The Art of Flight

by Sergio Pitol, George Henson (Translator), Enrique Vila-Matas (Introduction)

Overview

The debut work in English by Mexico's greatest and most influential living author and winner of the Cervantes Prize ("the Spanish language Nobel"), The Art of Flight takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the world's cultural capitals as Sergio Pitol looks back on his well-traveled life as a legendary author, translator, scholar, and diplomat.

The first work in Pitol's "Trilogy of Memory," The Art of Flight imaginatively blends the genres of fiction and memoir in a Borgesian swirl of contemplation and mystery, expanding our understanding and appreciation of what literature can be and what it can do.

Sergio Pitol Demeneghi (b. 1933 in Puebla), one of Mexico's most acclaimed writers and literary translators, studied law and philosophy in Mexico City, and served for over thirty years as a cultural attaché in Mexican embassies and consulates across the globe, which is reflected in his diverse and universal writing. In recognition of the importance of his entire canon of literary work, Pitol was awarded the Juan Rulfo Prize in 1999 (now known as the FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages), and in 2005 the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish language world.

George Henson is currently completing a PhD in humanities (with an emphasis on literary and translation studies) at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his BA from University of Oklahoma, and his MA from Middlebury College. His most recent published translations have included new works by Elena Poniatowska and Andrés Neuman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941920077
Publisher:	Deep Vellum Publishing
Publication date:	03/17/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	424
File size:	577 KB

About the Author

Sergio Pitol Demeneghi is one of Mexico’s most acclaimed writers, born in the city of Puebla in 1933. He studied law and philosophy in Mexico City. He is renowned for his intellectual career in both the field of literary creation and translation, and is renowned for his work in the promotion of Mexican culture abroad, which he achieved during his long service as a cultural attaché in Mexican embassies and consulates across the globe. He has lived perpetually on the run: he was a student in Rome, a translator in Beijing and Barcelona, ??a university professor in Xalapa and Bristol, and a diplomat in Warsaw, Budapest, Paris, Moscow and Prague. Pitol is a contemporary of the most famous authors of the Latin American "Boom,” and began publishing novels, stories, criticism, and translations in the 1960s. In recognition of the importance of his entire canon of work, Pitol was awarded the two most important prizes in the Spanish language world: the Juan Rulfo Prize in 1999 (now known as the FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages), and in 2005 he won the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish language world, often called the "Spanish language Nobel.” Deep Vellum will publish Pitol’s Trilogy of Memory in full in 2014-2015 (The Art of Flight; The Journey; The Magician of Vienna), marking the first appearance of any of Pitol’s books in English.

George Henson is currently completing a PhD in Humanities (with an emphasis on literary and translation studies) at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his BA from University of Oklahoma, and his MA from Middlebury College. From 2003 to 2010, Mr. Henson taught Spanish language, literature, and translation at Southern Methodist University. He has also taught Spanish language and literature courses at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas. Prior to teaching at SMU, Mr. Henson taught for six years at Collin College in Plano. Henson's primary scholarly interests lie in literary translation and translation theory. His translations of short stories by Mexican author Elena Poniatowska have appeared in Nimrod, Translation Review, The Literary Review, and Puerto del Sol. His translation of Carlos Pintado's short story "Joy Eslava" was published by Zafra Lit, and his translations of poems by Francisco Morán have appeared in Sojourn and are forthcoming in The Havana Reader (Duke University Press). Mr. Henson's translation of Elena Poniatowska's short story collection Tlapalería will be published in 2011 by Alligator Press. His current projects include translating short story collections by Mexican writer Luis Jorge Boone and Spanish writer Andrés Neuman. Henson has been invited to read papers on topics related to literary translation and queer literature at conferences hosted by the American Comparative Literature Association, New York University, and Emory University.

