On Bullfighting
On Bullfighting by A. L. Kennedy, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on March 20, 2001, is a thought-provoking exploration of the sport of bullfighting. In this 176-page work, Kennedy embarks on a journey from her Glasgow flat to the plazas del toros of Spain, delving into a sport that embodies the ultimate confrontation with death. The narrative captures the complexities of bullfighting, presenting it as a mesmerizing and brutal spectacle that intertwines cultural significance with the lives of those involved.
Readers will find a rich examination of the elements surrounding bullfighting, including the breeding of bulls, the training of matadors, and the intricate choreography of the event. Kennedy’s prose is marked by precision, humor, and passion, inviting reflection on a culture that may be difficult to fully comprehend. This edition offers insights into the social and anthropological aspects of bullfighting, making it a unique addition to discussions on sports, recreation, and cultural practices.
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An Anchor Books Original
One day, on the brink of despair and contemplating her own mortality, novelist A. L. Kennedy is offered an assignment she can’t refuse–an opportunity to travel to Spain and cover a sport that represents the ultimate confrontation with death: bullfighting.
The result is this remarkable book, which takes Kennedy and her readers from the living room of her Glasgow flat to the plazas del toros of Spain and inside the mesmerizing, mystifying, brutal, and beautiful world of the bullfight. Here the sport is death: matadors (literally “killers”) are men and, increasingly, women who, not unlike the Roman gladiators before them, provide a spectacle to the crowd, a dance in which their own death is as present as that of the bull. Wonderfully relaying the elements of the sport, from the breeding of the bulls and the training of the matadors to the intricate choreography of the bullfight and its strange connection to the Inquisition, Kennedy meditates on a culture that we may not countenance or fully understand but which is made riveting by the precision of her prose and the passion and humor of her narrative.
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