{"product_id":"the-queen-of-swords-9781949641875","title":"The Queen of Swords","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn what was at first meant to be a short essay about the influential Mexican writer Elena Garro (1916-1988), Jazmina Barrera's deep curiosity and exploration give us a singular portrait of a complex life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSifting through the writer's archives at Princeton, Barrera is repeatedly thwarted in her attempt to fully know her subject. Traditional means of research--the correspondence, photos, and books--serve only to complicate and cloud the woman and her work.\u003ci\u003eWho was Elena Garro, really?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShe was a writer, a founder of \"magical realism\", a dancer. A devotee to the tarot and the\u003ci\u003eI Ching\u003c\/i\u003e. A socialite and activist on behalf of indigenous Mexicans. She was a mother and a lover who repeatedly shook off (and cheated on) her manipulative husband, Nobel-laureate Octavio Paz. And above all, she wrote with simmering anger and glittering imagination.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Queen of Swords \u003c\/i\u003eis a portrait of a woman that also serves as an alternative history of Mexico City; a cry-out for justice; and an homage to the unknowable. It transcends mere biography, supplanting something tidy and authoritative for a sprawling experiment in understanding.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Two Lines Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/11\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781949641875\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 264\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.50w x 0.67d","brand":"Jazmina Barrera","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51730239946933,"sku":"9781949641875","price":20.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_d56f382d-7775-4b76-9874-ce51a4c06f24.jpg?v=1758004646","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-queen-of-swords-9781949641875","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}