Table of Contents

Introduction Enrique Vila-Matas III

I Memory

Everything Is In All Things 3

Yes, I Too Have Had My Vision 3

Past And Present 7

Lunch At The Bellinghausen 12

Everything Is All Things 18

With Monsiváis The Younger 27

One Day In 1957 27

The Return Home 37

Another Day, in 1962 44

Now 53

The Wound Of Time 56

Dreams, Nothing More 67

Test Of Initiation 81

Diary From Escudillers 85

A Vindication of Hypnosis 103

Siena Revisited 113

II Writing

The Narrator 135

The Dark Twin 154

Droctulf And Others 172

The Marquise Was Never Content to Stay at Home 179

On Reconciliations 188

And The Word Became Flesh 188

Wrestling With The Angel 190

Traveling And Wing 200

An Ars Poetica? 213

Here Comes The Parade 223

Charms 232

III Readings

The Great Theater of the World 237

Our Contemporary Chekhov 265

Svejk 277

Borola Against The World 292

Two Weeks With Thomas Mann 298

The Gates of Pardise 310

Our Ulysses 329

Pereira Declares 352

IV Ending

Journey To Chiapas 363

I The Beginnings 363

II Water From The Same River 376

III From Then Until Now 385

V Translator's Note 393

VI Bibliography of Translated Texts 400

Author And Translator Biographies 402

Publisher's Note 404

Editorial Reviews

"To call The Art of Flight autobiography, essay, or memoir is an understatement. Life, fiction, memories, and readings intertwine in this book with astonishing ease, and the result is a volume that reads like a novel. Rome, Barcelona, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw, and Chiapas are just a few of the territories explored. Sergio Pitol is one of the great Spanish-speaking authors from recent history, mentor and model for many writers from Spain and Latin America. This book is an excellent introduction to the Pitolian universe." — Daniel Saldaña Paris, Publishers Weekly's 10 Essential Spanish-Language Books

"A book as unique and remarkable as its author." — Rosie Clarke, Music & Literature

"One of Mexico’s most culturally complex and composite writers." — Publishers Weekly

"Masterful. . . . Known for questioning the limitations of language, Pitol uses The Art of Flight to chronicle his young life. . . . He swirls together memories with poetic reflection, in a way that feels at home in America's memoir culture, but without this obsession with nonfiction." — The Dallas Observer

"The Art of Flight is a book bursting with energy and curiosity. It is a collection of observations, set of diaries, travelogue and much more. It defies categorisation and cannot be summarised. Only experienced." — On Art & Aesthetics

"Certainly the strangest, most unfathomable and eccentric. . . . His voice reverberates beyond the margins of his books." — Valeria Luiselli, author of Faces in the Crowd

"Reading him, one has the impression . . . of being before the greatest Spanish-language writer of our time." — Enrique Vila-Matas

"Went to bed reading Sergio Pitol's Art of Flight. . . . So full & rich, I think I'll savor [it]." — Maud Newton, via Twitter

"The bountiful work of [Sergio Pitol] is one of the most original in the Spanish language." — El País(100 Best Books of the Last 25 Years)

"If you are one of those who believes the experience must be lived to be true, that Alice and the Cheshire Cat are merely words on a page, that Ahab’s biblical diatribes are just hyperbole from the brow of Melville, and that these in themselves do not count as experience—if you are one who does not believe in the transportive and life-affirming nature of literature, than this book is not for you. That being said, this book is for everyone else." — Mark Haber, bookseller at Brazos Bookstore

"[The Journey] and the preceding volume — The Art of Flight — are some of the best to be published by a small press in the last few years." — Matt Pincus, Bookslut

"Whilst the reflections on Pitol’s life as a writer are thoroughly enjoyable and, at time, gripping, the book also includes a reading list to die for. His influences are too numerous to mention and there are anecdotes about certain influential writers, his own creative journey being altered by certain works, and in-depth analysis of other books. ...A “novel” that covers politics (free trade, unemployment), artistic creation, critics, sociology, travelogue and so much more." — Tony, Messenger Booker

From the Publisher