Pig's Foot: A Novel

by Carlos Acosta, Frank Wynne (Translator)

Overview

The Korticos are from a well-endowed pygmy tribe in West Africa; the Mandingas are descended from a tribe of tall Ghanaians. Both families have been brought to Cuba as slaves. Oscar Kortico and Jose Mandinga, inseparable friends, marry a pair of sisters, and in the tiny hamlet of Pig's Foot (Pata de Puerco), five generations of these families will live out their colorful lives through the tumultuous sweep of Cuban history: from slavery through the war of independence, exploitation, dictatorship, and compromised freedom, to the present day when teenager Oscar Mandinga goes seeking the fabled village of his ancestors.

Carlos Acosta's first novel is a swiftly plotted island folktale with warmth, humor, magic, and a light allegorical touch. It's a history grounded in sights and smells and human foibles. And it's an enchanting and unexpected debut from an author of many talents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620400821
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/14/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Carlos Acosta was born in Havana in 1973 and trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba. He has been a principal at the English National Ballet, the Houston Ballet, the American Ballet Theater, and the Royal Ballet, where he is currently a Principal Guest Artist, and has danced as a guest artist all over the world, winning numerous international awards. He wrote and choreographed a semi-autobiographical show, Tocororo, in Havana in 2002/3. After its premiere in Cuba, it broke box office records in London and was nominated for an Olivier award in 2004. Acosta has also appeared as an actor in the film New York, I Love You (in the segment directed by Natalie Portman) and in The Day of Flowers, recently premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. He is the author of the autobiography No Way Home. Pig's Foot is his first work of fiction. Acosta lives in London.

Translator Frank Wynne has won three major prizes for his translations: the 2002 IMPAC for Atomised by Michel Houellebecq, the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for Windows on the World by Frédéric Beigbeder, and the 2008 Scott Moncrieff Prize for Holiday in a Coma by the same author. He lives in London.
About Carlos Acosta: From humble origins in Havana, Acosta’s soaring athleticism and emotional magnetism has transformed him into a global star. Since graduating from the National Ballet School of Cuba he has graced all the world’s major dance stages; Paris Opera House, the American Ballet Theatre, the Bolshoi Ballet – reaching his peak in 2011 when he, with Tamara Rojo, danced in Romeo and Juliet before 14,000 people at London’s O2 Arena.
Frank Wynne is a writer and award-winning literary translator. Born in Ireland he has lived and worked in Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Buenos Aires and currently lives in San José, Costa Rica. He has translated more than a dozen major novels, among them the works of Michel Houellebecq, Frédéric Beigbeder, Pierre Mérot and the Ivorian novelist Ahmadou Kourouma. A journalist and broadcaster, he has written for the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Irish Times, Melody Maker, and Time Out.

Editorial Reviews

Imaginatively records the history of one small, mythical town and its colorful inhabitants, evoking Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude . . . Acosta's novel affirms with engaging force that truth lies in storytelling.” —Publishers Weekly

“A wild, heady flight of imagination . . . Acosta makes good use of his natural understanding of sequence and grace and suspense.” —The Guardian

“This knockabout epic marks an impressive further stage in Acosta's emergence as a writer.” —The Independent

“Richly entertaining . . . Often hilarious . . . Acosta is a natural storyteller.” —The Irish Times

From the Publisher

2013-10-06
Ballet star Acosta's debut novel follows a Cuban family from slavery days to modern Havana. Pata de Puerco (Pig's Foot) is the name of the tiny village founded by friends Oscar and José, fresh from their victory in a slave revolt. Oscar, whose origins are a pygmy tribe, the Korticos, and José, a Mandinga, forge a bond despite tribal rivalry, marry and start families. Unfortunately, Oscar is soon beset by tragedy--his wife Malena dies giving birth to son Benicio, and Oscar kills himself. Benicio is raised by José and his wife, Betina, alongside their son Melecio and daughter Geru. Melecio, a gifted poet, is taken into the household of rum baron Emilio Bacardi to be educated. As Benicio grows, he resembles Oscar less and less, mostly since he is much larger in stature. In fact, he resembles, in size and temperament, the village outcast, an ornery giant known as El Mozambique. Thereby hangs a tale, of course. The return of Melecio and Benicio's attraction to his "sister" Geru cause further complications, and eventually, Benicio and Geru depart for Havana. Here, the feisty narrator, Oscar Mandinga, a descendant of Benicio and Geru, whom he refers to, inaccurately it emerges, as his grandparents, takes over the story. Under suspicion for his political cynicism, Oscar undergoes interrogation at the hands of "whiteshirts" (the Cuban Ku Klux Klan) and embodies the contrast between the apathy and disillusion of young Cubans today and the revolutionary zeal of elders like Benicio and Geru, who witnessed and welcomed the advent of Castro. The shift in tone between the idyll of Pata de Puerco, with its storytellers, wise women, magic amulets and rustic whimsy, and the realities of dystopian Havana are almost too jarring for this relatively short book to encompass. Other than latter-day Oscar, who narrates what is essentially a frame story, no clear protagonist emerges to lend direction to this episodic rags-to-riches-to rags tale. The pyrotechnics of Acosta's writing would benefit from a more tightly choreographed structure.

Kirkus Reviews