The Gaucho Juan Moreira

"Chasteen conveys [the novel's] power and action, as well as the colorful language and humor of the gaucho found in the original text. Acree's astute introduction contextualizes the life and exploits of Argentina’s great 19th-century bandit hero. Moreira's humanity and heroism come through clearly to the modern reader. Thanks to Gutiérrez's skillful blending of fact and fiction about Moreira, readers today will learn a great deal about the social realities and folk customs of 19th-century gauchos. General readers will enjoy the action and pathos of this early work of ‘true crime.’ Instructors seeking to engage their students with a compelling tale of 19th-century Latin American class conflict and social injustice will want to assign the book in their courses."
    —Richard W. Slatta, North Carolina State University

SKU
27187g

True Crime in Nineteenth-Century Argentina

Eduardo Gutiérrez
Translated by John Charles Chasteen
Edited, with an Introduction, by William G. Acree, Jr.

September 2014 - 168 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth 978-1-62466-137-2
$39.95
Paper 978-1-62466-136-5
$13.50
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-1-62466-136-5
$3.00

eBook available for $11.50. Click HERE for more information and purchasing options.

Argentinian writer Eduardo Gutiérrez (1851-1889) fashioned his seminal gauchesque novel from the prison records of the real Juan Moreira, a noble outlaw whose life and name became legendary in the Río de la Plata during the late 19th century.  

John Chasteen's fast-moving, streamlined translation—the first ever into English—captures all of the sweeping romance and knife-wielding excitement of the original. William Acree's introduction and notes situate Juan Moreira in its literary and historical contexts. Numerous illustrations, a map of Moreira’s travels, a glossary of terms, and a select bibliography are all included.

Reviews:

"Chasteen conveys [the novel's] power and action, as well as the colorful language and humor of the gaucho found in the original text. Acree's astute introduction contextualizes the life and exploits of Argentina’s great 19th-century bandit hero. Moreira's humanity and heroism come through clearly to the modern reader.
     "Thanks to Gutiérrez's skillful blending of fact and fiction about Moreira, readers today will learn a great deal about the social realities and folk customs of 19th-century gauchos. General readers will enjoy the action and pathos of this early work of ‘true crime.’ Instructors seeking to engage their students with a compelling tale of 19th-century Latin American class conflict and social injustice will want to assign the book in their courses."
    —Richard W. Slatta, North Carolina State University

"Hackett's Juan Moreira [is] the only important and easily accessible gaucho text appropriate to undergraduate courses on literature and Latin American history."
    —Thomas Whigham, University of Georgia

"In his day . . . Juan Moreira leapt from the pages of Gutiérrez’s serial novel, or folletín, to become a cultural phenomenon.
    "This is a valuable volume and a very readable translation, which should do much to recuperate Moreira for today’s readers in English. . . . For that, and for the energy and enthusiasm that shine through, Acree and Chasteen deserve much praise."
    —Modern Language Review

 

About the Authors:

John Charles Chasteen is Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

William G. Acree, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Spanish, Washington University in St. Louis.