{"product_id":"rudolfo-anaya-bless-me-ultima-tortuga-alburquerque-loa-361-9781598537291","title":"Rudolfo Anaya: Bless Me, Ultima; Tortuga; Alburquerque (Loa #361)","description":"\u003cb\u003eRediscover Rudolfo Anaya: mythmaker, master storyteller, American original \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The godfather and guru of Chicano literature.\" --Tony Hillerman \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA writer powerfully attuned to the land and history of his native New Mexico, Rudolfo Anaya (1937-2020) is one of the giants of Latino literature. Over the course of a remarkable and acclaimed literary career, Anaya redefined the American experience for generations of readers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnaya broke new ground with his 1972 novel \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBless Me, Ultima\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, a mythic work that captures the richness and complexity of history, community, and place in the American Southwest. Set just after World War II, \u003ci\u003eBless Me, Ultima\u003c\/i\u003e revolves around the young boy Antonio and his quest to understand his identity and the demands of his future. Although his mother's heart is set on his entering the priesthood, Antonio is drawn to the charismatic Ultima, an elderly \u003ci\u003ecurandera\u003c\/i\u003e or healer who embodies the ancient wisdom of the pre-Columbian past. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe 1979 novel \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTortuga\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e draws on Anaya's experience of suffering and recuperation after a diving accident as a teenager. Its hero, nicknamed \"Tortuga\" because his body cast encases him like a turtle's shell, grapples with the realities of bodily pain as he discovers that true healing is spiritual as well as physical. The story reverberates with local folklore about a mountain, also called Tortuga, home to a sleeping spirit who will one day awaken and journey onward to the sea. Weaving these threads together, Anaya creates, in the words of editor Luis Alberto Urrea, \"a tapestry inside of which he was encoding an entire history of our very souls.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the 1992 novel \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlburquerque\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e (restoring the \"r\" to the city's original name), a young Mexican American boxing champion discovers that his white biological mother had given him up for adoption at birth, and he must now reevaluate everything he thought he was. The winner of a PEN West Fiction Award, the novel brims with emotionally powerful characterizations, political commentary, humor, and lyrical writing that reveals Anaya to be, once again, an indispensable American fabulist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRudolfo Anaya\u003c\/b\u003e (1937-2020) was born in the village of Pastura, New Mexico, and moved with his family to Albuquerque at the age of 14. His first and best-known novel, \u003ci\u003eBless Me, Ultima\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in 1972. Adapted as a play, an opera, and a feature film, \u003ci\u003eBless Me, Ultima\u003c\/i\u003e has also been subject to bans from the early 1980s to the 2010s in New Mexico, Colorado, California, and Arizona. His other novels include \u003ci\u003eHeart of Atzlan\u003c\/i\u003e (1976), \u003ci\u003eTortuga\u003c\/i\u003e (1979), \u003ci\u003eAlburquerque\u003c\/i\u003e (1992), and a series of crime novels featuring detective Sonny Baca. His many awards include the National Humanities Medal, presented in 2016 by President Barack Obama. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLuis Alberto Urrea\u003c\/b\u003e is a novelist, short story writer, poet, and memoirist who is currently distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois-Chicago. His numerous prizes and awards include a Lannan Literary Award, the Kiriyama Prize, the National Hispanic Cultural Center's Literary Award, an Edgar Award, and a citation of excellence from the American Library Association. His most recent books are \u003ci\u003eGood Night, Irene\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eZebras in Tijuana\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Library of America","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52078181417234,"sku":"9781598537291","price":43.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_26603210-2085-4f36-8936-1f2aea8995c3.jpg?v=1772533768","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/rudolfo-anaya-bless-me-ultima-tortuga-alburquerque-loa-361-9781598537291","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}