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Sentimental Songs (La poesia cursi)Author: Felipe Alfau American Literature Series April 1992 55 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 Dimensions: Paperback, 0-916583-99-6 / 0-916583-98-8 Retail Paperback Price: Our Paperback Price: $7.96—20% OFF! 
$15.95
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Book Description
Almost lost to literary history, Felipe Alfau was rediscovered in 1988 with the republication of his proto-postmodernist novel Locos; in 1990 his only other novel, Chromos (written in 1948), was published for the first time, winning great critical acclaim and a nomination for the National Book Award. His published work is now complete with Sentimental Songs, his collection of poetry.
Written between 1923 and 1987 (thus predating and postdating his novels), these poems represent a lifetime's reflections and personal experiences. Unlike the novels, the poems were written in Alfau's native tongue of Spanish and look back to classic Spanish poetry of late nineteenth century. But like his novels, the mocking note of parody is frequently heard. As translator Ilan Stavans writes in his introduction, Sentimental Songs "is a rebuttal of Romanticism, but it emerges from the very ranks of the Romantic movement and its sense of life."
This is a bilingual edition, with Alfau's Spanish facing Stavans's English translations (made in consultation with the author). A substantial introduction places the poems in the context of Alfau's fiction and in the larger context of Spanish poetry in general.
About the Author
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Felipe Alfau was born in 1902 in Guernica, Spain. He emigrated to the United States during World War I, where he studied music and wrote music criticism for a brief period for La Prensa, the Spanish newspaper in New York. Deciding to write in English because he felt he could not reach a Spanish audience, in 1928 he completed Locos, which took eight years to find a publisher. Meanwhile, in 1929, he published a children's book, Old Tales from Spain. After the publication of Locos, Alfau worked in a bank in New York City as a translator and wrote one other novel, Chromos. Chromos was not published for more than half-century after it was written, but was a finalist for the National Book Award when it was finally released. |
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