1492: The Life and Times of Juan Cabezon of Castile - Softcover

Aridjis, Homero

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452269148 ISBN 13: 9780452269149

Publisher: Plume, 1992

Synopsis

A best seller in Latin America in the 1980s, this novel of life in fifteenth-century Spain depicts a world in which both the Moors and the Jews are under attack. This is the formative period of the phenomenon known today as Crypto-Judaism, and Aridjis’s widely praised book, now available for the first time in an American paperback edition, will find a broad audience among readers fascinated by this aspect of Jewish history.

“In 1492, the Catholic rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella, expelled the Jews from Spain. In Homero Aridjis’ novel, the great saga of the expulsion comes to life with both historical and poetic resonance. A great Mexican poet, Aridjis embraces history and fiction with the warmth and insight of the lyrical vision.”—Carlos Fuentes

“In this highly readable novel which deals with a special and painful chapter in history, Homero Aridjis combines erudition, sensitivity and poetic imagination. I recommend it warmly.”—Elie Wiesel

“A novel of literary subtlety and sensibility. Few contemporary writers have captured so profoundly and with such style this era marked by three essential events: the establishment of the Catholic sovereigns, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and the discovery of America.”—El País (Madrid)

“Among worldwide bestsellers, 1492 is the most similar to Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose; both are concerned with the trials of heretics and the violence employed against the dissident. Aridjis gives an encyclopedic vision of catastrophic times.”—La Jornada (Mexico City)

About this title

From the Publisher

Now in English for the first time, this sweeping story of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain during the era of world exploration was a best-seller in Latin America in the 1980s.

About the Author

Homero Aridjis, one of Mexico’s foremost poets and novelists, has published more than twenty books, most recently a collection with New Directions. He lives in Mexico City.

Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. Series editor of Jewish Latin America, he is also the author of The One-Handed Pianist and Other Stories, Art and Anger, (UNM Press), and many other books.

Edition details

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0452269148
• ISBN 13: 9780452269149
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288