I did, however, decide to offer something a little different that our traditional swap fare (our offerings usually tend toward more "girly" historical fiction)--Fordlandia by Eduardo Sguiglia--mostly because I wanted an excuse to move it up the TBR (to be read) queue. I started it last night and I'm enjoying it so far. I'm interested to see how it goes over with the swappers. It hasn't been stolen yet, but the swap is still young...
Fordlandia is a haunting, evocative novel at whose core lies a nuggest of fact: In 1929, Henry Ford, presiding in divine authority over his automobile empire, grew tired of the British monopoloy on Brazilian rubber. So, with signature hubris, Ford decided he would produce his own rubber and set about colonizing the Amazon, ultimately investing millions and founding an entire city around his rubber plantation. The name of the city was Fordlandia.
Surrounding this historical curiosity is a rich, captivating tale that explores the fundamental struggle between man and the natural world. Eduardo Sguiglia's exquisitely imagined Fordlandia is a town of characters by turns engaging and enigmatic, who draw the reader into their various worlds so effortlessly and ingenuously that their dreams, discoveries, and downfalls begin to seem as immediate and piercing as one's own.
Quote featured on front cover:
"[A] fine novel, whihc rescues Ford's folly from the most obscure pages of history and imbues it not merely with many new layers of meaning but also with its own mythology" --The Washington Post
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