Federico Garcia Lorca: A Life (Paperback)

by Ian Gibson (Author) "Of all the vegas of Spain-the word, pre-Roman in origin, denotes a fertile plain between hills-that of Granada, which forms the Andalusian backdrop to the..." (more)
Key Phrases: arboleda perdida, dama boba, teatro universitario, New York, Buenos Aires, Blood Wedding (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
More has been written about Lorca (1898-1936) than about any other Spanish writer except Cervantes, but this detailed biography--originally published in Spanish in two volumes (1985, 1987) and based on hundreds of interviews and on hitherto unavailable manuscripts and letters--is the major work on the great Andalusian poet and playwright. Gibson, literary historian, explores the hidden, tormented side of Lorca's character, but because family and friends were unwilling to discuss or even acknowledge his homosexuality, much remains unrevealed. Too often, Gibson relies on "must have" and "might have." He explores Lorca's background, schooling, affairs, loves and friendships (with Bunuel, Dali, Falla and Neruda, among others), his trips to New York, Cuba and Argentina, his involvement with the Popular Front, his fascination with and terror of death and, most important of all, the development of his creative work in poetry, prose, drama, music, folklore and painting. The last chapter is given over to details of Lorca's death by shooting by Nationalist thugs, a subject to which Gibson has devoted a prize-winning book, The Assassination of Federico Garcia Lorca. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Lorca scholar Gibson, author of the authoritative Death of Lorca ( LJ 7/73), revised and translated his two-part work in Spanish to produce this colorful, articulate, and well-documented study of the life of one of 20th-century Spain's most famous men of letters. Adroitly eschewing critical analysis of works (no mean feat in a literary biography), Gibson focuses instead on the poet's temperament, mood swings, and acquaintances; especially commendable is the unabashed candor with which he confronts Lorca's homosexuality, which the author analytically interprets as the underlying, pervasive motive for much of Lorca's behavior and output. An indispensable contribution to Lorca literature and currently the front runner for the definitive Lorca biography.
- Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon (September 16, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679774017
• ISBN-13: 978-0679774013
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #682,259 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gibson tells you about Lorca and all that surrounded him., January 18, 1999

By	[e-mail] (San Juan, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews

Lorca's life, and fate, other than some superficial items, were for the most part hidden from public awareness for many decades. He was in many ways a victim, but mostly from politicians, because they killed him.

The excesses of the Reds were countered by the excesses of the Blues (phalangists, rightists, fascists) in a dictatorship that outdid the murders of all predecessors. Politicians sometimes destroy something in order to "save" it. His threat was his speech, and 1998, the year of his centennial, the centennial of Spain's great gift to us for producing so many super-writers ("the generation of 98"), was the year in which we were reminded that the struggle against oppression never ends.

Gibson tells us the story of Lorca but not only about him. If he mentions Granada, Andalucia, the Gypsies, the Moors, Falla, the Spanish Civil War, etc, he will ALSO tell you about that! In this book you will grasp the meaning of surrealism, its evolution, Lorca's surrealism, and particularly the surrealism of Dali and Buñuel.

This book is a must for the literary avid, the poetry fan, the history bum, the political student, and importantly, for those of us that will benefit from learning that what happened in Spain may also happen in our own countries.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a complete view of Garcia Lorca's life, April 1, 1998

By A Customer

I am an architecture student at Tulane University, and I am very interested in the way Garcia Lorca percieved and described the notion of place and space. Most likely I will do my Architecture Thesis about Garcia Lorca and his sensibility and perceptions on events,and place and Iann Gibson's book, "Federico Garcia Lorca: A Life", is the first biography about Lorca that I have read, and I find it very comprehensive and acsessible. I also believe that the translation to English is done with great sensibility. In addition I would like to know if there are other books about Lorca that are more related to my topic?

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best biography of a Spanish poet, July 6, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Barcelona, Spain) - See all my reviews

Federico Garcia Lorca is one of the best poets in history of Spanish literature. In a country where is very difficult to find a tradition of investigations about our recently literature, Ian Gibson's book is a master piece.