La Vida Te Da Sorpresas / Life's Little Surprises [Spanish]

By Rubén Blades

La vida y obra de una leyenda viva, el cantante/compositor m s exitoso e influyente de los ltimos cincuenta a os en todo el mundo de habla hispana, que adem s resulta ser un aclamado actor de Hollywood y Broadway, graduado de la Escuela de Leyes de Harvard, con una maestr a en derecho internacional y activista pol tico que se postul para la presidencia de su natal Panam .

Blades ha tenido una vida plena, y la cuenta con un br o infeccioso, con honestidad y carisma:

Escribe de su madre, cubana, ni a prodigio en la m sica y actriz de radio, y de su padre, nacido en Colombia, percusionista y oficial de la polic a secreta. Tambi n escribe de su llegada a la Ciudad de Nueva York desde Panam en la d cada de 1970, y de su auge como referente en los Fania-All Stars, en sus a os de gloria de la salsa.

Blades escribe sobre su inicialmente productiva y finalmente tensa colaboraci n con el gran trombonista/cantante Willie Col n, la cual deriv en el lanzamiento de Siembra, el lbum de salsa mejor vendido de todos los tiempos. Vendi millones de copias, y cada pista se volvi un xito por toda Latinoam rica y el mundo de habla hispana, incluyendo "Pedro Navaja", su canci n m s conocida, inspirada en "Mack the Knife" de Kurt Weil. Habla de rehusarse a permitir que encasillen su m sica, lo cual sent las bases para su inventivo y ecl ctico lanzamiento como solista en 1983, Buscando Am rica, uno de los mejores lbumes de la d cada.

Escribe del hecho de abrazar otros g neros musicales populares y sus colaboraciones con Linda Ronstadt, Sting, Elvis Costello y Wynton Marsalis. Comenta sobre su carrera como actor y sus papeles en pel culas como Depredador 2, El color de la noche, Protegiendo al enemigo y Manos de piedra, y sobre sus actuaciones en La historia de Josephine Baker, Loca del coraz n y El milagro de Maldonado, por las cuales recibi nominaciones al Emmy.

Por ltimo, Blades escribe sobre su activismo pol tico: su postura contra el imperialismo de Estados Unidos, en extremo evidente en su canci n de 1981 "Tibur n", cuando lo denunciaron cubanos en contra de Castro en Florida, y de su creaci n de un partido pol tico progresista en Panam , bandera bajo la cual se postul como candidato a la presidencia, quedando en tercer lugar, con 20% de los votos.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The life and times of a living legend, the most successful and influential singer/songwriter of the past fifty years throughout the Spanish-speaking world, who also happens to be an acclaimed Hollywood and Broadway actor, a Harvard Law School graduate with a Master's degree in international law, and a political activist who ran for president in his native Panama.

Blades has lived a life in full, and he tells of it with infectious brio, honesty, and wit:

He writes about his mother, a Cuban child prodigy musician and radio drama actress, and his father, who was born in Colombia and was a percussionist and officer of the secret police. He also writes about his arrival in New York City from Panama in the 1970s and his rise as a leading light among the Fania-All Stars in salsa's glory years.

Blades writes about his initially productive and ultimately fraught collaborations with the great trombonist/singer Willie Col n, which resulted in the release of Siembra, the best-selling salsa album of all time. It sold millions of copies, and every track became a hit throughout Latin America and the Spanish speaking world, including "Pedro Navaja," his best-known song, which was inspired by Kurt Weil's "Mack the Knife." He talks about his refusal to allow his music to be pigeonholed, which set the stage for his inventive and eclectic 1983 solo breakout, Buscando Am rica, one of the great albums of that decade.

He writes about his embrace of other popular musical genres and his collaborations with Linda Ronstadt, Sting, Elvis Costello, and Wynton Marsalis. He discusses his acting career and his appearances in films such as Predator 2, Color of Night, Safe House, and Hands of Stone, and about his performances in The Josephine Baker Story, Crazy from the Heart, and The Maldonado Miracle, for which he received Emmy nominations.

Finally, Blades writes about his own political activism: his stance against American imperialism, which is most evident in his 1981 song "Tibur n" (Spanish for "shark"), his denunciation by anti-Castro Cubans in Florida, and his creation of a progressive political party in Panama under whose banner he made a run for president, in which he came in third place with 20% of votes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN: 0593311124
• ISBN13: 9780593311127
• Release Date: January 2079
• Publisher: Vintage Espanol
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.