The Skin of the Sky

By Elena Poniatowska and Elena Poniatowksa

Book Overview

The Skin of the Sky is the story of Lorenzo de Tena, a Mexican astronomer born in the 1930s. The illegitimate son of a wealthy Mexico City businessman and a poor, but intelligent, peasant woman, Lorenzo is introduced to science (pasteurization and the wonders of flight) by his mother, beginning his lifelong passion.

When his mother dies, Lorenzo and his siblings are taken to live with their father. The children have difficulty adjusting to a life of wealth and privilege, but Lorenzo devotes all his attentions to astronomy. He eventually goes to Harvard to complete his studies and returns to Mexico, determined to elevate Mexico's scientific rankings.

"Lorenzo's calling enables Elena] Poniatowska not only to write of the heavens with mythic awe and ravishing lyricism but also to ponder the conundrums of space and time, our precarious place in the universe, and the great divide between Mexico's educated elite and countless illiterate poor. . . . Ultimately, Poniatowska's capacious tale of one inspired but lonely man's heroic perseverance dramatizes the divide between the First and Third Worlds and the anguish of those caught in between."--Booklist

"When I read Elena Poniatowska, I'm reminded why she's my hero, why I write, what kind of writer I aspire to be. She's not only an exquisite writer, she's an extraordinary human being. It's this humanity that makes her writing soar."--Sandra Cisneros

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826341209
• ISBN13: 9780826341204
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

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I really liked this book because it shows the real religious, political, academic, and social life in Mexico. The way details are exposed and how real the characters are make the book very interesting.

A Elenita le duele México

Una "ficción histórica" de la señora Poniatowska, que lo mismo introduce como personaje a José Revueltas que a un mundo de científicos mexicanos - algunos con sus nombres reales - en un intento de transmitirnos el mundo interior y exterior del voluntarioso Lorenzo De Tena. Seguramente aquellos que son científicos, o conocedores de la historia de la ciencia mexicana, saborearán el retrato "ficticio" que hace esta genial escritora y periodista del (¿nacimiento del?) México científico de hace unas décadas. Aquellos que no lo somos, aún así (y quizá por eso, pues habremos conocido "aún otro" México) seguramente disfrutaremos la manera como va trazando la personalidad de Lorenzo, sus tropiezos, triunfos y lecciones en el contexto de un México que le duele a los dos, al protagonista y a la escritora.This book won the 2001 Alfaguara prize for a Novel, something I think should be told somewhere in this site.Get to know -yet- another Mexico.