Book Description
Spanish-American novel, first published in 1936
Customer Reviews:
The birth of speculative fiction.......2006-09-17
Felipe Alfau's phenomenal LOCOS: A COMEDY OF GESTURES anticipates a number of other movements and writers - Nabokov, Borges, Calvino and Cortazar could all be said to owe this novel a huge debt, whether they realize it or not.
In 9 interlocking stories which all coalesce around a cafe (and cafe culture) in pre-Franco Madrid, Alfau (who only wrote one other novel, before taking up a working-class life in New York) creates a series of characters who step in and out of each others' dreams and stories, interacting with the author, who in turn is pulled into the novel as a character.
I'm afraid that my synopsis doesn't really do this mind-bending piece of fiction approriate credit. I would however recommend this to anyone with a love of literature, or anyone impressed by the vast accomplishment the human imagination can occasionally be capable of. A magnificent book.
-David Alston
Borges seems stupid.......2005-05-02
What a surprise! Felipe Alfau, an spanish exile author, writing in english in the spanish civil war period (more or less) and with no political objectives in mind. If you are spanish you have to read him now! Enjoy an incredible style (sounds like spanish tranlated to english) with no paralels, and also discover little stories that relates to one another and builds a unic masterpiece about what literature is. Meta literature, laberinths, narrator within narrators, mirror games and sperpentic world. You really have to give it a try
Neglected Modernist masterwork.......2005-04-23
This is a beautiful, witty series of interconnected stories that pre-sages John Barth and other ironic contemporaries. The characters auditioning for the novelists who will immoralize them at the Locos Cafe enchant, misbehave, and appear to fail Alfau. In an age where most prominent writers honestly believed authorship could change the world, Alfau is a refreshing antidote, suggesting that the act of writing merely troubles the writer.
work of a genius.......2002-09-26
This may sound absurd - but "Locos-...." is truly the work of a genius. Some books surpass the boundaries of time and this is one such book. To summarize the book in one sentence will be like this "non-characters are characters, fiction is reality and solutions are problems".
Felipe Alfau was a strange character and so are his books - very very different, they remind us of the writings of Vargas Llosa with a taste of Cortazar. This is not a translation rather Alfau has written the book in English so all the spices of the Spanish culture are visible. This is extremely rare even with the best of the translators. You get a taste of Spain and a vivid picture of the vibrant society which was so different from the rest of Europe. The people are full of life and passion. Love and passion are the means for making life flow and may be we all need to follow that some day.
You can look at this book either as a short story book or a novel - since it has nine short stories which can either be individually read but they are also connected to each other.
I am long time fan of Marquez and I can promise that this book is equally impressive as any book from Marquez. It is a must buy.
A Comedy Tragically Ignored.......2000-06-30
I share the puzzlement of the reviewer below over why this isn't considered one of the 20th Century's great works of fiction. I'd go further and say this is probably the most underrated novel of the last 100 years. The most important literature not only blazes a trail, but does so in a way that compares favorably to the books it inspires. This is true for Locos. The book should have had a stronger edit, but what Alfau achieves here - stories that rewrite each other, characters who morph into each other - unleashed new powers from the fictional narrative that have yet to be fully tapped. There's a moment at the end of a story called "A Character" that is one of the very few mindblowing experiences I've had reading fiction. Alfau was probably the first novelist since Laurence Sterne to understand this potential in narration. There's a character in Locos named Fulano who, desperate to get others to notice him, breaks a storefront window. The owner comes out, ignores Fulano and wonders how such a thing could have happened. In a sad way, Locos is like Fulano. Everyone marvels at the glass it shattered, but nobody can see Locos.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on March 22, 1993. The length of the article is 3602 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: Felipe Alfau's novel 'Locos: A Comedy of Gestures' is a series of metaphysical detective stories that seek to define and capture human identity and yet usually fail. The stories seem to correlate identity with physical evidence and documentation and then undermine those proofs by having one faked and the other stolen. Human identity never becomes sure or concrete in the novel, always maintaining a battle with anonymity and oblivion.
