A man dos paiños

by Manuel Rivas

Unha maneira perturbadora de definir Galicia sería falar dun país productor de emigrantes e náufragos. Eles son os protagonistas de A man dos paíños, os heroes correntes dunha identidade solapada, ocultada a cotío por mor dos virus que borran a memoria. Emigración e naufraxio son experiencias que nos levan a un espacio fronteirizo, de loita pola supervivencia e tamén de renacer. Esa xeografía emocional, entre o apego e a perda, é onde mellor se recoñece hoxe a condición humana. E este é tamén o territorio límite onde se sitúa A man dos pahíños. Esta obra supón unha aposta singular na narrativa contemporánea. Enfía un longo relato de ficción ("A man dos paíños"), un relato fotográfico ("O álbum furtivo"), e un relato xornalístico ("Os náufragos"). Tres xeitos de mirada, tres maneiras de contar, que nos achegan a un mundo onde o máxico é a publicidade comercial, a vida soa como un golpe no billar, e o berce e o ataúde son arrolados pola tempestade.

142 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Manuel Rivas Barrós (born 24 October 1957 in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) is a Galician writer, poet and journalist.

Manuel Rivas Barrós began his writing career at the age of 15. He has written articles and literature essays for Spanish newspapers and television stations like Televisión de Galicia, El Ideal Gallego, La Voz de Galicia, El País, and was the sub-editor of Diario 16 in Galicia. He was a founding member of Greenpeace Spain, and played an important role during the 2002 Prestige oil spill near the Galician coast.

As of 2017, Rivas has published 9 anthologies of poetry, 14 novels and several literature essays. He is considered a revolutionary in contemporary Galician literature. His 1996 book "Que me queres, amor?", a series of sixteen short stories, was adapted by director José Luis Cuerda for his film "A lingua das bolboretas" ("Butterfly's Tongue"). His 1998 novel "O lápis do carpinteiro" ("The Carpenter's Pencil") has been published in nine countries and it is the most widely translated work in the history of Galician literature. It also was adapted to cinema as "O Lápis do Carpinteiro".