| Cortijo's Wake / El Entierro de Cortijo Contributor(s): Rodríguez Juliá, Edgardo (Author), Flores, Juan (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0822332035 ISBN-13: 9780822332039 Publisher: Duke University Press OUR PRICE: $22.75 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2003 Annotation: "A highly entertaining account of the wake and burial of Rafael Cortijo. . . . [Edgardo Rodriguez Julia's] book mixes first-hand descriptions of places and people with extravagant helpings of personal opinion."--Gerald Guinness, "San Juan Star" "Edgardo Rodriguez Julia's "El entierro de Cortijo" is already a classic in contemporary Puerto Rican literature--challenging, entertaining, and enlightening. It is a real joy to see Juan Flores's translation of Rodriguez Julia's narrative into English. Flores--sensitive to tone, sound, idiom, and meaning--has done an excellent job. Cortijo's music echoes through the text."--Arcadio Diaz-Quinones, Princeton University |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Music - Music | Genres & Styles - Latin |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2003012704 |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.5" W x 8.92" (0.75 lbs) 152 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Cultural Region - Caribbean & West Indies |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A bilingual edition of a renowned work of Puerto Rican literature, Cortijo's Wake/El entierro de Cortijo is novelist Edgardo Rodr guez Juli 's vivid description of the funeral of legendary Puerto Rican musician Rafael Cortijo. El entierro de Cortijo became an immediate bestseller following its original publication in Puerto Rico in 1983. An unparalleled Afro-Puerto Rican percussionist and bandleader, Cortijo (1928-1982) revolutionized the country's musical culture. His band, Cortijo y Su Combo, captivated Caribbean and Latin American audiences as it emerged in the mid-1950s. Immensely popular across Puerto Rican social classes, the band both "modernized" the traditional vernacular forms of bomba and plena and forcefully reestablished their African and working-class roots. The group's innovations have been integral to salsa since the 1960s. Winding through the streets of working-class San Juan with Cortijo's funeral procession, Rodr guez Juli 's autobiographical chronicle provides a rare portrait of the impoverished society from which Cortijo's music emerged. Along with detailed renderings of grief-stricken mourners--including Cortijo's childhood friend and fellow musician, the celebrated singer Ismael ("Maelo") Rivera--Rodr guez Juli records his feelings as he, a light-skinned, middle-class writer, confronts the world of poor black Puerto Ricans. The author's masterful shifting of linguistic registers, his acute sensitivity to Puerto Rican social codes, his broad knowledge of popular music, and his sardonic ruminations on death and immortality make this one of the most widely read books of modern Puerto Rican literature. Well-known critic and cultural historian Juan Flores has provided a scrupulous translation of Rodr guez Juli 's text and an introduction situating the book in relation to Puerto Rican music and culture and the careers of Cortijo and Rodr guez Juli . |