A la Caza del Ultimo Hombre Salvaje: Una novela

by Angela Vallvey

Overview

La familia de candela, la joven protagonista y narradora de esta novela—seis hermanas, la madre, la abuela y la tía Mary—esta immersa en una realidad cotidiana de corte almodovariano, de ilusiones perdidas, relaciones amorosas que terminan en amargos desengaños, e ingenuas esperanzas en un futuro mejor. Para escapar esta realidad, Candela toma un trabajo en una funeraria. Su vida cambia una noche cuando encuentra que tiene que embalsamar al patriarca de una familia gitana, y se dispone a cumplir con el deseo del difunto de ser enterrado con su sombrero, su bastón, y una foto del rey. Candela descubre que el bastón oculta algo que tiene la cualidad de suscitar un enorme interés entre la parentela del finado. Pero su sorpresa será aun mayor cuando iiega a su vida un pariente del gitano, la broverbial perla negra, ese tipo de hombre que la nueva cultura urbana, posmoderna y feminizante ha logrado borrar del horizonte, la pura esencia de la masculinidad. Tremendamente divertida, ácida y sarcástica, esta primera novela de Angela Vallvey pinta un cuadro de una mujer de hoy, victima del desencanto, donde el destello de la felicidad brilla, al fin, en el transcurso de una cotidianidad oscura.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781583224878
Publisher:	Seven Stories Press
Publication date:	05/07/2002
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.53(w) x 8.21(h) x 0.60(d)
Language:	Spanish

About the Author

Angela Vallvey made her reputation in her native Spain as a writer of young adult fiction with the popular The Sentimental Life of Bugs Bunny. She received the Jaén Poetry Award 1998 for her El tamaño del universo (The Size of the Universe). This is her first publication in English. Vallvey lives in Spain.

Editorial Reviews

Una novela llena de humor digna de un película de Almodóvar.” –Elle

From the Publisher

Poet and novelist Vallvey received the Premio Jaen de Poesia award in 1998 for El tamano del universo (The Size of the Universe, Hiperion, 1998) and, most recently, the acclaimed Nadal prize for her newest novel, Los estados carenciales (States of Loss, Destino, 2002). Since she's an experienced children's and YA author, it makes sense that Vallvey would build her first adult novel around the Louisa May Alcotts classic Little Women. In Vallvey's 1999 story, mother, granny, an aunt, six sisters, and a brother are each, in their own way, trying to find an escape from the frustration of living together in the same small space. Narrator Candela, who is one of the sisters, works at a funeral parlor, and her opportunity comes when she accidentally finds diamonds in the cane of a dead gypsy patriarch and falls in love with his son. Meanwhile, pregnant sister Gador plans revenge when she discovers porn tapes of her husband with another woman, who might be somebody they know. Sisters Carmina, a butcher; Bely, the smart teen; Brandy, the sexy beast; Aunt Maria, the alcoholic; Amador, the athletic macho; and other colorful characters are gradually worked into the plot and get led into further adventures when Candela uses her newest fortune to look for her missing father-the "last wild man" referred to in the title. This is a deeply emotional comedy that despite some delirious elements depicts a believable world-crisp, raunchy, and compelling. Sometimes the vocabulary becomes too regional, and occasionally it is hard to believe that Candela could actually possess such a literary voice. But the book still flows, full of enjoyable wit. Perhaps best described as Almodovarian, this highly entertainingnovel has been translated into seven languages, and its film rights were rapidly sold. Recommended for bookstores and public libraries.
—Gustavo Pesoa, New York City Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Criticas