Citation Details
Title: Aliens, aliases, and alibis: Alfau's 'Locos' as a metaphysical detective story. (Georges Perec/Felipe Alfau)
Author: Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Publication:
The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1993
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v13
Issue: n1
Page: p207(8)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on March 22, 1993. The length of the article is 3906 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: It is unlikely that Felipe Alfau would not have been aware of Luigi Pirandello's work which had influenced many authors especially his play 'Six Characters in Search of an Author.' Influences of pirandellismo as Pirandello's influence was called can be found in Alfau's novel 'Locos: A Comedy of Gestures.' The novel uses similar experimental techniques, both play with chronology and narration and Pirandello also used short stories whose characters were interrelated to form a whole work. Alfau's individual characters' characteristics also show the influence of Pirandello.
Citation Details
Title: Pirandello and Alfau. (Luigi Pirandello) (Georges Perec/Felipe Alfau)
Author: Franco Zangrilli
Publication:
The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1993
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v13
Issue: n1
Page: p215(8)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on March 22, 1993. The length of the article is 1250 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: Dalkey Archive ended up reprinting Felipe Alfau's 'Locos: A Comedy of Gestures' because of a chance reference to Alfau by Chandler Brossard in a 1972 article published in 'Harper's.' After attempting to find Alfau through library references, he was finally located through the New York phone book. Alfau agreed to the reprint and Mary McCarthy was contracted for an introduction. After Alfau saw the quality of the reissue, he also gave Dalkey the manuscript to his other novel that was unpublished.
Citation Details
Title: Recalled to life. (Georges Perec/Felipe Alfau)
Author: Steven Moore
Publication:
The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1993
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v13
Issue: n1
Page: p245(3)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on March 22, 1993. The length of the article is 1840 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: Felipe Alfau's novel 'Locos: A Comedy of Gestures' was originally published in 1936 but received little attention because it was before its time and there was no market for modernist novels. However, it has recently been reissued by the Dalkey Archive Press. The novel is made up of a series of interconnected short stories that provide clues to develop character possibilities such as when one man is arrested for murder, the evidence may have been planted by a second based on the second man's actions in other stories.
Citation Details
Title: Sixty-one years of solitude. (Georges Perec/Felipe Alfau)
Author: Anna Shapiro
Publication:
The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1993
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v13
Issue: n1
Page: p203(4)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
For most first ladies, their years in the White House are their sole claim to fame. For one--Hillary Rodham Clinton--that tenure was just another step in a remarkable political career. Neither a "hit job" nor a facile tribute, Gil Troy's lively and refreshingly nonsensational new book provides a revealing look at arguably the most polarizing first lady in history and undoubtedly the most prominent American woman of our time.
Troy, named by History News Network as one of America's Top 15 Young Historians, measures Clinton's historical footprint, tracing her activities during the turbulent decade that brought her to national prominence and examining her influence as a key player in her husband's administration. Covering her attempts to overhaul health care and redefine the first lady as co-president while she tried to cope with her husband's scandals and impeachment, he recounts how Hillary's rocky road had a mixed impact on the office, even as her ambitions illuminated the role's potential.
As the first feminist first lady, Hillary Clinton faced dilemmas typical of modern American women as she tried to be both a family-oriented, devoted wife and a career-focused, independent woman. Troy shows how she did her best to navigate this divide and breaks new ground in taking her seriously as a thinker. Delving into Hillary's speeches and writings, he uncovers a surprisingly more moderate, even conservative worldview. In fact, he finds some of her positions-such as her outspoken views on abortion-to be authentic expressions of a genuine Puritan/Methodist centrism rather than a mere political ploy.
Offering a mix of praise and censure that elevates to a more sophisticated level debates about her controversial career and presidential aspirations, Troy's book will enlighten and intrigue Hillary's passionate critics and staunch defenders alike. It will renew discussions of where she stands in the continuum of modern first ladies-and of where history will ultimately take her. Many of the book's key themes are effectively underscored by an entertainingly narrated photo essay, with provocative images drawn from the Clinton Presidential Library.
This book is part of the Modern First Ladies series.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome new biography of our future president.......2006-10-21
Gil Troy's books is well researched and written. It is full of interesting insight and wit. Buy and read it today. Support quality historical writing!
Book Description
Roaming the known and unknown oceans, one man hopes to defeat once and for all the private demon within him-a power that is coming ever closer to destroying everything he holds dear.
