Description:
In the wake of his father's premature death, José Cemí comes of age in a
turn of the century Cuba described in the Washington Post as "an island
paradise where magic and philosophy twist the lives of the old Cuban
bourgeoisie into extravagant wonderful shapes."
Brief description: Ernesto Livon-Grosman is Assistant Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Boston College. He is the translator of "Charles Olson: Poemas "(1997) and the editor of "The XUL Reader: An Anthology of Argentine Poetry "(1997). His most recent book is "Geografias imaginarias: El relato de viaje y la construccion del paisaje patagonico "(2003).
Review Quotes: "Paradiso has the 'leaps of imagination' which have come to associated with the best contemporary Spanish literature." - Jack Friedman, Village Voice
"The wonder of Paradiso is
the rediscovery of the world of words, not as a tool but as an art form
in its own right. The rediscovery of an ancient and profound need, the
solace of language. . . . Paradiso triumphs as a work of pure
aestheticism, of absolute digression and linguistic tour de force." -- Peter Moscoso-Gongora, Nation
"[An]
extraordinary novel . . . written by Cuba's leading poet. . . . There
is scarcely a line in the entire narrative that could be mistaken for
anyone else's writing. . . . Lezama's language is reckless, voluptuous,
sly and unrelentingly sexual. . . . A masterpiece of the modern Spanish
Baroque." -- Edmund White, New York Times