Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2017 -

Comprising 28 essays organized into four sections, this visionary, wide-ranging collection captures the broad picture and drills down into startlingly particular examples (for instance, there is an essay on Spanish nun Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda and her influence on Mexican culture). The editors offer Mexico as an area worthy of study separate from Latin America, in part because of the nature of its Indigenous cultures and the long periods of stability that allowed "unusually institutionalized structures of national literature" (to quote from the introduction). The section on colonial literature is illuminating, addressing, as Anna Nogar writes in her essay ("New Spain's Archival Past and Present Materiality") "what comprises text, who its producers were, and how to understand authorship." Essays in this section look at access to the printing press (versus manuscript production), the chronicle as the basis for the national imaginary, the radical reconfiguration of Spanish theatrical forms to reflect the heterogeneity of colonial cultures, and women's published and unpublished contributions to colonial literature. The sections on the 19th-21st centuries are no less engaging, as is the final section, "Mexican Literature beyond Boundaries," which offers much-needed discussion of LGBT literary history and essays on women's contributions, film, and telenovelas.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

"Why write yet another biography of Flaubert?" asks Winock at the outset of his 500-page tome dedicated to the life and times of the so-called hermit of Croisset. And why should anyone read another extensive biography of Flaubert, given the availability of Frederick Brown's groundbreaking Flaubert: A Biography (CH, Oct'06, 44-0827) and Geoffrey Wall's superb Flaubert: A Life (CH, Nov'02, 40-1424)? The answer to both questions lies in the fact that this volume is different. "Written for pleasure" by one of France's most eminent historians--author of almost 50 books on the history of France and literary devotee who has spent a lifetime getting to know Flaubert--the present volume offers a remarkable portrait of "the life of a man in his century." Winock (emer., Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris, Sciences Pol) does not claim to compete with Flaubert specialists or add anything particularly new. He does, however, provide a brilliant, sweeping view of the 19th century that allows for a far better understanding of both the major developments of the period (triumph of the bourgeoisie, industrialization, shift from constitutional monarchy to democratic republic) and the tangled life of the "Janus-faced," "conservative anarchist" who was Flaubert. Beautifully translated, with illustrations and a compendium of Flaubert quotations.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

In contrast to critics who discredit Cocteau (1889-1963) as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, Arnaud presents him as a widely underestimated free spirit "born on the wheel of reincarnations," a chameleon-like genius whose "perpetual becoming" constituted his very essence. Translated from the French (published in 2003), this thousand-page English translation of the French edition (864 pages) is a denser, more voluminous biography than some might want to tackle. However, the sheer scope of Cocteau's output, his influence on the avant-garde, and the need to contextualize the work of such a scandalous, elusive figure demand nothing less. One could easily get lost in the many mysteries and contradictions of such a provocateur and manically productive novelist, poet, playwright, director, filmmaker, graphic artist, costume designer, and decorator, but Armand guides the reader with a sure hand. A generation after Francis Steegmuller's much shorter (at 583 pages) and now classic Cocteau: A Biography (1970), the present volume strips its subject of easy labels and false accusations. By poring through hundreds of newly available documents, sifting through journals, and reevaluating Cocteau's entire oeuvre, Arnaud succeeds in his goal of "decoctifying" the man. He goes beyond the myth and brings to life the cultural history of the 20th century. A remarkable accomplishment.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.

Every serious student of Michel de Montaigne (1533-92) will need to come to terms with this challenging study, in which Desan (Univ. of Chicago) provides not just a new biography but a new Montaigne. And, as many readers will be dismayed to learn, this new Montaigne is not nearly as admirable as the old one. This may not be surprising, since the Montaigne biographical tradition has been mainly to reproduce Montaigne's own self-portrait in the Essais. There he presents himself as having sagely chosen, while in his thirties, to withdraw from public life and meditate freely on human nature. By contrast, Desan's Montaigne spends nearly his entire adult life striving for social and political advancement, failing time after time to fulfill his ambitions. In Desan's sociopolitical analysis, Montaigne must be understood as a social climber, a calculating careerist, a client eagerly seeking patronage (preferably royal), whose publications were meant to serve primarily as "professional calling cards." The demystifying biographer discovers ulterior motives everywhere. Only in his last few years, defeated in his lifelong aspirations, does Montaigne reinvent the Essais as a work of Olympian detachment--"for lack of something better," as Desan ruefully concludes.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers.

Including the work of Cuban poets living both on and off the island, this beautifully edited work is one of the most comprehensive volumes of contemporary Cuban poetry translated into English. A well-known scholar and herself a poet, Randall carefully chose the poems and translated each so as not to impose her "voice on others." Her selection of poets is remarkable: she includes poets from before and after the Cuban Revolution, new voices (Hernandez, Yuseff) as well as internationally recognized poets (Guillen, Loynaz), both revolutionary and exiled poets, and poets from various regions on the island, not just Havana. Afro-Cuban and LGBTQ voices are also included. The poems themselves cover myriad topics, from the political to the personal. Bilingual readers will particularly appreciate the inclusion of the original Spanish alongside Randall's faithful translations. Also valuable, especially for those unfamiliar with Cuban history, are the volume's thorough introduction and the detailed biographies of the poets. A required resource for anyone interested in Cuban literature and poetry and poetry in general.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.

Tragedy does not exclude laughter, and trench warfare does not invariably lead to despair. In this brilliant study of the survival strategies of French soldiers and civilians during WW I, Murphy (French, Oberlin College) shows how the often-comic picaresque Everyman, staunchly antimilitarist and highly individualistic, replaced the epic hero of Napoleonic legend. Rejecting the traditional images of the soldier/citizen as either victim or hero, Murphy proposes a counternarrative, highlighting the figure of the gouailleur, the wisecracking, alienated, cynical protagonist of popular culture, the Charlie Chaplin character who manages simply to get by in a world governed by chance, chaos, and insanity. Through original analysis of early-20th-century French and European novels, newspapers, graphic art, and film, the author invites the reader to listen to the voices of those who lived through the first industrialized total war. Drawing parallels between yesterday's wars and today's, she removes the sepia filter through which the Great War is sometimes seen and suggests that the picaresque is, in fact, perhaps the only viable ethos for the modern cultural imagination. To underline the horrifying relevance of her book for contemporary readers, she references Colby Buzzell's memoir of his time as a US Army "trigger puller" (My War: Killing Time in Iraq, 2005).Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.