An unusual and solidly imagined fantasy world. (Vector)
Entertaining...Intelligent...Plenty of action and an original approach. (Infinity)
Customer Reviews:
Great Series.......2006-04-18
I loved this series. It's interesting, funny, and, most important, worthy of rereading. I wish she'd write more.
Not Bad... Three and a half.......2004-07-06
Ok, This wasnt a bad book, and the ending tied in really well with the first two books. Bradley must have had it all worked out ahead of time and that is refreshing to see in the world of fantasy where many people just write to put out another volume...Cough *Robert Jordan... Anyhow my problem with this book is that it was 20 years after Scions Lady and when i bought the book i was assuming TIg would have some adventures in the interim. I dont like books that leap far into the future...some of the majic always gets left behind. If you read the first two books then by all means oyu have to read this one as well to see how Tig (and his son) resovle the issue of the lady pain...
3 and a half stars.... definatly worth a read...
Why, Why Does it Have to End?.......2004-02-25
If you haven't read Lady in Gil, read it. Then read Scion's Lady. Then you won't need to read any of these reviews, because you'll know how wonderful this series is, and you'll be scrambling to get a copy of Lady Pain as quickly as possible so you can finish the tale.
This is the darkest of the three, but no less wonderful. It's actually the book that convinced me to try the first--I saw this for sale, it looked very engaging, but realising it was the third in the series I found Lady in Gil and sat down to read it, and seem to remember finishing it that evening as it was too wonderful for words.
I love Connie Willis (well, her better work, at least), and I love Mervyn Peake. I love Jane Austen, and I love Robertson Davies, and I love Rebecca Bradley. We must have more from her. Read these books and you'll agree!
Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually pretty good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.
An enjoyable read.......2003-09-13
The characters are what I like most about this series. This third book in the trilogy is pretty good. The pace is good and the setting imaginative. Pretty much the story of Tig's son and we see the story through his eyes. I liked the ending and it made sense within the context of the other two books.
A satisfying conclusion.......2002-05-31
I really enjoyed this book. Bradley's characters are engaging, and the story moves along at a good pace. The imaginative setting is brought to life with economy and liveliness. Set twenty years after Scion's Lady, Tigrallef, accompanied by his family and friends, is still wandering the world, seeking a way to banish the Harashil. Facing a dead end in their quest, they travel to Gil, Tig's ancestral home - and doing so sets off a series of unforeseen and deadly dangerous events.
I did wish more time could have been devoted to Shree, Calla, and Chasco in this book, but I certainly did not feel short-changed by the new characters that appeared: Mallinna the beautiful memorian, Jonno the poetry-writing guardsman, and Tig's daughter Katla. The story is narrated by Vero, Tig's son, and Bradley conveys his devotion to duty, his growing despair, and his wish for something new in his life wonderfully. It was also good to see Tig's combination of intelligence and innocent stupidity through another's eyes.
What is particularly good about this book is that Bradley clearly worked out the whole story before she even wrote Lady in Gil. There is no sense that this book was written out of laziness or obligation, like so many fantasy series. It forms a coherent whole with the previous two books, and the ending is both appropriate, given all that has gone before, and satisfying. Lady Pain is a fascinating and truly enjoyable book. Make sure you read Bradley's previous books first so you appreciate it to the full.
Customer Reviews:
As Good as the First, but Darker.......2004-02-25
If you haven't read Lady in Gil, read it. (Or at least go to the reviews for it and see if it's your cup of tea.)
This is the follow-up, and it's just as stunning an achievement. Few authors are able to find their balance between great writing, engaging plots, memorable characters, yada yada yada, but Bradley has it hands down.
It's a good book. It's fun. It's exciting. It doesn't talk down to you. It's like Dickens, with magic, and fewer first-person descriptions of weather.
Oh, what's the use--go read the first book. If you do, you won't need any convincing to buy the second (or third).
Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually pretty good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.
Almost as good as #1.......2003-01-19
The First book was a little better...
This book tells the story of Tig and his Bossy but beautiful New bride and a Dangerous trek across the ocean. It is a Little slow going at places but i think sets the reader up for the 3rd book nicely, with the surprise twist towards the end of the book. the humour was not as good in this book as the fist one, and Tig seemed to lack the Cleverness from book #1, but this was still a very nice read...
