{"product_id":"battles-in-the-desert-40th-anniversary-edition-9780811230957","title":"Battles in the Desert (40th Anniversary Edition)","description":"This landmark novella--one of the central texts of Mexican literature, is eerily relevant to our current dark times--offers a child's-eye view of a society beset by dictators, disease, and natural disasters, set in \"the year of polio, foot-and-mouth disease, floods.\" A middle-class boy grows up in a world of children aping adults (mock wars at recess pit Arabs against Jews), where a child's left to ponder \"how many evils and catastrophes we have yet to witness.\" When Carlos laments the cruelty and corruption, the evils of a vicious class system, his older brother answers: \"So what, we are living up to our ears in shit anyway under Miguel Alemán's regime,\" with \"the face of El Senor Presidente everywhere: incessant, private abuse.\" Sound familiar?\u003cbr\u003e Woven into this coming-of-age saga is the terribly intense love Carlos cherishes for his friend's young mother, which has the effect of driving the general cruelties further under the reader's skin. The acclaimed translator Katherine Silver has greatly revised her original translation, enlivening afresh this remarkable work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePacheco, Jose Emilio:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eJosé Emilio Pacheco\u003c\/strong\u003e (1939-2014) is one of Mexico's foremost poets, novelists, and essayists. A lifelong resident of Mexico City, Pacheco has been a guest lecturer throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain. Some of Pacheco's best known collections of poetry include\u003cem\u003e Miro la tierra\u003c\/em\u003e (which documented the Mexico City earthquake), \u003cem\u003eEl reposo del fuego\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFin de siglo y otros poemas\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eArbol entere dos muros\u003c\/em\u003e\/Tree between two walls, and \u003cem\u003eSelected Poem\u003c\/em\u003es. His \u003cem\u003eNo me preguntas cómo pasa el tiempo\u003c\/em\u003e was awarded Mexico's National Poetry Prize.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSilver, Katherine:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eKatherine Silver's\u003c\/strong\u003e award-winning translations include works by María Sonia Cristoff, Daniel Sada, César Aira, Julio Cortázar, Juan Carlos Onetti, and Julio Ramón Ribeyro. The author of \u003cem\u003eEcho Under Story\u003c\/em\u003e, she does volunteer interpreting for asylum seekers.","brand":"New Directions Publishing Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50616752341266,"sku":"9780811230957","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_49d95c9d-555e-4326-9c6c-7d8b834199c5.jpg?v=1732510275","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/battles-in-the-desert-40th-anniversary-edition-9780811230957","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}