Loterķa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives [Hardcover]

Juan Felipe Herrera (Author), Artemio Rodriguez (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

The gorgeous black and white line art inside this hefty little book instantly caught my eye. These linocut drawings were not the regular lotería images. They were modern adaptations, made with painstaking detail (think of a turn-of-the-millenium, wired Posada) and showing a distinctive sense of humor and pathos. The poetry, commissioned especially for the drawings, also showed a fresh and modern take on the icons of Mexicanismo and Chicanismo."—Frontera Magazine

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Lottery
The Hunchback
The Armadillo
Death
The Fly
The Bell
The Horse
The Press
The Smokers
The Pear
The Guitar
The Little Saint
The Rooster
The Bicycle
The Archangel
The Palm Tree
The Hermit
The Bat
The Witch
The Friends
The Cactus
God
The Hand
The Fruit
The Pig
The Glutton
The Flight
The Ostrich
The Fall
The Virgin
The Tree
The Star
The Bottle
The Drunkards
The Scorpion
Corn
Fire
The Clown
Vengeance
The Prodigal Son
The Soldier
The Hunter
The Mermaid
The Lion
The Wrestler
The Wetback
The Immigration Officer
Feet
The Railroad
The Ladder
The Serpent
The Dancer
The Scissors
Eve
Adam
The Plague
Hell
The Giant
The Musicians
The Poet
The Devil
The Goat
The Victim
The Flag
The Canoe
The Circus
The Camel
Bad Government
Sadness
The Sun
The Fish
The Wound
The Chair
The Worker
The Airplane
The Trap
The Heart
The Sword
The Comet
The Beggars
The Cat
The Horseman
The Cow
The Magician
Torture
The Absent One
The Crab
Heaven
The Lizard
The Sandals
The Knife
The Hen
The Inspired One
The Deer
The Zapatista
The Dog
The Old Man
The Monkey
The Hanged One
The Eagle
The Bath
The Guardian Angel
The World
The Rose

Editorial Reviews

Review

El Adan
El Aguila
El Alacran
El Angel De La Guarda
El Arbol
El Arcangel
El Armadillo
El Ausente
El Avestruz
El Avion
El Bano
El Brujo
El Caballero
El Caballito
El Camello
El Cangrejo
El Cazador
El Cielo
El Circo
El Colgado
El Cometa
El Corazon
El Cuchillo
El Danzante
El Diablo
El Dios
El Ermitano
El Ferrocarril
El Fruto
El Fuego
El Gallo
El Gato
El Gigante
El Gloton
El Herido
El Hijo Prodigo
El Infierno
El Inspirado
El Jorobado
El Leon
El Luchador
El Mago
El Maiz
El Mal Gobierno
El Mojado
El Mono
El Mundo
El Murcielago
El Nopal
El Obrero
El Payaso
El Pecesito
El Perro
El Sol
El Soldado
El Venado
El Viejo
El Vuelo
El Zapatista
La Bandera
La Bicicleta
La Botella
La Cabra
La Caida
La Campina
La Canoa
La Escalera
La Espada
La Estrella
La Eva
La Gallina
La Guitarra
La Lagartija
La Loteria
La Mano
La Migra
La Mosca
La Muerte
La Palma
La Pera
La Peste
La Poeta
La Prensa
La Puerca
La Rosa
La Santa Nina
La Serpiente
La Silla
La Sirena
La Tortura
La Trampa
La Tristeza
La Vaca
La Venganza
La Victima
La Virgen
Las Tijeras
Los Amigos
Los Borrachos
Los Fumadores
Los Guaraches
Los Musicos
Los Pies
Los Suplicantes
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

About the Author

JF Herrera has received numerous awards and fellowships The author of 21 books, including fourteen collections of poetry, prose, short stories, young adult novels and children's book, he is also a community arts leader, working with at-risk youth and migrant communities. He is also a dynamic performer and actor who has appeared on stage and in film.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers; 1 edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087286359X
• ISBN-13: 978-0872863590
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #724,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Juan Felipe Herrera was initiated into the Word by the fire-speakers of the early Chicano Movimiento and by heavy exposure to various poetry, jazz, and blues performance streams. He is the Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California - Riverside. His published works include Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream, Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of the Americas, and Thunderweavers / Tejedoras de Rayos.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like poetry, you'll love this book, January 8, 2000

By 

Super Cali Hummingbird Girl (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Loterķa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives (Hardcover)

This is a brilliant collaboration between Herrera and Rodriguez. Herrera's poems, as always, are thought provoking and innovative, linguistically and intellectually, and they are a perfect match for Rodriguez's linocuts, which are also innovative and thought provoking. This is a book that you'll want to read over and over again for years to come. WOW!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A book about innovation and tradition", June 7, 2001

By 

Walter O. Koenig "Amoxtli" (San Diego, California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Loterķa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives (Hardcover)

"A book about innovation and tradition" is how Rupert Garcia describes this book in the useful introduction. I recommend that this is read first, because it helps one to understand the history of Loteria Cards in Mexico and the traditional iconography associated with them. They are actually the fusion of two games, Patolli a game of chance the Aztecs played, and Loteria a European Version of Bingo. In the game the name of the Loteria card is called out rather than the number. It may be a type person, an element or feature of nature, or something elses, and it is often accompanied by a phrase or poem by the caller to further identify the picture on the card. This is origin of the cards, a fusion like so many things in Mexico, has been put into a contemporary setting in this book.

Artemio Rodriguez uses a mixture of traditional iconography and modern images to produce beautiful Linocuts for the images of the Loteria Cards. They look both traditional Mexican and old (they remind me of woodcuts by Dürer), yet contemporary and modern at the same time. Each is distinct and unique.

The poems by Juan Felipe Herrera go very well with the Linocuts, and they too are a mixture of traditional Mexican, Chicano and modern subject-matter. They show that beliefs, feelings, and emotions carry over in time, space, language and culture. Some remain the same, while others change. The mix they create is in a constant state of metamorphosis, becoming undefinable, yet staying distinct.

The presentation of the book is beautiful, the cover, binding, paper, and printing are al well-done. Each page has a Loteria Cards and a poem that accompanies it. I really recommend this book. It is a thoughtful and beautiful present to give to someone who appreciates the combination of tradition, modernism, art, poetry...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing -- the ideal collaboration, November 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Loterķa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives (Hardcover)

I bought this book last year to give to a friend and after leafing through it, decided I couldn't part with it. Rodriguez's prints are rich, beautiful, terrifying -- but it is Herrera's words I fell in love with. Each poem is it's own mystery. These are perfect pieces, perfectly married to their accompanying images, and make one incredible poetic whole.