Relic113
Not as good as the first book.......2002-08-03
There seems to be a lot of positive comments about this book, so I felt compelled write this review in order to show that someone disagrees. First 'Scion's Lady' is not as good as the first book 'Lady in Gil'. Bradley's unique writing style which made the first book interesting is still in evidence but in a diluted form. The hero Tig is there, the same as in the first book but the things that made him unique has been diluted. In the first book he starts his adventures because his brother broke his leg and nobody else was available. He doesn't try to storm the enemy stronghold, he goes in disguised as a kitchen slave. He is no knight in shining amour, he disguises himself in rags so that nobody pays attention to him. The contrast between the typical hero we expect from fairy tales and the one we get here was what made the first book so appealing. In 'Scion's Lady' Tig is still a smart guy but not as remarkable as in the first book. He is almost a normal hero. Some of the elements are there; for example Tig is made to marry a girl he does not particularly care for and he is not bothered when the girl starts taking numourous lovers. Instead he starts thinking about how to turn the relationship to his advantage. This is typical hero behavior we come to expect from Bradley's characters. However the intensity present in the first book is gone. In the first book we had Tig's brother (he is a typical knight in shining amour) to remind us how a normal hero is suposed to act. The contrast between Tig and his brother was what made the first book unique. In the second book we get much less of this.
So I rate this book three stars only. It is a good read and I will probably buy the third book in the trilogy because I want to find out what happens but I do not burn to buy the third book as I probably would if the second had been as interesting as I hoped it would be.
Plain old-fashioned fun!.......2002-07-20
Bradley is pretty inventive. She's not the most sophisticated writer but the stories are always good. I enjoyed the Gil Trilogy a lot. This book is fairly good, book three is the best!
Impressive!.......2002-07-08
Any author would be proud to name this book among her works - especially considering that Ms. Bradley is a relatively new writer.
"Scion's Lady" is a marvelous follow-up (in fact, an improvement) to "Lady in Gil", filled with engaging characters and a fast-paced plot that is clear but not predictable. Bradley's writing style is fantastic, conveying the appropriate mood for each scene. Her dry wit perfectly complements the plot, giving the main character a very distinct voice.
Bradley's book has wonderful themes, especially the idea that power corrupts no matter how good one's intentions. Also, magic is portrayed as something that comes at great cost that should be used only in dire need.
Before reading this book, one should finish "Lady in Gil", also a good book; without this background "Scion's Lady" would not make as much sense.
"Scion's Lady" is incredibly addictive - don't start it after midnight or you'll be up past three. This book is among my favorites and is a wonderful introduction into the world of fantasy and an enjoyable experience for a fantasy connoisseur.
Book Description
All the dreams of the barbarously occupied kingdom of Gil depend on its greatest hero. Too bad only his brother is available....
"Enthralling...[Bradley] tells her story with great pace, and a vivid and subtle imagination." --The Times (London)
"Tasty mind candy...an entertaining romp with intelligent credentials, plenty of action and an original approach." --Infinity
"Well written and engaging."--SFX Magazine
"An adroit mixture of wry humor and seriousness...lively."--Starburst
Customer Reviews:
Wow........2006-08-28
I've been on a pop-fantasy kick for a month or so now, due to stress and the need for some escapism :-). Limited myself to books of 300 pages or less; no trilogies, must have characters speaking in modern-not-archaic English, that sort of thing. Mind candy. So imagine my shock when this particular bit of mind candy turned out to be unique, thought provoking, and ultimately borderline Greek-tragic.
Bradley takes your biggest, hugest, most dusty-hoary fantasy cliche of all time -- unlikely hero must find talisman to free the land from evil -- and turns it upside down simply by injecting a bit of reality into it. A cold dash of fist-to-the-gut realism. The evil empire is not magic, for one (nice!). And what happens when the upheaval is over? No happy-go-lucky jaunt off into the perfect sunset for these revolutionaries.
Of course now I hop onto Amazon to gush in surprise, only to find that this is indeed a trilogy and now I'm hooked. Darn.
Just an FYI for an issue I've seen raised -- "Primate," though it sounds odd, IS actually a religious term. (It's one of the titles of the Archbishop of Canterbury, for a start. Means "first," from the Latin "Primus.") And a "flamen" is an ancient priest of Rome. So don't let the odd terms bother you -- Bradley has actually done research and is not merely making up stuff for the heck of it.
