I THE SUPREME (First Edition)

Roa Baston, Augusto

ISBN 10: 0394535359 / ISBN 13: 9780394535357

Published by Knopf (New York), 1986

About this Item

NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986. First edition. First printing. Hardcover. Fine in a fine jacket. Neat OK stamp bottom edges. A tight unread copy. Translated by Helen lane. A historical novel written by exiled Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos, it is a fictionalized account of the nineteenth-century Paraguayan dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, who was also known as "Dr. Francia". The book's title derives from the fact that Francia referred to himself as "El Supremo" or "the Supreme". The first in a long line of dictators, the Supreme was a severe, calculating despot. Considered Roa Bastos's masterpiece and one of the great Latin American novels of the 20th century. Winner of the Premio Cervantes (1989), the most prestigious literary honor in the Spanish-speaking world. In 1986 Carlos Fuentes, for The New York Times, wrote of Roa Bastos: "He is his country's most eminent writer; his works are few, self-contained (very Paraguayan) and brilliantly written. Yet his masterpiece, I, the Supreme, which first came out in Spanish in 1974 and finally reaches the English-reading public now, in a masterly translation by Helen Lane.".

Seller Inventory # 4505

Bibliographic Details

• Title: I THE SUPREME (First Edition)
• Publisher: Knopf (New York)
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394535359
• ISBN 13: 9780394535357
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Latin American Literature

About this title

Synopsis

The ongoing conversation between Jose Gaspar Rodriguez Francia, the dying Supreme Dictator of Paraguay, and Policarpo Patino, his longtime secretary and much-abused servant, is periodically juxtaposed with official, and often contradictory, accounts of Francia's life and actions

About the Author

Augusto Roa Bastos (1917-2005) is considered one of Parguay's greatest novelists. He is best known for his novel "I the Supreme", but he wrotes many books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He spent much of his life outside of his home country, both as a foreign correspondent and in exile for his opposition to the ruling governments of his country.