Mogador: The Names of the Air [Paperback]

Alberto Ruy Sanchez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

Set in an imaginary walled city off the coast of Morocco, Mogador traces the days and nights of Fatma, a young woman who finds herself suddenly seized by desire. As she wanders the city’s maze of erotic pleasures, she encounters other desiring bodies and the desperate worlds those desires create. Here is a vital fusion of Latin America magical realism with Arabic geometric and mystical imagery, written in a style the author calls a “prose of intensities.”

Alberto Ruy Sánchez has written many works of fiction as well as literary and art criticism. He was an editor of Octavo Paz's Vuelta and is now editor and chief of Artes de Mexico.

Mark Schafer has translated works by Virgilio Piniera and, with Cedric Belfrage, The Book of Eduardo Galeano.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872862712
• ISBN-13: 978-0872862715
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,215,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mexican Writer and Editor, born in 1951 and author of twenty books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry translated to fifteen languages. His Ph.D. is from The University of Paris, where he lived for almost eight years. His novel Mogador, published by City Lights in San Francisco in 1993, was awarded the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize, the most prestigious litterary recognition in Mexico. The University of New Mexico awarded him as Litterary essayist in 1991 an he was also a Fellow of the J.S. Guggenheim Foundation. Since 1988 he has been the Chief Editor and founding publisher of Latin America's leading Arts Magazine: Artes de Mexico.
In February 2000 he was decorated by the French Government as Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. The Governor of Kentucky awarded him as "Kentucky Colonel", the highest distinction given in that State, where he also is Honnorary Citizen of Louisville, and Honnorary Captain of La Belle de Louisville, the oldest steamship navigating the afluents of the Mississippi River. He was several times Tinker Visiting Professor at Stanford University and Chairman of the Creative Non-Fiction Summer Program in the Banff Centre for the Arts, in Canada.
His site hosted by the Author's Guild in English is: www.albertoruysanchez.net Or www.albertoruysanchez.com in Spanish mainly.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mogador, March 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mogador: The Names of the Air (Paperback)

This is the most lyrical, beautifully written book, and that's just the English translation. You will get to the end and wish the author had continued writing, simply for the beauty of the language.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than reading, April 3, 2000

By 

Sandra K.Boujema (Morroco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mogador: The Names of the Air (Paperback)

When I went into the pages of Mogador I discovered a new way of understanding my senses and my desires. As important as learning how to read,through the lenses of a poetic an sensous adventure. Telling thestory of Fatma, in the imaginary and walled city of Mogador, this book opens a question about women's desire that only each one of us,women readers, can answer. This is a masterpiece of subtility, a book to share with the dearest persons, a tale to read and read again. I found a sequel of Mogador in other languages. It's title in spanish is Los nombres del aire. The sequel's title is En los labios del agua. Both books exists in french. Les visages de l'air and Les levres de l'eau. An amazing experience for the senses more than a text to read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply impressive, June 4, 2001

By 

Kay Zhou (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mogador: The Names of the Air (Paperback)

This is the first time I read a book by a man that goes deep into my sexual feelings. Daring and respectful at the same time, sharp and poetic. I want to read all his books. But only found this one (in my favorite bookstore...). This is an author listening to women's desires. I want to meet him.