No Ordinary Man: The Life and Times of Miguel de Cervantes [Paperback]

Donald P. McCrory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2006

Hailed by Choice as "a fascinating story," this profile of Cervantes will captivate both scholarly and lay readers. It traces the stranger-than-fiction adventures of the "Spanish Shakespeare" — as a spy, soldier, hostage, tax collector, poet, playwright, and creator of Don Quixote — incorporating original research and previously unpublished material.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Not many know that Don Quixote de la Mancha was an instant best seller in 17th-century Spain, although unlike today's best-selling authors, Miguel de Cervantes did not reap many financial rewards. Cervantes's life was un vaiven, a pendulum swing of experience that ranged over his occupations as soldier and spy, diplomat and then poet and artist. Wounded in the Battle of Lepanto during Spain's war with the Ottoman Empire, Cervantes was imprisoned by Algerian pirates before being ransomed to return home to serve as a government agent until the death of Philip II inspired a commemorative sonnet and awakened his impulse to write. This incredible life is re-created in this biography by McCrory, former head of Hispanic studies at the American International University in London and author of six volumes of poetry. McCrory's portrait of Cervantes is the most comprehensive in over a decade. Much of his data is owed to scholar Krzysztof Sliwa of Indiana University, whose research uncovered some previously unused documentation related to Cervantes and his family. McCrory blends Sliwa's findings with his own thorough exploration of Spain's history, especially its golden age, his study of other major biographies of Cervantes, and his painstaking examination of Cervantes's work. The result is a thoroughgoing and credible biography that opts for carefully researched conclusions over hearsay. The rich background in Spanish history will be a plus for many readers, and the family tree that McCrory includes is fascinating. Should academic and public libraries consider another biography of Cervantes? Yes, for the lives of the great are always worth reconsidering, and this is one of the few current Cervantes biographies available in English.
Nedra C. Evers, Sacramento P.L., CA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (August 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486453618
• ISBN-13: 978-0486453613
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Bio of Cervantes I've read., February 1, 2004

By 

"spottedzebra9" (Dallas, TX.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Ordinary Man: The Life and Times of Miguel de Cervantes (Hardcover)

I really find this an astonishing biography. The best of Cervantes I've read. I'm only halfway through it now but I know two things for sure: every last scintilla of telling information about Cervantes is up-to-date and included, and, that Prof. McCrory has a superb ability to find those larger patterns in a life and give them emotional and psychological meaning. There are moments when you look up and marvel at the tons of documents that must've been sifted to produce the simplest facts. Just to give one example among many, I understand for the first time what living in Esquivias meant to Cervantes, what it must've been like for him, and especially interesting, what it meant to be married to him. Prof. McCrory gives us an uncanny sense of what Catalina`s life was like, her financial and social situation, the impact her mother had on the marriage - and all this in a few quick lines. One never bogs down in this book with all that background information about Philip II or the Armada or the state of banditry along this road or that, as is common in other bios of Cervantes. We always know just enough to place things in context and see the influences acting on poor Miguel. I get, for the first time, a sense of his thought processes, the decisions he had to make, his real options, what the world looked like to him. This is (as much as possible) an intellectual biography as well. Superb work.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CERVANTES-THE GENIUS OF ALL WRITERS!, December 28, 2003

By 

Alphonse Dattolo (HALEDON,NEW JERSEY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Ordinary Man: The Life and Times of Miguel de Cervantes (Hardcover)

I HAVE BEEN A CERVANTES SCHOLAR ALL OF MY LIFE AND HAVE READ ALMOST ALL THE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST WRITER.THIS BOOK DOES JUSTICE TO HIS LIFE!THE DETAILS OF EVERY ASPECT OF CERVANTES'LIFE ARE ALL HERE.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL WHO LOVE DON QUIJOTE AND THE GREAT MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA!!!!!!!

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Researched, Awkwardly Written Biography, July 31, 2011

By 

R. J. Marsella (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: No Ordinary Man: The Life and Times of Miguel de Cervantes (Paperback)

This academic biography of Miguel de Cervantes is very enlightening when it comes to the facts surrounding his life and times. It traces the influences from his personal history that manifest themselves in his writing very effectively. The book is alternately engaging and frustrating in the following sense. While I learned a great deal not only about Cervantes but also about 16th and early 17th century Spain, there were passages where Professor McCrory's phrasing and writing style seemed disjointed and difficult to follow. Overall, I would recommend the book to those with a serious interest in the life of Cervantes or the period of Spanish history covered but I don't think this is a great choice for the general reader.