Product Description

A brilliant observer in the tradition of Adam Gopnik and Paul Theroux, Edward Lewine reveals a Spain few outsiders have seen. There's nothing more Spanish than bullfighting, and nothing less like its stereotype. For matadors and aficionados, it is not a blood sport but an art, an ancient subculture steeped in ritual, machismo, and the feverish attentions of fans and the press.
Lewine explains Spain and the art of the bulls by spending a bullfighting season traveling Spanish highways with the celebrated matador Francisco Rivera Ordóñez, following Fran, as he's known, through every region and social stratum. Fran's great-grandfather was a famous bullfighter and the inspiration for Hemingway's matador in The Sun Also Rises. Fran's father was also a star matador, until a bull took his life shortly before Fran's eleventh birthday.
Fran is blessed and haunted by his family history. Formerly a top performer himself, Fran's reputation has slipped, and as the season opens he feels intense pressure to live up to his legacy amid tabloid scrutiny in the wake of his separation from his wife, a duchess. But Fran perseveres through an eventful season of early triumph, serious injury, and an unlikely return to glory.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #712052 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Francisco Rivera Ordóñez is a fourth-generation bullfighter. His grandfather and great-grandfather, both star matadors, influenced Hemingway; his father was fatally wounded in the ring. He was an obvious choice for Lewine, a New York Times contributor and longtime bullfighting fan, to follow for a year on the annual circuit around Spain with his attendant picadors (mounted bullfighters armed with lances), banderillos (fighters on foot with barbed sticks), drivers, manager and the rest of the entourage. That particular year, 2002–2003, turned out to be a difficult one for Ordóñez: his marriage was deteriorating, his reputation was faltering and he was badly injured at a bullfight in Algeciras after a "lapse in concentration." (He recovered.) Lewine knows his subject doesn't sit well with all readers, and he labors hard to convey its appeal: "It is the only spectacle left in the world that offers such a mixture of beauty and violence, art and blood, national pride and primordial urge, the fascination of wild animals and of death." History and influences, and the details of the corrida and the ring, of breeding and of Spain's disparate cities round things out. For fans and interested parties, this is a thorough book.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
It is important that the reader pay attention to this book's prefatory "Short Note on Morality." The morality the author is referring to is bullfighting--specifically, "the central moral question raised by such a spectacle is whether it is right for people to kill animals for pleasure." Lewine's riveting account--though not for every reader--of one year in the life and career of one particular Spanish matador, 28-year-old Francisco Rivera Ordonez, does not, in his words, "tell the reader how the world should be." He neither argues the case for bullfighting nor attempts to discredit it. A wealth of information about this unique cultural institution is personalized here into a story that reads much like the career history of, say, a famous soccer or basketball star. In straightforward, clear prose, Lewine explains the elaborate and set-in-stone rituals involved in every bullfight and lets the experiences of matador "Fran" speak to the continued importance of the toreador in Spanish culture. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"May be the most in-depth, incisively written guide to bullfighting available in English. Every drunken sophomore riding the rails to Pamplona this summer ought to keep a volume in his backpack." (New York Times Book Review )

Customer Reviews

Great Delivery
I am just learning about Spain and the culture and history of the bullfight. This book provides a great method of giving the reader a wealth of information while taking one through a year in the life of a matador. For anyone interested in accurate information that also tells a story, this book is highly recommended.

Excellent!
Excellent! This book is (at least) three stories in one: a review of a season following the bullfighter Francisco Rivera Ordóñez, an introduction to bullfighting and a Spanish travel book.

As to bullfighting, there is limited bullfighting coverage in the English language, and I found this book to be a good introduction to bullfighting. For a first time reader of the subject, I recommend this book over "Death in the Afternoon", the classic English language treatise by Ernest Hemingway. "Death in the Afternoon" is in part outdated as bullfighting has changed since it was written, and Lewine's work is simply easier for today's reader to read. If you fall in love with the subject, then also read "Death in the Afternoon".

As to a travel book of Spain, Lewine's description of the cities and places he visits and the related history is also enjoyable. If you are interested in the subject of bullfighting, this book is an excellent choice.

Well written account of one toreo's season

To enjoy this book you have to have at least a passing interest in bullfighting.

If this is the case then you should really enjoy this book.

It is very well written, the prose is tight and easily leads the narrative quickly along.

The author is not a wild eyed fan of bullfighting (or if he is he hides it well). He approaches is subject in a detached and objective way but at the same time understands the intangible forces and emotions that drive the national fiesta. He does not denigrate or defend bullfighting but rightly observes that much like personal religious beliefs it is something that is either formed into a person as something of value without the benefit of logic or it is not.

The book has a well balanced symmetry, flowing the story of Francisco Ordonez, the world he moves in, his bullfighting predecessors, the history of bullfighting, the detail of one particular season and a lot of interesting bits and pieces that a person like myself, who has been interested in bullfighting for twenty years, have always wondered about but never knew, things like- just how much do these guys make and what are the functional economics and organizational mechanics of bullfighting. You learn about this and much more. You get to know the structure of Francisco Ordonez's world, the caudrilla, the aficionados, the press, the hotels, the travel, the manager.

After Death in the Afternoon, this was the most enjoyable book on bullfighting I've read.

I highly recommend it.