Romancing Spain [Hardcover]

Lamar Herrin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2006

The woman or the country?And which love is finally the greatest?In this elegant account of his falling in love with the Spanish woman he married30 years ago, Lamar Herrin opens his heart, his natural skepticism, and an Americans awe of history to a complex nation that is both rich in tradition and astoundingly foreign.Portraying himself as a Quixote in love with Romance, Herrin allows us to watch as he struggles to win the woman who will finally open her arms to him in a world where the Church and Bureaucracy are unwilling to. By turns comic and moving and always lyrical there are beauty and goodheart enough in this eloquent book for travelers and lovers alike. Romancing Spain is a rich companion to Herrins recent novel, House of the Deaf.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Herrin (House of the Deaf) invokes the patron saints of picaresque, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, to furnish a conceit on which to hang his diffuse tale: "Which do you fall in love with first?" he wonders, the Valencian beauty he married 30 years ago, or the enigmatic country that shaped her? He explores this rhetorical conundrum through a jittery cut down memory lane, whisking his wife through the Spanish hinterlands to arouse fond memories of his sublimely ridiculous quest to woo and marry her—a quest besieged with challenges leveled by the patriarchal powers-that-be. He delivers an amusing, perceptive treatment of the culture clash that both stoked and soured their romance: straight-shooting, Kentucky-bred Protestant meets coddled, delicate Spaniard steeped in Catholicism, in a land where Americans engender both awe and suspicion. Readers who can surrender to Herrin's nostalgic drift and quixotic dreaminess will find moments of lyrical beauty and genuine sweetness, especially his finely wrought observations of Spain's plazas and vistas. Suffused with a palpable sense of wonder, the travelogue bends over backwards to double as a valentine to his wife. (July)
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From Booklist

"Which did I fall in love with first, the woman or the country?" This is Herrin's refrain in this memoir-cum-travelogue, which reads like a love letter both to his wife of 30 years, Amparo, and to Spain, her native country. Traveling to numerous small towns and villages in Spain, often via primitive country roads, prompts a cascade of memories about the couple's early courtship and marriage and the numerous obstacles they had to overcome. During the 1970s, Spaniards looked upon Americans with a mixture of fear and awe, and Amparo's family was no exception. The culture clash between the recently divorced, Kentucky-born Protestant and the overprotected, moody Catholic is eloquently and often humorously rendered. Chaperoned dates and instruction in the customs, traditions, and ceremonies of Amparo's hometown are taken in stride, but the Catholic Church's strict doctrines on divorce prove to be a far more serious hurdle. Meanwhile the couple's quest to find the ideal retirement village is described in luminous detail, with much instructive commentary on architecture and food and drink. A lovely book that will appeal to both romantics and travelers. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Unbridled Books (July 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932961224
• ISBN-13: 978-1932961225
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #852,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific lyrical biography, August 12, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Romancing Spain (Hardcover)

He looks back thirty years to when he first met the woman he married and thinks how romantic he was (and still is) as he informed her that she is his Sancho Panza. Aparo reminded Lamar that Panza was squat (she is not he swears) and dumber than Quixote for following his lead. Now three decades later, three offspring later he ponders whether he fell in love with the Spanish culture as epitomized by his beloved Aparo or by falling in love with Aparo he fell in love with the Spanish culture. He knows even now the clash between his in your face Kentucky Protestant upbringing and her a gentile Catholic Spaniard. Thus as a sort of second honeymoon, the pair retrace the roots of their love by traveling the countryside together while the author ponders whether he was ROMANCING SPAIN when he courted Aparo or romancing Aparo and found Spain; either way Lamar Herrin knows that three decades ago he found his soulmate.

This terrific lyrical biography combines a beautiful declaration of love with a wonderful look at Spain from an American expatriate and the wife he still cherishes. Readers will appreciate the travelogue on three levels: a true love story and salute to his wife, a guide to Spain, and a deep philosophical debate. Mr. Herrin's thought provoking question as to whether it is Spain, which shaped his beloved, or Aparo is delicately and eloquently developed so that the audience will ponder what dynamics shaped the roots of those they cherish. ROMANCING SPAIN is an insightful romantic philosophical treasure.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simply beautiful and inspiring true-life story of love, romance, perseverance and eventual triumph, August 11, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Romancing Spain (Hardcover)

Lamar Herrin (Professor of Creative Writing and Contemporary Literature, Cornell University) presents Romancing Spain, a memoir and love story about his relationship with the Spanish woman whom he married 30 years ago. Obstructed by a church and bureaucracy, Lamar nevertheless pursued her, earning her love and trust even as he adjusted to the complexities of an Iberian nation steeped in centuries of tradition. Enthusiastically recommended reading, Romancing Spain is a simply beautiful and inspiring true-life story of love, romance, perseverance and eventual triumph which is brilliantly presented with emotion and empathy.