By: Elena Poniatowska , Katherine Silver

"Long though it is, this English version of Tinâisima, Poniatowska's novel based closely on the life of Italian photographer Tina Modotti (1896-1942), represents a considerable abridgment of the original. Implicitly, however, the textual recreation is the work of Poniatowska herself, who signs the acknowledgments, thanks Katherine Silver (whose translation is excellent), and writes a new dedication for the book"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

"A dramatic, fast-paced fictionalization...."

"Modotti is a presence from an age that now seems unbelievably remote but so intimately connected through the thread of ideas and illusions that you want to reach out and warn her that it's all going to end in tears....Poniatowska [has] made a heroic effort: the book is crammed with details derived, no doubt, from the years of research....And there are memorable passages, among them the account of Moscow and the defeat of the Republicans in Spain....But [Modotti] remains a curiously inert subject..."

"Poniatowska, whose exhilaration with her heroine and compassion for the world's downtrodden shines through these 353 pages, is to be commended for this ambitious biographical novel....[A] swashbuckling romantic adventure..."

"The picture of Tina Modotti that emerges is that of a romantic protofeminist misunderstood and abhorred by the macho society around her, a woman whose camera mattered far less--to her and her contemporaries--than her tragic fall from grace. It is a telling picture, one that says much about Mexico's turbulent past, and about its nostalgic present."

This moving novel tells the tumultuous story of Tina Modotti, an Italian refugee to the United States who initially gained attention as a Hollywood actress. Brilliant, beautiful, fiery, and promiscuous, Modotti modeled for and lived with photographer Edward Weston in Mexico in the 1920s. An accomplished photographer herself, she became a militant member of the Mexican Communist Party. When Modotti was accused of the murder of her Cuban lover, the Mexican press had a field day, publishing nude photographs of her along with sensational stories about her various love affairs. Eventually she fled to the U.S.S.R. and then to Europe, where she became a secret agent and a nurse under an assumed name, returning to Mexico to meet an early death at the age of forty-five. Capturing with great sensitivity Modotti's sensuality, spirit, and conviction this extraordinary recreation of a remarkable life is a tightly woven blend of fact and fiction from "one of Mexico's leading literary figures." -The New York Times Book Review Author is Mexico's preeminent history. Taking you back through the ages, the Guerrilla Girls demonstrate how males (particularly white males) have dominated the art scene, and discouraged, belittled, or obscured women's involvement. Their skeptical and hilarious interpretations of "popular" theory are augmented by the newest research and the expertise of prominent feminist art historians. "Believe-it-or-not" quotations from some of the "experts" are sprinkled throughout, as are the Guerrilla Girls' signature masterpieces: reproductions of famous art works, slightly "altered" for historic accuracy and vindication. This colorful reinterpretation of classic and modern art, as outrageous as it is visually arresting, is a much-needed corrective to traditional art history, and an unabashed celebration of female artists.

Based on the splendid true life of Tina Modotti--photographer, actress, and member of the Mexican Communist Party--"Tinisima" captures with great sensitivity Modotti's sensuality, spirit and conviction in this extraordinary recreation of a remarkable life.