Dimensions
155 x 233 x 21mm
The perils of dangerous sport and a fascination for the cultural history of Spain and its people mingle in this account of a thrilling season on the bullfighting circuit in the company of Spain's most famously tragic, press-hounded figure - the young matador, Francisco Ordonez.
An immoral spectacle or a metaphor of life? Bullfighting never fails to provoke a reaction in conversation, steeped as it is in blood and gore. In this unusual travel memoir, Edward Lewine embarks on an eye-opening journey around Spain to track a typical season for the country's biggest bullfighter, Francisco Rivera Ordonez. Fighting bulls, fleeing celebrity, Spain's most infamous matador lives both his public and his private life on the edge. The last in a distinguished bloodline, he is plagued by the legacies of his great-grandfather, the greatest matador of his day and revered by Hemingway, and by his late father, who was gored to death in the arena. With sixty-two fights and a hundred and twenty bulls to confront in the coming season, Francisco must also endure the aggressive attention of the paparazzi who pursue him for news of his colourful private life and the breakdown of his marriage to an Italian duchess.
Lewine witnesses at first hand the thrilling life of a top bullfighter - the rituals, the risks, the stage fright - and assesses the significance of bullfighting in the wider context of a Spanish identity. A national obsession rivalled only by the commerce of international football, this popular art form encapsulates the uniqueness of Spanish culture.
