The an evocative exploration of the landmarks, events, people, and
writing that shaped Buenos Aires.
The most European of South American cities, Buenos Aires evokes exile
and nostalgia.
A nineteenth-century replica of Paris or Madrid set adrift in an alien
continent, its identity is neither of the Old World nor the New. The
Argentine capital's rootlessness has famously found expression in the
melancholy of tango and, more recently, in a vogue for psychoanalysis
even more widespread than New York's. Jason Wilson explores this
contradictory and culturally rich city by tracing its development from
remote ranching settlement to modern metropolis. Taking landmarks, both
well-known and hidden, as starting points for a journey of discovery, he
looks at the events, people and writing that have shaped modern Buenos
Aires and its cultural life.
- The city of Borges and Cortazar: the European literary tradition,
magical realism and fantasy, the construction of an Argentine voice,
writers local and foreign
-The city of tango: the music of longing and despair, a meeting-point of
machismo and sensuality, lowlife culture of the port
-The city of passions: the cult of Evita Peron, the life-and-death
matter of soccer, the totalitarian political legacy
