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y separately published work icon Poor Man's Wealth single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2011... 2011 Poor Man's Wealth
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Part fable, part love story, part comi-tragedy, Poor Man´s Wealth is narrated, somewhat unreliably, by El Gordo--the Fat One. He is the mayor of Higot, a dusty village in an unnamed Spanish-speaking country under military rule. He and the secret Marisol Committee--a group of local councillors--dream up a plan to save the village from economic death and the exodus of its young people, especially now that tobacco--their one source of income--is a suspect crop.

They start a hoax.

El Gordo, whose charming English comes via a library bequeathed to him, argues that the hoax which so changes the life of Higot is no more a deception than, say, the Loch Ness Monster, Ireland´s Blarney Stone, the Colossus of Rhodes...

Can they pull it off and attract tourists to unattractive Higot? Will the hunchback Bartolomeo, a sex scandal involving a bicycle, or the military junta blow the hoax apart, see its perpetrators ′disappeared′?

El Gordo takes the reader on a joyous, witty and wise journey through the travails of his village...and his heart.' (Publisher's blurb)

Notes

  • Dedication: for Angela Gutiérrez de Madrid

  • Epigraph:

    Hoaxes are universal, without cultural or ethnic or national boundaries. Age and gender are not determining factors, nor does the reach or frequency of hoaxing have anything to do with the level of education or a person's political or religious affiliation.

    Simon Caterson, 'Towards a General Theory of Hoaxes', Quadrant, Jan-Feb 2012

    Come, sleep, O sleep, the certain knot of peace,

    The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe,

    The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release,

    Th' indifferent judge between the high and low.

    Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-86

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Fourth Estate , 2011 .
      image of person or book cover 3393873431593943751.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 327p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 01/12/2011
      ISBN: 9780732294519 (pbk.), 0732294517 (pbk.), 9780730499138 (ebk)
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Other Formats

  • Large print.
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Works about this Work

Progress and the Pueblo George Thomas , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 56 no. 10 2012; (p. 108-109)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
Untitled Samela Harris , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 18 February 2012; (p. 29)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
An Ugly, Lovely Town Phil Brown , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 338 2012; (p. 52)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
A Sleepy Hoax, or Another Fine Ness Emma Young , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 4 February 2012; (p. 23) The Sydney Morning Herald , 4-5 February 2012; (p. 34)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
El Gordo, the Dreaming Schemer of Sleepy Hollow Christopher Bantick , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 February 2012; (p. 24-25)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
Untitled Mary Philip , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 17-18 December 2006; (p. 22)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
Untitled Tim Coronel , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , November vol. 91 no. 5 2011; (p. 29)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
Sleepy Hollow Thornton McCamish , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 1 January 2012; (p. 15)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
Sleepy Village Life to Perfection Ian McFarlane , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 December 2011; (p. 17)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
El Gordo, the Dreaming Schemer of Sleepy Hollow Christopher Bantick , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 February 2012; (p. 24-25)
— Review of Poor Man's Wealth Rod Usher , 2011 single work novel
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (9)
Last amended 16 Mar 2021 15:52:19
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