Knopf
Fecha original de publicación: 2008
País: Estados Unidos
ISBN: 978-0307268860

Sinopsis: (Tomada de Publishers Weekly) "This unclassifiable debut from the son of legendary thriller author John le Carré is simultaneously a cautionary tale about the absurdity of war; a sardonic science fiction romp through Armageddon; a conspiracy-fueled mystery replete with ninjas, mimes and cannibal dogs; and a horrifying glimpse of a Lovecraftian near-future. Go Away bombs have erased entire sections of reality from the face of the Earth. A nameless soldier and his heroic best friend witness firsthand the unimaginable aftermath outside the Livable Zone, finding that the world has unraveled and is home to an assortment of nightmarish mutations. With the fate of humankind in the balance, the pair become involved in an unlikely and potentially catastrophic love triangle. Readers who prefer linear, conventional plotlines may find Harkaway overly verbose and frustratingly tangential, but those intrigued by works that blur genre boundaries will find this wildly original hybrid a challenging and entertaining entry in the post-apocalyptic canon. (Sept.)"

Que no se lo otorguen a...

1) Chinua Achebe (Nigeria, 1930)
2) Ernesto Cardenal (Nicaragua, 1925)
3) Salman Rushdie (India / Reino Unido 1947)