{"product_id":"singing-from-the-well-paperback","title":"Singing from the Well - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eReinaldo Arenas\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eThomas Colchie\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by), \u003cb\u003eAndrew Hurley\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis mother talks piously of the heaven that awaits the good, and disciplines him with an ox prod. His grandmother burns his precious crosses for kindling. His cousins meet to plot their grandfather's death. Yet in the hills surrounding his home, another reality exists, a place where his mother wears flowers in her hair, and his cousin Celestino, a poet who inscribes verse on the trunks of trees, understands his visions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first novel in \u003cb\u003eReinaldo Arenas\u003c\/b\u003e's \"secret history of Cuba,\" a quintet he called the Pentagonia, \u003cb\u003eSinging from the Well\u003c\/b\u003e is by turns explosively crude and breathtakingly lyrical. In the end, it is a stunning depiction of a childhood besieged by horror--and a moving defense of liberty and the imagination in a world of barbarity, persecution, and ignorance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA POWERFUL NOVEL OF GROWING UP IN A WORLD WHERE NIGHTMARE HAS BECOME REALITY, AND FANTASY PROVIDES THE ONLY ESCAPE\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis mother talks piously of the heaven that awaits the good, and disciplines him with an ox prod. His grandmother burns his treasured crosses for kindling. His cousins meet to plot their grandfather's death. Yet in the hills surrounding his home, another reality exists, a place where his mother wears flowers in her hair, and his cousin Celestino, a poet who inscribes verse on the trunks of trees, understands his visions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first novel in Reinaldo Arenas's \"secret history of Cuba\", a quintet he called the Pentagonia, Singing from the Well is by turns explosively crude and breathtakingly lyrical. In the end, it is a stunning depiction of childhood besieged by horro -- and a moving defense of liberty and the imagination in a world of barbarity, persecution, and ignorance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReinaldo Arenas\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Cuba in 1943. In 1980, he was one of 120,000 Cubans who arrived in the United States on the Mariel boatlift. Arenas settled in New York where he lived until his death from AIDS ten years later.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThomas Colchie is an acclaimed translator, editor, and literary agent for international authors. He is the editor of \u003cb\u003eA Hammock Beneath the Mangoes\u003c\/b\u003e. He has written for the \u003cb\u003eVillage Voice\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/b\u003e. His translations include Manuel Puig's \u003cb\u003eKiss of the Spider Woman\u003c\/b\u003e and (with Elizabeth Bishop, Gregory Rabassa, and Mark Strand) Carlos Drummond de Andrade's \u003cb\u003eTravelling in the Family\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAndrew Hurley is a translator of numerous works of literature, criticism, history, and memoir. He is professor emeritus at the University of Puerto Rico.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.66 x 7.84 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 01, 1988\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42094671200391,"sku":"9780140094442","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/8dcb71d1b06c72073c25f236bbcc3a4e.webp?v=1732323639","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/singing-from-the-well-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}