The Dancer and the Thief: A Novel

The Dancer and the Thief: A Novel

by KatherineSilver (Author), Antonio Skarmeta (Author)

Synopsis

This powerful, humane, prize-winning novel of politics, ballet, and a spectacular heist by a reluctant master thief and his eager young protege, conjures...a contemporary Santiago, Chile, where the memory of Pinochet's reign and the 'disappearing' of citizens still looms (Publishers Weekly). With prisons overflowing in Chile, the president declares a general amnesty for all nonviolent criminals. Angel Santiago, a youth determined to avenge abuse he received in jail, seeks out the notorious bank robber Nicolas Vergara Grey, whose front-page exploits won him a reputation he would rather leave behind. Their plan for an ambitious and daring robbery is complicated by the galvanizing presence of Victoria Ponce, a virtuosic dancer and high-school dropout whose father was a victim of the regime.

Praised for his ability to place a personal story in the context of a national upheaval and make it warm, funny and universal (San Francisco Chronicle), Antonio Skarmeta sets this exuberant love story against the backdrop of the new Chile, free from the Pinochet dictatorship but beholden to the perils of globalization. The Dancer and the Thief, which won Spain's prestigious Planeta Prize, is a remarkable new novel from one of South America's finest storytellers. Reading group guide included.

$22.71

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.
Published: 29 Jan 2009

ISBN 10: 0393333671
ISBN 13: 9780393333671

Media Reviews
A tale of beauty, crime and revenge...with a paradoxical combination of warmth and guile. -- Kirkus Reviews
Skarmeta writes about the whims of the heart and the tragedies of passion.....destined to stand among his most beloved works. -- Edith Grossman
Author Bio
Antonio Skarmeta achieved worldwide renown with The Postman (Il Postino). His fiction has since received dozens of awards and has been translated into nearly thirty languages worldwide. He lives in Santiago, Chile. Katherine Silver is an award-winning literary translator and the co-director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre (BILTC).