Happy Families: Stories (C)

Resumen del libro

The internationally acclaimed author Carlos Fuentes, winner of the Cervantes Prize and the Latin Civilization Award, delivers a stunning work of fiction about family and love across an expanse of Mexican life, reminding us why he has been called 'a combination of Poe, Baudelaire, and Isak Dinesen' (Newsweek).

In these masterly vignettes, Fuentes explores Tolstoys classic observation that 'happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' In 'A Family Like Any Other,' each member of the Pagan family lives in isolation, despite sharing a tiny house. In 'The Mariachis Mother,' the limitless devotion of a woman is revealed as she secretly tends to her estranged sons wounds. 'Sweethearts' reunites old lovers unexpectedly and opens up the possibilities for other lives and other loves. These are just a few of the remarkable stories in Happy Families, but they all inhabit Fuentess trademark Mexico, where modern obsessions bump up against those of the mythic past, and the result is a triumphant display of the many ways we reach out to one another and find salvation through irrepressible acts of love.

In this spectacular translation, the acclaimed Edith Grossman captures the full weight of Fuentess range. Whether writing in the language of the street or in straightforward, elegant prose, Fuentes gives us stories connected by love, including the failure of love-between spouses, lovers, parents and children, siblings. From the Mexican presidential palace to the novels of the poor and the vast expanse of humanity in between, Happy Families is a magnificent portrait of modern life in all its complicated beauty, as told by one of the worlds most celebrated writers.

Biografía del autor

P B Carlos Fuentes /B (1928-2012) es uno de los principales exponentes de la narrativa mexicana. Su obra incluye novela, cuento, teatro y ensayo. En ella destacan I La región más transparente /I (1958), I Aura /I (1962), I La muerte de Artemio Cruz /I (1962), I Cambio de piel /I (1967), I Terra Nostra /I (1975), I Gringo viejo /I (1985), I Cristóbal Nonato /I (1987), I Diana o la cazadora solitaria /I (1994), I Los años con Laura Díaz /I (1999), I En esto creo /I (2002), I Todas las familias felices /I (2006), I La voluntad y la fortuna /I (2008), I Adán en Edén /I (2009), I Carolina Grau /I (2010), I La gran novela latinoamericana (2011) y Personas /I (2012). De manera póstuma, se publicaron en Alfaguara I Federico en su balcón /I (2012), I Pantallas de plata /I (2014) y, en coedición con el Fondo de Cultura Económica, I Aquiles o El guerrillero y el asesino /I (2016). Recibió varias distinciones, como la Legión de Honor del Gobierno francés y la Gran Cruz de la Orden de Isabel la Católica, y numerosos premios, entre ellos: Biblioteca Breve, Xavier Villaurrutia, Rómulo Gallegos, Internacional Alfonso Reyes, Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en Lingüística y Literatura, Cervantes, Príncipe de Asturias, Internacional Grinzane Cavour, Roger Caillois, Real Academia Española, Internacional Don Quijote de la Mancha y Formentor de las Letras.<br>