Don de gentes

by Elvira Lindo

Elvira Lindo soars from one coast of the Atlantic to the other. Her observant eyes take everything in, from The Sopranos to Little Women, Serrat to Paul Auster. Guided by a poetic thirst to capture it all, she intuitively reveals what hides behind other people's eyes. There is a constant note in these articles: a woman who faces life without overlooking any of its stages.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Elvira Lindo is a Spanish journalist and writer.

At the age of 12 Lindo moved to Madrid, where she studied journalism. She did not get her degree, as she began to work in television and radio as a speaker, actress and scriptwriter. Her first novel was based on one of her fictional radio characters, the madrileño boy Manolito Gafotas, who has become a classic of Spanish children's literature. Manolito is the son of a trucker and lives a humble life in the working-class quarter of Carabanchel. The character was the protagonist of several first-person novels written with a solid style that includes humour, irony and sharp social criticism.

Lindo has also written adult novels and plays; she is the screenwriter of the film La primera noche de mi vida, and collaborated with director Miguel Albadalejo on the screenplays for Manolito Gafotas and Ataque verbal. She also adapted the screenplay Plenilunio from the novel by her husband, Antonio Muñoz Molina.

Ever since her husband Muñoz Molina was appointed director of the Instituto Cervantes of New York, Lindo has lived in New York City. She often writes for the Spanish-language newspaper El País, contributing editorials, and writes freelance work for other magazines and newspapers.

In 1998 Lindo was awarded the Premio Nacional de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil (National Award for Children's and Youth Literature) for her book Los trapos sucios de Manolito Gafotas, and she received the Biblioteca Breve (Tiny Library) Award for her adult novel Una palabra tuya.

Reviews

[Editorial Alfaguara]

Elvira Lindo sobrevuela de un lado a otro el Atl�ntico, va de Los Soprano a Mujercitas, de Serrat a Paul Auster, de los nuevos tertulianos a Jo�o Gilberto... Los art�culos de Elvira Lindo tienen registros muy diferentes pero un punto en com�n: la capacidad de condensar una mirada m�ltiple sobre la realidad. La serie �Don de gentes�, publicada en El Pa�s, es la manera de Elvira Lindo de sintetizar lo que observan sus grandes ojos. Guiada por la ansiedad po�tica de verlo todo al mismo tiempo, es capaz de descubrir, a veces de forma intuitiva o instant�nea, lo que esconden las miradas de los otros. En estos art�culos hay un estado de �nimo permanente y fijo, el de una mujer que se enfrenta a la vida sin abandonar ninguna de sus edades. Su Don de gentes es, en cierto modo, el espejo en el que est� el carnaval del mundo tal como lo ve; en alguna esquina, como en el m�s famoso cuadro de Vel�zquez, est� tambi�n ella reflejada. Leerla es verla mirar.Juan Cruz Ruiz