some of you may have heard of a novel called ''hopscotch'' [original title:
''rayuela''] by argentine writer julio cortazar. in another novel, ''libro
de manuel'' [''manuel's book''] cortazar not only mentions joni mitchell
several times, but he also writes a whole poem dedicated to her. julio
cortazar is quite a heavy weight in international literature, so this was a
major tribute to joni. the novel is very hard to get, and i had to burn my
copy when the military took over and searched houses to fond ''subversive''
literature [don quijote de la mancha, for example]. but if whoever finds the
book, maybe in spain or mexico, that person will find a lost gem.
i remember that the main character in ''libro de manuel'' was eagerly
awaiting the release of a joni mitchell album in paris [because of dates and
stuff, i assume it was ''blue'']. his left-wing comrades made lots of fun of
him because he was a Marxist that loved ''american'' music. later in the
book, the poem to joni mitchell begins ''joni mitchell, american baby...''
i thought you might like to know this bit of trivia.
wallyK
