FEATURED AUTHOR
JOHN PHILLIP SANTOS
  In his acclaimed 1999 memoir Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, John Phillip Santos told the story of one Mexican family—his father’s—set within
the larger story of Mexico itself. In this beautifully written new book, The Farthest Home Is In An Empire Of Fire (Viking 2010), he tells of how another family—this time, his mother’s—erased and forgot over time their ancient origins in Spain. Every family has a forgotten tale of where it came from. Who is driven to tell it and why? Weaving together a highly original mix of autobiography, conquest history, elegy, travel, family remembrance, and time travelling narration, Santos offers an unforgettable testimony to this calling and describes a lifelong quest to find the missing chronicle of his mother’s family, one that takes him to various locations in SouthTexas and Mexico, to New York City, to Spain, and ultimately to the Middle East. Blending genres brilliantly,Santos raises profound questions about whether we can ever find our true homeland and what we can learn from our treasured, shared cultural legacies.
John Phillip Santos’ first book, Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation was a finalist for the National Book Award and was chosen as a Best Book of the year by the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Publishers Weekly.
His articles on Latino art, culture, and politics have appeared in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. A former writer and producer of television documentaries for CBS and PBS, he is also a poet and the recipient of numerous literary awards. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, and is a Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. |
