On Bullfighting

by A.l. Kennedy

Release Date: 20 March, 2001

Edition: Paperback

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A deft bit of work, engrossing and informative

No, this isn't the definitive book on bullfighting -- it wasn't intended to be, and very few english-language books even pretend to address the subject well. This is a fine companion piece to the voluminous Hemingway "Death in the Afternoon," now almost 70 years old, and in its way better, since it is thoroughly researched and analyzes bullfighting as a window onto the spanish soul without as much romanticism -- or at least, the romanticism is salted with Kennedy's mordant reflections. It also brings current the state of the corrida, discussing contemporary matadors along with the legendary ones.

This is not a book for a summer read on the beach, or a light flip-through; it insists on strict attention. But the careful reader will come away learning something of Federico Garcia Lorca, the poet; and duende; and many tricks of the corrida that only the true aficionado knows. and anyone who has ever attended a bullfight will nod appreciatively at this line: "The spectacle appears to be photogenic, but not filmic -- to show best in frozen moments of poise, set aside from the vagaries of the bull, the slips and fumbles of the man, the interludes and distractions which continually break the sustained artistry described in tales of the matador greats."

The reviewer below who claims the author viewed perhaps four bullfights is well off the mark; while Kennedy never says exactly how many, my count has the number of corridas well into double digits, with six bullfights each.

A worthy addition bullfighting lore

The author does not pretend to be an expert on bullfighting. She undertook this book because it was offered to her. The result is not so much an explication of the sport but a meditation on it. She considers, among other things, why do matadors risk death when most professional sportsmen risk only defeat? The author roughly compares her own encounter with suicide with the risk that professional bullfighters take in the ring.
This is an informed meditation on bullfighting. The author has done her homework. For a good introduction to the art, I would recommend Death in the Afternoon by Hemingway. It as an informed, literary intoduction to bullfighting with diversions into war, death and art. But this book is a good supplement. Unlike Hemingway, A.L. Kennedy describes the course of actual bullfights she has seen. Her meditations are engaging. On Bullfighting doesn't take long to read, but the curious would-be afficionado will value it.