Neruda: An Intimate Biography (Texas Pan American Series) [Hardcover]

Volodia Teitelboim (Author), Beverly J. De Long-Tonelli (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1991 | Series: Texas Pan American Series

"Teitelboim's biography may well serve as the most important reference on Neruda's life and spirit because he maintains a historical distance between the reader and his subject. Teitelboim's Neruda is close enough to present a penetrating study of the poet, yet it is objective enough to sustain critical perspective. The book spans Neruda's career from birth until after his death, enabling the reader to glimpse the poet through the mirror of his friend."--Journal of Third World Studies

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author, a Chilean novelist and politician who was a confidant of Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) for 40 years, rescues the poet from the pedestal of myth in this sweepingly lyrical, highly personal biography. We follow Neruda through his successive incarnations as greenhorn from Chile's southern frontier to ambitious but starving bohemian, agonized bureaucrat, traveler, diplomat, "resident on earth" in Southeast Asia, exile and famous expatriate in Paris. His story includes such stranger-than-fiction episodes as the murder of his close friend Federico Garcia Lorca, which galvanized Neruda's diehard communism; bigamy accusations filed by his first wife, coached by politicians trying to discredit him; and his clandestine exit from Chile in 1948, when he narrowly avoided arrest. Teitelboim skillfully links the creative artist to the public figure by interweaving beautifully translated verses by Neruda with the main narrative.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

By confronting the sensations and chaos of the world as opposed to themes of silence and withdrawal, Pablo Neruda, the most accomplished poet from Spanish-speaking America in modern times, created an exciting new style that influenced poetry worldwide. This biography by his long-time friend (for one of whose books Neruda once wrote a flattering preface) is similarly exciting, chronicling his life from the death of his tubercular schoolteacher mother and his subsequent singular good fortune of having a loving stepmother to the grotesque ransacking of his homes in the wake of his death. The translation is good and preserves throughout the historical present; thus, the coup of September 11, 1973 "takes place" immediately before Neruda's death from prostate cancer while the jackals of fascism are feasting on the corpse of his beloved Chile. Especially valuable for public libraries.
- Jack Shreve, Allegany Community Coll., Cumberland, Md.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 522 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1st edition (January 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292755481
• ISBN-13: 978-0292755482
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,405,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.