(I also have to point out -- the cover art has no bearing on the story whatsoever. Also the book is short, therefore very plot-driven, less of the character-driven stuff I generally prefer. But you know what? I needed a break -- this was it.)
Conflicted response.......2006-03-28
Bradley has created an interesting world in this book, one I am curious to know more about and would love to explore more. The social, religious, and geo-political dynamics appear to be well thought out, and are intriguing.
However, I found most of her central characters whiny, annoying, and childish. While those traits, in small measure, can add depth and richness to characters, as the major personality traits I found my enjoyment of the book damaged. The occasional predictable plot twist was a further disappointment.
a disappointment.......2004-06-22
with the addition of carol berg's books i was hoping that amazon was finally reccommending stuff for me that i would like, but lady of gil turned out to be a real disappointment. it is extremely plot driven, whereas i prefer character driven work. in addition, the characters are unbelievable and the plot cheesy. the author seems entranced with her own cleverness, and i didn't think she was very clever. figures with authority have titles like "primate". there is no reason to feel fear or care about the characters and i put the book down before finishing.
Funny and entertaining!.......2004-05-25
Lady in Gil is one of my favorite books. I read it on the plane from Nashville to Hartford, and enjoyed every minute of it.
At the beginning it was predictable, the usual reluctant hero shtick, but very amusing. The characters were great, all well developed and most of them original. What is unnaparent until the last few chapters however, is the complexity of the plot that Bradley has been hinting at. The ending is SO surprising. There is NO WAY any one could have predicted it. NO WAY. If anyone tells you this book is predictable, they're crazy.
And listen to Tig's mother. She's always right.
Start to Finish in two days.......2004-02-28
My hands wouldn't let me close this book once I had it open. Rebecca Bradley has an excellent voice in her characters when she writes, and I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good story, interesting characters, and good laughs (the time our hero spends hiding away in the concubines' sleeping chambers gave me a great number of laughs). The subtleties that Bradley puts into her characters to make them so unique and distinct paints such a realistic portrait of the world you dive into that it puts you directly in it.
Go pick up this book. I highly doubt you'll regret it.
Book Description
This is the autobiography of one of San Francisco's most colorful and delightfully outrageous characters: Sister Sadie, Sadie, the Rabbi Lady of the original Sisters of Per-petual Indulgence. Sadie traces her role in the exciting decades of gay/lesbian liberation and also speaks seriously about the origin of AIDS and its effect on the world. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll sing along to her original lyrics of joyful liberation. The photos are "keepers". This book is a great contribution to the history of the times and makes a wonderful gift for friends, family and bigots alike.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on August 31, 2003. The length of the article is 2603 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: La todopoderosa (casi).
Author: José Gil Olmos
Publication:
Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 31, 2003
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Issue: 1400
Page: 16(4)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on May 26, 2002. The length of the article is 4543 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Los abusos de Marta. (Política).(Marta Sahagún de Fox, Primera Dama de México)(TT: Marta's abuses. (politics).)(TA: Marta Sahagun de Fox, First Lady of Mexico)
Author: Jesusa Cervantes
Publication:
Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 26, 2002
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Page: 14(6)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- Loving Graham Greene: A Novel
- Monkey Bridge
- Mt. St. Helens: Surviving the Stone Wind
- One Last Look
- Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth
- Overfall
- Quiet Water Maine, 2nd: Canoe and Kayak Guide (AMC Quiet Water Series)
- Quilts of Virginia, 1607-1899: The Birth of America Through the Eye of a Needle
- Quo Vadis: Library Edition
- Remembrance of Things Past: Within a Budding Grove (Remembrance of Things Past (Graphic Novels))
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Hunting Whitetails by the Moon
- Eclipse
- Walden Two
- A World Out of Time
- Architectural Graphic Standards, Tenth Edition
- Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods
- Bushido: The Way of the Samurai
- Drawing Fire: A Combat Artist at War : Pacific Europe Korea Indochina Vietnam
- Yellowstone Country: The Enduring Wonder
- 50 Years Later: Stalag Luft III Diary
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Chromos (American Literature (Dalkey Archive))
Invisible Cities (A Harvest/Hbj Book)
The Absent City
The Unpossessed: A Novel of the Thirties (New York Review Books Classics Series)
Journal of Albion Moonlight
