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Press for Cleopatra Dismounts
Carmen Boullosa,Geoff Hargreaves
(Translator)
Library Journal:
In this enchanting work, Mexican
author Boullosa (They're Cows, We're Pigs) retells Cleopatra's story three times
over. In Part 1, the queen clings to the lifeless (and disemboweled) body of her
beloved Marc Antony, considering how her love brought out her nobler qualities
while greatly enhancing her reputation, riches, and political power. Part 2 shows
her rising above the palace intrigue and testing her mettle by joining a band
of pirates. In Part 3, a magical bull transports the fearless queen across the
Mediterranean Sea to the home of the Amazons. Although told in the first person,
these tales come from the pen of Cleopatra's scribe, whose presence adds more
intrigue as his credibility is questioned again and again. What results is a remarkable
homage to a remarkable woman who, in the words of Boullosa, chooses to be "unfaithful
to her nature." Rich, inventive, evocative, erotic, and even bawdy in places,
Boullosa's writing is not for the fainthearted, but readers who try it will be
rewarded. Highly recommended for medium and large academic and public libraries.
Lisa Nussbaum
Kirkus Reviews
An imaginative retelling
of the life and death of the Egyptian femme fatale, by Mexican poet, playwright,
and novelist Boullosa. The parts of this tale that stick to the history-real or
imagined-of ancient Rome and Egypt are lively, intriguing, and well-wrought in
every detail; but when Boullosa ventures into the netherworlds of the Amazons
and all the rest her story acquires a Munchausen-like absurdity
Publishers
Weekly:
Mexican writer Boullosa (Leaving Tabasco, etc.) lavishly reimagines
the life of the legendary Cleopatra of Egypt in this daring intermingling of fantasy
and history told in various voices.
Publishers Weekly