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| The
Book of Memories, by Ana Maria Shua |
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 Born
in Buenos Aires in 1951, ANA MARIA SHUA was educated
in the city and graduated from the Universidad de Buenos
Aires with an MA in Liberal Arts. Married, and mother
to three daughters, her family life has been played
out in her native Argentina, and in Paris, where she
went with her husband, who was being persecuted by the
military during the period known as "La guerra sucia."
Exile and its associated political realities, her life
as a woman growing up in the Argentina of the 1960s
and '70s, her Jewish identity, and humor as expressed
in the popular language she hears in Buenos Aires, are
the principal themes of Shua's novels, short stories,
drama, film scripts and humorous books. Although not
all of her works of fiction present a female protagonist,
all of them explore notions of curtailment of personal
freedoms also relevant to women in Argentinean society
She published her first book at the age of sixteen;
since then she has published thirteen books, including
nonfiction, novels, short stories, and children's books.
Her books have been translated into German, Italian,
and Dutch, as well as English. |
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THE
BOOK OF MEMORIES,
originally published in Spanish in 1994, is a humorous
yet moving exploration of a Jewish family's history,
as seen through the eyes of three generations of women.
The story begins with Grandfather Gedalia leaving
Poland with forged papers to escape the army and sailing
to Argentina, the "other America." Sometimes charming,
sometimes stingy, this patriarchal figure, a peddler
and sometime moneylender, heads a clan that includes,
among others, the feisty and foul-mouthed Aunt Judith,
and Uncle Silvester, a seducer of young girls who
has such high principles that he turns himself in
after missing the Argentine police raid on his socialist
printing press. From the assorted perspectives of
these and other characters, this tale of Jewish immigrants
explores life in Argentina, the role of women, and
the power and the limits of machismo and nationalism.
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Reviews
of The Book of Memories Include:
Ana
Maria Shua's epic work centers round... myth and memory,
inextricably bound up with love, are strong. A rich story,
individual yet universal, imaginatively told, that draws
the reader into the Book of Memories. British
Bulletin of Publications
[An] eccentric comic novel.... New York Times Book Review
Other
Titles by Ana Maria Shua include:
Patient,
1997
Cruel
Fictions, Cruel Realities: Short Stories by Latin American
Women Writers, 1997
Death
as a Side Effect, 2004
Expedicion Al Amazonas, 2002
Fabrica del Terror, 2002
Puerta Para Salir Del Mundo, 2002
Sabiduria Popular Judia, 2002
Amores de Laurita, 1995
Ani Salva a la Perra Laika, 1996
Animal Rarisimo, 2001
Links:
Jewish
Migration to Argentina
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