Sex and death - our two greatest preoccupations and bullfighting brings them together. We have always been fascinated by the bull, its violent beauty and innate appeal as a symbol to confront power. And the elaborate choreography of the bullfight also provides us with an opportunity to confront our great obsession - death. To watch a bullfight is an extraordinary act of voyeurism. Beyond the theatre, the costumes and the well-worn plot is the fact that a man faces death while the crowd looks on. And so people are drawn to the arena to witness the ultimate spectator sport. They go to admire gracefulness and agility, to be horrified by the proximity of death; to witness a spectacle - all part of the business of watching an animal die. And that's why we argue abut bullfighting - whether it is a sport, an art form, or simply a type of stylised torture. Definitions abound, but none of them are definitive. A. L. Kennedy explores them all, guiding us through the maelstrom of ideas with all the skill and elegance of matador.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Following the publication of her novel Everything You Need, writer AL Kennedy found herself suffering from an acute inability to produce prose fiction. This, coupled with a general unhappiness and "the fact" that she was "literally boring" herself "to death" led Kennedy to contemplate suicide. Saved by the banal strains of a "pseudo-Celtic pap" song she hears as she is about to jump from the open window of her flat, Kennedy, who refuses to die without a "rag of credibility", resumes life and sets about the book that she has been commissioned to write: a non-fiction study of bullfighting, a study of "people who risk death for a living." Immersing herself in the arid heat of Spain and the lore and lure of the corrida, Kennedy travels to the heartlands of bullfighting--Madrid, Seville and Granada, in order to dissect the spectacle of ritual death and go beyond her received assumptions of this most graphic of public sports. She discovers that the culture of the toreros permeates Spain, that the "golden age" of bullfighting of the 1930s has been resurrected by new young hopefuls in the 1990s, that the nauseating, fascinating machinations of the corrida are played out as entertainment on afternoon television--and fancies that the tears of Seville's famous statue of the Macarena flow for the doomed matadors. The perfect antidote to macho posturing, On Bullfighting is an intelligent, many-layered account of one of the most mysterious and controversial rituals still practised daily in Europe. An impartial observer and thorough researcher, Kennedy takes us through the tense moments of the corrida as she witnesses it: mediocre, undignified and cruel by turns and yet also almost "a religious experience, the sight of a man willing in, taking in, an animal's life. It is a strange thing to watch: an elaborately prepared transgression, a sacrifice and a sin, ugly and peculiarly moving". --Catherine Taylor
"One of the best books of the year." - Jeanette Winterson"A strange and beautiful book." - Michael Ignatieff""On Bullfighting" casts an unofficial eye over a world of male exploit; the public spectacles are treated with a fresh particularity, the inner landscapes of pain with an ardent, high-risk honesty." - Julian Barnes"From the Trade Paperback edition."
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
£ 4.80
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Hardback. Condition: USED_VERYGOOD. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001745799
Quantity: 5 available
Seller: ChouetteCoop, Kervignac, France
Condition: Used: Good. Occasion - Bon Etat - Avec jaq - On bullfighting (1999) - Poche. Seller Inventory # 1795540
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Better World Books Ltd, Dunfermline, United Kingdom
Condition: Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # GRP9853998
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Elefante de los Libros, Madrid, MADRI, Spain
Tapa dura. Condition: Excelente. Libro en Inglés. Cubierta hecha de tela. 180p. Estado de la cubierta: Excelente. Tamaño 11,5x18.Tenemos a su disposición fotografías de nuestros libros. Si desea verlas, o ampliar las ya publicadas, puede solicitarlo a través del correo electrónico de nuestra librería. Libro. Seller Inventory # IN011566
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Southampton Books, Sag Harbor, NY, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First Edition, Third Printing. Not price-clipped (£10.00 price intact). Published by Yellow Jersey Press, 1999. Octavo. Black boards stamped in gold with black endpapers. Book is very good; clean with no writing or names. Sharp corners and spine straight. Binding tight and pages crisp. Dust jacket is very good with some light shelf wear. 180 pages. ISBN: 9780224052191. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Southampton, New York. Seller Inventory # 169511
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: USED_GOOD. Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00072311659
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: GoldBooks, Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: very good. Very Good Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think_very_0224052195
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Blaeberry Books, Lilliesleaf, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Signed by A.L. Kennedy to the title page. A fine copy of a first edition, first impression hardback in a fine, unclipped dustjacket. All books are swathed in biodegradable bubble wrap and posted in strong, custom made book boxes to ensure undamaged delivery. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 013617
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: GoldenWavesOfBooks, Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: NEW. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0224052195
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: The Book Spot, Sioux Falls, SD, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks31737
Quantity: 1 available