The Art of Flight - by Sergio Pitol (Paperback)

About the Book

Debut work in English, a literary memoir, by Sergio Pitol, maestro of Mexican literature, winner of the 2005 Cervantes Prize.

Book Synopsis

Debut work in English, a literary memoir, by Sergio Pitol, maestro of Mexican literature, winner of the 2005 Cervantes Prize.

Review Quotes

"To call The Art of Flight autobiography, essay, or memoir is an understatement. Life, fiction, memories, and readings intertwine in this book with astonishing ease, and the result is a volume that reads like a novel. Rome, Barcelona, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw, and Chiapas are just a few of the territories explored. Sergio Pitol is one of the great Spanish-speaking authors from recent history, mentor and model for many writers from Spain and Latin America. This book is an excellent introduction to the Pitolian universe." - Daniel Saldaña Paris, Publishers Weekly's 10 Essential Spanish-Language Books

"A book as unique and remarkable as its author." - Rosie Clarke, Music & Literature

"One of Mexico's most culturally complex and composite writers." - Publishers Weekly

"Masterful. . . . Known for questioning the limitations of language, Pitol uses The Art of Flight to chronicle his young life. . . . He swirls together memories with poetic reflection, in a way that feels at home in America's memoir culture, but without this obsession with nonfiction." - The Dallas Observer

"The Art of Flight is a book bursting with energy and curiosity. It is a collection of observations, set of diaries, travelogue and much more. It defies categorisation and cannot be summarised. Only experienced."? - On Art & Aesthetics

"Certainly the strangest, most unfathomable and eccentric. . . . His voice reverberates beyond the margins of his books." - Valeria Luiselli, author of Faces in the Crowd

"Reading him, one has the impression . . . of being before the greatest Spanish-language writer of our time." - Enrique Vila-Matas

"Went to bed reading Sergio Pitol's Art of Flight. . . . So full & rich, I think I'll savor [it]." - Maud Newton, via Twitter

"The bountiful work of [Sergio Pitol] is one of the most original in the Spanish language." - El País(100 Best Books of the Last 25 Years)

"If you are one of those who believes the experience must be lived to be true, that Alice and the Cheshire Cat are merely words on a page, that Ahab's biblical diatribes are just hyperbole from the brow of Melville, and that these in themselves do not count as experience-if you are one who does not believe in the transportive and life-affirming nature of literature, than this book is not for you. That being said, this book is for everyone else." - Mark Haber, bookseller at Brazos Bookstore

"[The Journey] and the preceding volume -- The Art of Flight -- are some of the best to be published by a small press in the last few years." - Matt Pincus, Bookslut

"Whilst the reflections on Pitol's life as a writer are thoroughly enjoyable and, at time, gripping, the book also includes a reading list to die for. His influences are too numerous to mention and there are anecdotes about certain influential writers, his own creative journey being altered by certain works, and in-depth analysis of other books. ...A "novel" that covers politics (free trade, unemployment), artistic creation, critics, sociology, travelogue and so much more." - Tony, Messenger Booker


"To call The Art of Flight autobiography, essay, or memoir is an understatement. Life, fiction, memories, and readings intertwine in this book with astonishing ease, and the result is a volume that reads like a novel. Rome, Barcelona, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw, and Chiapas are just a few of the territories explored. Sergio Pitol is one of the great Spanish-speaking authors from recent history, mentor and model for many writers from Spain and Latin America. This book is an excellent introduction to the Pitolian universe." -- Daniel Saldañntilde;a Paris, Publishers Weekly's 10 Essential Spanish-Language Books

"A book as unique and remarkable as its author." -- Rosie Clarke, Music & Literature

"One of Mexico's most culturally complex and composite writers." -- Publishers Weekly

"Masterful. . . . Known for questioning the limitations of language, Pitol uses The Art of Flight to chronicle his young life. . . . He swirls together memories with poetic reflection, in a way that feels at home in America's memoir culture, but without this obsession with nonfiction." -- The Dallas Observer

