Feinstein, Adam,Pablo Neruda: A Passion for Life,
Bloomsbury, 2004.
This detailed and well researched centennial biog-
raphy uses new sources and information to cover
Neruda’s political, artistic, and personal life.
Kettenmann, Andrea,Diego Rivera, 1886–1957: A Revo-
lutionary Spirit in Modern Art, Taschen Basic Art Paper-
back, Taschen, 2001.
Diego Rivera was the Mexican artist who
painted historical murals of Mexico and influ-
enced Pablo Neruda’s theme and style inCanto
general, illustrated by Rivera. Rivera’s utopian
vision of the pre-Columbian heritage of Mex-
ico appealed to Neruda’s idea of the common
man for whom he wrote.
Ska ́rmeta, Antonio,Burning Patience, Graywolf, 1994.
The original inspiration for the film,Il Postino,
this novel is set in Chile in the 1970s, rather than
Italy in the 1950s, and gives a better vision of
Neruda’s relationship to the land and people
than the film does. It ends with the coup that
killed Allende and Neruda.Sonnet LXXXIX