Lives on the Line: The Testimony of Contemporary Latin American Authors

These thoughtfully assembled writings by many of Latin America's finest authors bear first-person witness to the personal, social, and political situation of the writer and of literature in Latin America. At different times ironic, impassioned, humorous, reflective, autobiographical, polemical, and always vivid and engaging, this collection of writings is indispensable to a full appreciation of the achievement of twentieth-century Latin American literature. Read more Continue reading Read less FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Thirty writers from 11 countries, ranging from Virginia Ocampo (1890-1979) to Isaac Goldembergstet (born 1945) testify to their personal experiences in formulating a uniquely Latin American literature. Dating between 1960 and 1986, some of these essays appear in English for the first time, others were written specifically for this anthology. We discern here that, more than ever, Latin American writers feel the critical nature of their role in society both as writers and as social conscience and that they are willing to put their lives on the line, both physically and literarily. Violence including hostility, indifference, scorn and cultural isolation have foreclosed any possibility of a normal intellectual existence, and many of these authors are forced to emigrate, while, for others, internal exile and self-censorship are even more damaging. Yet these essays, which ask fundamental questions about the future of Latin America, bear witness to the area's rich cultural vitality and high literary quality. Since nearly all major writers of the "boom" period are represented here, this is an ideal introduction to the subject for general and academic readers. Meyer is professor of Hispanic Studies at Connecticut College.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. FROM LIBRARY JOURNAL
These 30 essays, written since 1960 and representing the outstanding 20th-century writers of Spanish America and Brazil, with a hefty contingent of women, fall into two categories: autobiographical introspection and broader sociopolitical implications of the professional writers' mission. Academic readers will be dismayed at the disregard for scholarly apparatus (e.g., unacknowledged quotes) and absence of studies of individual writers in the bibliography; general readersthe intended audiencewould have appreciated identification of textual allusions. A smooth-reading anthology of an eclectic corpus of writers, many of whose musings appear for the first time in English; but we are left craving more. Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Doris Meyer is Professor of Hispanic Studies at Connecticut College. She is the author of Victoria Ocampo: Against the Wind and Tide, and numerous articles on Hispanic literature. Read more Continue reading Read less