"The Art of Flight is a book bursting with energy and curiosity. It is a collection of observations, set of diaries, travelogue and much more. It defies categorisation and cannot be summarised. Only experienced."? -- On Art & Aesthetics

"Certainly the strangest, most unfathomable and eccentric. . . . His voice reverberates beyond the margins of his books." -- Valeria Luiselli, author of Faces in the Crowd

"Reading him, one has the impression . . . of being before the greatest Spanish-language writer of our time." -- Enrique Vila-Matas

"Went to bed reading Sergio Pitol's Art of Flight. . . . So full & rich, I think I'll savor [it]." -- Maud Newton, via Twitter

"The bountiful work of [Sergio Pitol] is one of the most original in the Spanish language." -- El Paíiacute;s(100 Best Books of the Last 25 Years)

"If you are one of those who believes the experience must be lived to be true, that Alice and the Cheshire Cat are merely words on a page, that Ahab's biblical diatribes are just hyperbole from the brow of Melville, and that these in themselves do not count as experience--if you are one who does not believe in the transportive and life-affirming nature of literature, than this book is not for you. That being said, this book is for everyone else." -- Mark Haber, bookseller at Brazos Bookstore

"[The Journey] and the preceding volume -- The Art of Flight -- are some of the best to be published by a small press in the last few years." -- Matt Pincus, Bookslut

"Whilst the reflections on Pitol's life as a writer are thoroughly enjoyable and, at time, gripping, the book also includes a reading list to die for. His influences are too numerous to mention and there are anecdotes about certain influential writers, his own creative journey being altered by certain works, and in-depth analysis of other books. ...A "novel" that covers politics (free trade, unemployment), artistic creation, critics, sociology, travelogue and so much more." -- Tony, Messenger Booker

About the Author

Sergio Pitol Demeneghi is one of Mexico's most acclaimed writers, born in the city of Puebla in 1933. He studied law and philosophy in Mexico City. He is renowned for his intellectual career in both the field of literary creation and translation, and is renowned for his work in the promotion of Mexican culture abroad, which he achieved during his long service as a cultural attache in Mexican embassies and consulates across the globe. He has lived perpetually on the run: he was a student in Rome, a translator in Beijing and Barcelona, a university professor in Xalapa and Bristol, and a diplomat in Warsaw, Budapest, Paris, Moscow and Prague. Pitol is a contemporary of the most famous authors of the Latin American "Boom," and began publishing novels, stories, criticism, and translations in the 1960s. In recognition of the importance of his entire canon of work, Pitol was awarded the two most important prizes in the Spanish language world: the Juan Rulfo Prize in 1999 (now known as the FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages), and in 2005 he won the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish language world, often called the "Spanish language Nobel." Deep Vellum will publish Pitol's Trilogy of Memory in full in 2014-2015 (The Art of Flight; The Journey; The Magician of Vienna), marking the first appearance of any of Pitol's books in English.
George Henson is currently completing a PhD in Humanities (with an emphasis on literary and translation studies) at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his BA from University of Oklahoma, and his MA from Middlebury College. From 2003 to 2010, Mr. Henson taught Spanish language, literature, and translation at Southern Methodist University. He has also taught Spanish language and literature courses at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas. Prior to teaching at SMU, Mr. Henson taught for six years at Collin College in Plano. Henson's primary scholarly interests lie in literary translation and translation theory. His translations of short stories by Mexican author Elena Poniatowska have appeared in Nimrod, Translation Review, The Literary Review, and Puerto del Sol. His translation of Carlos Pintado's short story "Joy Eslava" was published by Zafra Lit, and his translations of poems by Francisco Moran have appeared in Sojourn and are forthcoming in The Havana Reader (Duke University Press). Mr. Henson's translation of Elena Poniatowska's short story collection Tlapaleria will be published in 2011 by Alligator Press. His current projects include translating short story collections by Mexican writer Luis Jorge Boone and Spanish writer Andres Neuman. Henson has been invited to read papers on topics related to literary translation and queer literature at conferences hosted by the American Comparative Literature Association, New York University, and Emory University.