EDWARD LEWINE

A gruesome spectacle or an ancient metaphor for life? Few sports arouse as much emotion as bullfighting, steeped as it is in the blood of innocent animals. But it is also an elaborate ceremony of mankind''s greatest fears and needs. Is such ritualized cruelty worthy of celebration? In this compelling travel memoir, the urbane Edward Lewine embarks on an eye-opening journey around Spain in the colourful company of the countrys most controversial bullfighter, Francisco Rivera Ordoñez.

There''s nothing more Spanish than bullfighting, and nothing that stirs up more judgements and emotions. For Spanish aficionados, it is an art form - balletic, highly skilled, beautiful - not a blood sport, and is covered by the Arts sections, not the Sports Pages, of Spanish papers. Bullfighters are treated like royalty, scrutinized and gossiped about endlessly for as long as they are in the public eye. For a fascinated observer like Lewine, the art of bullfighting proves to be one of the world''s most venerable subcultures, seeped in ancient ritual, archetypal machismo, and the feverish attentions of the tabloid press...Lewine illuminates this art and the country it defines by spending a year with one of Spain''s premier matadors and all-around celebrities, Francisco Rivera Ordonez. Francisco''s grandfather was the greatest bullfighter of his day, whose exploits were chronicled in Hemingway''s DEATH AND THE AFTERNOON. Francisco''s father was also a distinguished matador, whose stellar career came to an abrupt end when he was impaled in the stomach by his bull when his son was only ten.Francisco is as gifted if not more so than his own forebears, but he is scarred by his father''s public death. Now, as the new season opens, he feels anxious of the pressure to live up to his family legacy. His life is complicated by the tabloid scrutiny of his personal life as he separates from his wife, an Italian duchess. Nonetheless, Fran manages a thrilling bloodless season: with early triumphs spoiled by a potentially career-ending injury and a difficult, yet convincing return to glory. Much as Alex Bellos'' FUTBAL: A BRAZILIAN WAY OF LIFE unvelled Brazil through its national sport, DEATH AND THE SUN reveals Spain through its own national obsession, revealing it as few outsiders will have seen. It is a book that combines the tension of cliff-hanging narrative with the pleasures of travel writing, and the stimulation of a deep analysis of one country''s ancient and thrilling way of keeping itself entertained.