Poniatowska, Elena

Here's to you, Jesusa! by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
158 editions published between 1969 and 2016 in 5 languages and held by 2,118 libraries worldwide
"Based on Josefina Borquez, a working-class woman whose difficult life spanned some of the seminal events in early-twentieth-century Mexican history, Poniatowska's Jesusa is a tough, coarse-mouthed, cantankerous character who pushes contradiction to its limits. Mystical yet practical, she faces the obstacles in her path with gritty determination. A native of Oaxaca, Jesusa loses her mother at a young age, and she lives with her father until one of his girlfriends stabs her. Moved to her godmother's house, where she serves as a maid, Jesusa is reunited with her father during the Mexican Revolution, and joins the cavalry unit in the army of General Jesus Carranza. She marries another solider, a chronic womanizer who systematically abuses and finally abandons her. After the Revolution, embittered by its failure to live up to its promises to the poor, Jesusa finds work in Mexico City, first as a domestic, then in a series of factories, and begins her long history of run-ins with the police." "Poniatowska documents a life of brutal deprivation, extraordinary hardship, and hardscrabble humor while providing a unique perspective on politics and the place of women in twentieth-century Mexico."--Jacket

The skin of the sky by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
60 editions published between 2001 and 2016 in 4 languages and held by 1,380 libraries worldwide
"The Skin of the Sky is the story of the life of Lorenzo de Tena, a brilliant and troubled astronomer. Born in the 1930s, the illegitimate son of a businessman and a peasant woman, Lorenzo lives happily with his mother, brothers, and sisters on a small plot of land outside Mexico City. But when Lorenzo's mother dies, the children's idyllic existence is shattered, and their father brings them to live with him in the capital. Thrust into a privileged world, they struggle to adjust, and an angry Lorenzo turns to the study of the stars to find solace." "Lorenzo is fanatical about the pursuit of excellence in his life and work, and he expects the same of those around him. He strives to make his country a better place for all its people, especially the poor and disenfranchised, and believes passionately that education is the means to that end. He pursues his studies at Harvard, then returns to Mexico, where he attempts to do First World scientific research in a Third World country." "Setting traditional beliefs against technological progress and personal sacrifice against professional achievement, The Skin of the Sky details the efforts of one country to join the twenty-first century, and paints a portrait of a complex, contradictory, and lonely man who can find true contentment and satisfaction only in the stars."--Jacket

Dear Diego by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
111 editions published between 1978 and 2016 in 5 languages and held by 1,341 libraries worldwide
"One of the threads that runs through Elena Poniatowska's oeuvre is that of foreigners who have fallen in love with Mexico and its people. This is certainly the case of Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela - a brief novel (so short it was originally published in its entirety in Octavio Paz's literary magazine Vuelta). The Russian exile and painter Angelina Beloff writes from the cold and impoverished post-war Paris to Diego Rivera, her spouse of over ten years. Beloff sends these letters to which there is no response during a time when the emancipation of women has broken many of the standard models and the protagonist struggles to fashion her own. Elena Poniatowska has (re)created these letters and within them one finds the unforgettable testimony of an artist and her lover during the valuable crossroads of a new time when Diego Rivera was forging a new life in his native country. In this edition, Nathanial Gardner comments on the truth and fiction Poniatowska has woven together to form this compact, yet rich, modern classic. Using archives in London, Paris and Mexico City (including Angelina's correspondence held in Frida Kahlo's own home) as well as interviews from the final remaining characters who knew the real Angelina, Gardner offers a mediation of the text and its historical groundings as well as critical commentary"--Back cover

Tinisima by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
65 editions published between 1991 and 2017 in 7 languages and held by 1,308 libraries worldwide
"Long though it is, this English version of Tinísima, Poniatowska's novel based closely on the life of Italian photographer Tina Modotti (1896-1942), represents a considerable abridgment of the original. Implicitly, however, the textual recreation is the work of Poniatowska herself, who signs the acknowledgments, thanks Katherine Silver (whose translation is excellent), and writes a new dedication for the book"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58

La noche de Tlatelolco : testimonios de historia oral by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
108 editions published between 1971 and 2015 in 4 languages and held by 1,015 libraries worldwide
Oral history collected from Mexican students, workers, parents, professors, maids, soldiers, government workers, and others in Mexican society who witnessed and felt the effects of the tragic events during October 1968

Massacre in Mexico by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
13 editions published between 1975 and 2007 in English and held by 768 libraries worldwide
On October 2, 1968, approximately ten thousand persons gathered on the square of Tlatelolco in Mexico City to listen to unarmed student leaders protest against one party political rule in the country. Three flares were seen in the sky and helicopters began shooting

Other fires : short fiction by Latin American women by Alberto Manguel( Book )
2 editions published in 1986 in English and held by 715 libraries worldwide

Las soldaderas : women of the Mexican Revolution by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
27 editions published between 1999 and 2014 in 4 languages and held by 677 libraries worldwide
Presents a collection of photographs documenting women camp followers in Mexico, from the Spanish conquest to the Mexican revolution

De noche vienes by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
67 editions published between 1979 and 2015 in 3 languages and held by 654 libraries worldwide
Hay grandes zonas del comportamiento de nuestra sociedad que damos por sentadas, y en las que muy rara vez se adentra la literatura mexicana. Algunas de ellas - las que consigna la nota roja - ya las ha investigado la cronista Poniatowska. En De noche vienes, la escritora Poniatowska se aventura, con penetración y oficio notables, en otras zonas oscuras: las relaciones entre los sexos y entre las clases en México. Una vez más, Elena Poniatowska nos pone cara a cara con nosotros mismos, y una vez más hace gala de lirismo, de humor, de sensibilidad, de genio para crear atmósferas. Pocos autores tienen el talento de Poniatowska para observar a las personas, los objetos y las costumbres. Pocos son también capaces de reproducir, como ella, el habla mexicana: sus diminutivos, sus dislalias, sus crueldades, sus onomatopeyas, sus momentos reveladores... -- from back cover

El tren pasa primero by Elena Poniatowska( Book )
48 editions published between 2005 and 2017 in Spanish and held by 642 libraries worldwide
La gran novela sobre el movimiento ferrocarrilero mexicano