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Laura Esquivel ( 1951 - )
Like Water for Chocolate
Background
- Born in 1951 in Mexico, the daughter of a telegraph operator and his wife.
- Married Alfonso Arau, a film director; has one daughter.
- Currently lives in Mexico City.
Career
- Wrote screenplays before she wrote novels; Chido One, nominated for Ariel Award
as best screenplay.
- Writer and director for children's theater; spent eight years as a teacher.
- First novel, Like Water for Chocolate, won international acclaim; translated
into thirty languages.
- Spanish language film based on Like Water for Chocolate, won eleven awards from
the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, including best picture.
- English translation of the novel and sub-titled film equally successful in the United
States; film, the largest grossing foreign film ever.
Major Writings
Chido One (screenplay), 1985
Como agua para chocolate: novela de entregas mensuales con recetas, amores, y
remedios caseros (novel), 1989. Tr. as Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly
Installments, with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Carol and Thomas
Christensen, 1991.
Little Ocean Star (screenplay for children), 1994.
Ley del Amor (novel), 1996. Tr. as The Law of Love by Margaret Sayers
Peden, 1996.
Intimas Suculencias: Tratado Filosofico de Cocina (novel), 1998.
Between Two Fires: Intimate Writings on Life, Love, Food & Flavor. Tr. by
Stephen Lytle, 2000.
Swift as Desire (novel), 2001
Critical Sources and Reviews
- Some reviews of Like Water for Chocolate:
- New York Times, February 17, 1993 ("The Art of Novel as Cookbook by
Marialisa Calta); March 31, 1993 ("At Dinner With Laura Esquivel" by Mollie
O'Neill)
- Los Angeles Times Book Review: November 1, 1992
- Ms., November/December 1993, p. 75
- Nation, June 14, 1993, p. 846
- New Republic, March 1, 1993
- New Yorker, June 27, 1994
- Time, April 5, 1993, pp. 62-63
- Tribune Books (Chicago), October 18, 1992
- Washington Post, September 25, 1992
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Retired Discussion Series
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