Promesas: Geography of the Impossible [Hardcover]

Gloria Vando (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1993

first book of poetry by editor of HELICON NINE

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Proud and dispossessed, Vando gives voice to "souls dishonored, flesh disowned," the tragic destiny of Puerto Rico ("Borinquen"): conquest by Spaniards, exile ("Nuyorican Lament"), homelessness, struggle for independence, destruction of identity, and alienation. With a numb surface hiding grief for loss of her parents and heritage, she commemorates "connections" between massacred tainos (native inhabitants of Puerto Rico) and a "faint ancestral theme." A "tiny island drowning in a sea of Coca-Cola," Puerto Rico becomes the symbol of a sacrificed "covenant," a patria (homeland) for whom promesas (promises) have the beauty of ravaged causes. Seeking to transform defiance and mistrust into knowledge of love, "a sign of hope, of purpose. Of forgiveness," these intense poems explode like flares above a battlefield of the heart to reveal a "geography of the impossible."-- Frank Allen, West Virginia State Coll., Institute
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

Annunciations
At My Father's Funeral
Cante Jondo
Commonwealth, Common Poverty
Confianzuda
Coping Skills
Cry Uncle
Divorce
Faith
Field Day
Fire
Glimpses Of Light: 1
Glimpses Of Light: 2
Glimpses Of Light: 3
Glimpses Of Light: 4
Glimpses Of Light: 5
Glimpses Of Light: 6
Graffito
He 2-104: A True Planetary Nebula In The Making
In The Dark Backward
Latchkey Kid
Learning My Name
Legend Of The Flamboyan: 1
Legend Of The Flamboyan: 2
Legend Of The Flamboyan: 3
Letters From My Sister
Malcriada
Moving Pictures
My Father, On The Other Hand
My Life As A Book Of Fiction
My Mother Cunning Yet Innocent
New York City Mira Mira Blues
Nuyorican Lament
Orphans
An Other Island
Out Of Bounds In Kansas
Practitioner
Prayer
Psychomachia
Sailor Suit
Santa Fe Journey: 1. Monte De Las Piedras Rosas
Santa Fe Journey: 2. Los Alamos
Santa Fe Journey: 3. Promesas
Santa Fe Journey: 4. Chimayo
Santa Fe Journey: 5. Return To The City Of Holy Faith
Visiting Day At School
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Arte Publico Press (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558850619
• ISBN-13: 978-1558850613
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,268,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FABULOUS! Where has she been all this time!!!!, March 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Promesas: Geography of the Impossible (Paperback)

I loved this book, it was so moving. Coming from a divorced family, I understood her sense of loss. My mother is puerto-rican as well, it felt strangely familiar. her imagery, her rhythm, her stories touched me deeply.