Cervantes Street
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Renaissance Spain and the Mediterranean [are] made vivid . . . brings to life the real world behind the fantastic exploits of the knight of La Mancha." —The Wall Street Journal
The actual facts of Miguel de Cervantes's life seem to be snatched from an epic tale: An impoverished and talented young poet nearly kills a man in a duel and is forced into exile. Later, he distinguishes himself in battle and is severely wounded, losing the use of his left hand. On his way back to Spain, his ship is captured by pirates and he is sold into slavery in Algiers. After prolonged imprisonment and failed escape attempts, he makes his way back home, eventually settling in a remote village in La Mancha to create his masterpiece, the first modern novel in Western literature: Don Quixote. This biographical novel takes the bare bones of Cervantes' life and paints a brilliantly vivid portrait of this enigmatic man and the era in which he lived.
"Cervantes like we've never known him: the rogue, the lover, the soldier, the slave, and above all, the poet." —Esmeralda Santiago
"The comic mishaps are funnier for being based in fact. The romantic adventures are more affecting. Cervantes Street has sent me back to Don Quixote" —The Wall Street Journal
"Ably captures the human qualities of the legendary writer, as well as his swashbuckling." —Publishers Weekly
"A well-written, well-researched, fast-paced narrative . . . An entertaining book . . . and a superb retelling of Cervantes's life." —Library Journal
"Historical fiction at its best. . . . A gripping, adventuresome novel with profound insight into the ways in which we choose our destiny." —New York Journal of Books
"Exciting, paced well, interesting and with a literary mystery to boot." —Seattle Post-Intelligencer
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Novelist, essayist, and poet Manrique (Our Lives Are the Rivers) reimagines the already larger than life true story of Miguel de Cervantes, who flees Madrid after a near-fatal duel, loses use of his left hand in battle, is kidnapped and sold into slavery by pirates, who believe he "will fetch a good ransom because he's a war hero" and, finally, pens the masterwork Don Quixote. Too good a story to be true? Perhaps, but what Manrique is really interested in is not the sensationalism of Cervantes's life but his star-crossed relationship with Luis de Lara, who lacks Cervantes' talent and heart, but gets the money and the girl. Neither man is satisfied with his lot in life, and they compete and support each other in turn, both jealous of what the other man possesses (Manrique assumes both points of view). Manrique adopts a florid, epic style for his tale of 16th-century Spain, one with the quality of a tall tale told by a troubadour rather than written on the page. He ably captures the human qualities of the legendary writer, as well as his swashbuckling, and explores the downside of artistic talent, even offering a theory about the origins of the false Don Quixote.
