Librería Samer Atenea
Librería Aciertas (Toledo)
Kálamo Books
Librería Perelló (Valencia)
Librería Elías (Asturias)
Donde los libros
Librería Kolima (Madrid)
Librería Proteo (Málaga)
In his 2017 memoir Wild Seed: Searching for My Brother Dan, journalist and author Edward Guthmann described a family tragedy and its aftermath. In Don’t Cry for Me, West Covina, a new collection of 25 personal essays, he circles back once again -- this time in a lighter vein. In the title chapter Guthmann recalls his hometown of West Covina, a Los Angeles suburb that frustrated him with its conformity and provincialism, but provided an impetus to explore a much broader canvas. We see him falling in love with movies at an early age ('It Started with Fred Astaire'); landing a role on the professional stage ('The Year I Played in Oliver!'); protesting the Vietnam War during the nationwide student strike of 1970 ('Breaking the Redwood Curtain'); leaving the cozy college town of Arcata for the frenzy of San Francisco ('A Dive in the Deep End'); and building a career as a San Francisco Chronicle arts reporter and reviewer ('Confessions of a Recovering Movie Critic').Guthmann introduces his imperious paternal aunt ('Aunt Rollie Conquers the Universe'), and the loquacious rapscallion Mamie Jackson, whose language has a 'cascading musical quality' and an urge to shock. We travel with him to Las Vegas when the town was still small and ruled by the Mob; to Europe, where he spent one summer on a $5-a-day allowance; to Cameroun, where his mother and four aunts lived as young girls and befriended a baby gorilla, Bushman, who became a star attraction at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.At turns witty and tender, playful and nostalgic, the stories in this collection reflect the author’s wide-ranging, lifelong curiosity.
