Little Money Street - In Search of Gypsies and Their Music in the South of France

Zusatztext “ Little Money Street is a fascinating journey into this secret nation! rich with detours and through a hidden corner of the world.” — The Seattle Times “In Eberstadt’s talented hands the sojourn becomes an intriguing look at the mores of a mysterious and maligned subset of Europe’s underclass! a fascinating freeze-frame of a fading culture.” — People “[Eberstadt] has made her way into Gypsy life far enough to bring back telling! often touching stories.” — The Boston Globe “A passionate personalized portrait of a people whose soulfulness surges through the raw wails of their flamencos! rumbas! and fandangos.” — Elle Informationen zum Autor Fernanda Eberstadt i s the author of four novels: The Furies , When the Sons of Heaven Meet the Daughters of the Earth, Low Tide, and Isaac and His Devils . She graduated from Brearley in New York City and from Magdalen College, Oxford. She lives in France with her husband and two children. Klappentext In 1998! Fernanda Eberstadt! her husband! and their two small children moved from New York to an area outside Perpignan! France — a city with one of the largest Gypsy populations in Western Europe. Here she found a jealously guarded culture! a society made! in part! of lawlessness and defiance of non-Gypsy norms; and she met MoÏse Espinas! the lead singer of the Gypsy band! Tekameli. As her relationship with the Espinas family developed over the years! progressing from mutual bafflement to a deep-rooted friendship! Eberstadt found herself a part of the captivating Gypsy life-a life rich with tradition and culture! but slowly being consumed by the modern world. Diane isn’t much of a cook. She lives off Marlboros, reheated black coffee, and morphine, and I have never in all these years seen Diane offer food to her husband or children. Every time I visit, she greets me with the ritual inducements to eat, drink (that is, have a cigarette, a glass of Coke, some Cheez Doodles). But only once have I eaten a meal at Diane’s house. Diane, I think, was feeling a little guilty about the Yuri Buenaventura concert. Yuri Buenaventura is a Latin American salsa star who has a passionate following in southern France, where we live. This spring, his European tour included a gig at Perpignan’s Mediator. “I’m gonna die if I don’t hear Yuri live,” Diane had been saying for months. If you spend much time with Diane, it’s hard to resist wanting to be her fairy godmother. Six weeks in advance, I bought four tickets to Yuri Buenaventura’s concert, thinking, Alastair and I, Diane and her husband, Moïse, could all go. “Moïse” is pronounced “Mo-EEZ.” But Diane and Moïse are Gypsies, and married couples’ double-dating is not Gypsies’ idea of fun. Diane asks Moïse if he’d like to come along to the concert. Moïse, at twenty-eight, is one of the greatest Gypsy singers in France. But Moïse has a complicated attitude toward music, as if his own gift lies in a state of untaught purity that might be defiled either by too much use or by exposure to other people’s music. Moïse scowls. “No way, woman. It’ll be full of Gypsies.” “No, it won’t.” “Sure it will: Gypsies love salsa. Every lousy little Gypsy in Perpignan will be stuffed tight in that place, you know it.” If Moïse doesn’t want to go hear Yuri, does that mean he’ll stay home with the children? This is when a familiar game begins, the funny-sad cat-and-mouse routine of a couple who have been married since they were seventeen, and know in their sleep how to drive each other mad. “When’s the concert?” Moïse asks. Thursday. “Thursday, Thursday, Thursday.” Moïse furrows his brow, as if “Thursday” were a friend of Diane’s whose face he can’t quite place. Finally, he relen...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Fernanda Eberstadt, John Updike
• Editore: Vintage USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 14.08.2007
• EAN: 9780307279422
• ISBN: 978-0-307-27942-2
• Pagine: 272
• Dimensioni: 132 mm x 203 mm x 15 mm
• Serie: Vintage Departures; Vintage Departures
• Categoria: Viaggi > Guide turistiche > Europa