About the Book
A transporting and brilliant comic novel narrated by an unforgettable woman: Karen Nieto, an autistic savant whose idiosyncrasies prove her greatest gifts
As intimate as it is profound, and as clear-eyed as it is warmhearted, Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World marks an extraordinary debut by the award-winning Mexican playwright, journalist, and poet Sabina Berman.
Karen Nieto passed her earliest years as a feral child, left alone to wander the vast beach property near her family's failing tuna cannery. But when her aunt Isabelle comes to Mexico to take over the family business, she discovers a real girl amidst the squalor. So begins a miraculous journey for autistic savant Karen, who finds freedom not only in the love and patient instruction of her aunt but eventually at the bottom of the ocean swimming among the creatures of the sea. Despite how far she's come, Karen remains defined by the things she can't do--until her gifts with animals are finally put to good use at the family's fishery. Her plan is brilliant: Consolation Tuna will be the first humane tuna fishery on the planet. Greenpeace approves, fame and fortune follow, and Karen is swept on a global journey that explores how we live, what we eat, and how our lives can defy even our own wildest expectations.
About the Author :
Sabina Berman is a four-time winner of the Mexican National Theatre Prize for her plays; she also writes filmscripts, poetry, prose, and journalism, and has published several novellas. Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World is her first novel. She lives in Mexico.
Lisa Dillman teaches in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Emory University and has translated numerous works of fiction by Argentine, Mexican, Catalan, and Spanish writers. She lives in Decatur, Georgia.
Review :
"A brilliant revelation of a story..."-"Rolling Stone" (Mexico)
"A novel of extraordinary sensitivity...it will move you more than you can imagine."-"El Mundo" (Spain)
She's stolen my heart. Rebellious, misunderstood, gifted. I can't get her out of my head. An unforgettable tale about the freedom to be different.
-Ana Maria Matute, winner of the Cervantes Prize (2010) and author of "Celebration in the Northwest""
"A brilliant revelation of a story..." --Rolling Stone (Mexico)
"A novel of extraordinary sensitivity...it will move you more than you can imagine." --El Mundo (Spain)
"Little by little, without our realizing it, this haunting book leads us to a jarring question: Can it be that first we simply are, and only later we think? Our heroine Karen Nieto responds with a resounding Yes! For whether or not we're aware of it, first and foremost we exist, and then we think." --Alejandro Gonz�lez I��rritu, Academy Award-nominated director of Babel and 21 Grams
"She's stolen my heart. Rebellious, misunderstood, gifted. I can't get her out of my head. An unforgettable tale about the freedom to be different." --Ana Mar�a Matute, winner of the Cervantes Prize (2010) and author of Celebration in the Northwest
"Gifted Mexican playwright and novelist Sabina Berman's Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World has won my heart, and will yours. This untamed, disarming wild child who sits on the beach of a Mexican fishing village, shouting at the sea, slowly learns to explore and fully inhabit her intensely felt universe. Karen Nieto, who progresses from inarticulate niece, to tuna boathand, scuba diver, college savant, marine ecologist, business tycoon, world traveler -- and, yes, even total failure -- offers her readers an unforgettable glimpse of the delights, the comedy and the heartbreak each of us ultimately experiences as we dive into the heart of the tenuous, ever-changing world." --Laura Esquivel, author of Like Water for Chocolate
A brilliant revelation of a story... Rolling Stone (Mexico)
A novel of extraordinary sensitivity...it will move you more than you can imagine. El Mundo (Spain)
Little by little, without our realizing it, this haunting book leads us to a jarring question: Can it be that first we simply are, and only later we think? Our heroine Karen Nieto responds with a resounding Yes! For whether or not we're aware of it, first and foremost we exist, and then we think. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Academy Award-nominated director of Babel and 21 Grams
She's stolen my heart. Rebellious, misunderstood, gifted. I can't get her out of my head. An unforgettable tale about the freedom to be different. Ana Maria Matute, winner of the Cervantes Prize (2010) and author of Celebration in the Northwest
Gifted Mexican playwright and novelist Sabina Berman's Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World has won my heart, and will yours. This untamed, disarming wild child who sits on the beach of a Mexican fishing village, shouting at the sea, slowly learns to explore and fully inhabit her intensely felt universe. Karen Nieto, who progresses from inarticulate niece, to tuna boathand, scuba diver, college savant, marine ecologist, business tycoon, world traveler -- and, yes, even total failure -- offers her readers an unforgettable glimpse of the delights, the comedy and the heartbreak each of us ultimately experiences as we dive into the heart of the tenuous, ever-changing world. Laura Esquivel, author of Like Water for Chocolate
"
A brilliant revelation of a story... "Rolling Stone (Mexico)"
A novel of extraordinary sensitivity...it will move you more than you can imagine. "El Mundo (Spain)"
Little by little, without our realizing it, this haunting book leads us to a jarring question: Can it be that first we simply are, and only later we think? Our heroine Karen Nieto responds with a resounding Yes! For whether or not we're aware of it, first and foremost we exist, and then we think. "Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Academy Award-nominated director of Babel and 21 Grams"
She's stolen my heart. Rebellious, misunderstood, gifted. I can't get her out of my head. An unforgettable tale about the freedom to be different. "Ana Maria Matute, winner of the Cervantes Prize (2010) and author of Celebration in the Northwest"
Gifted Mexican playwright and novelist Sabina Berman's "Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World" has won my heart, and will yours. This untamed, disarming wild child who sits on the beach of a Mexican fishing village, shouting at the sea, slowly learns to explore and fully inhabit her intensely felt universe. Karen Nieto, who progresses from inarticulate niece, to tuna boathand, scuba diver, college savant, marine ecologist, business tycoon, world traveler -- and, yes, even total failure -- offers her readers an unforgettable glimpse of the delights, the comedy and the heartbreak each of us ultimately experiences as we dive into the heart of the tenuous, ever-changing world. "Laura Esquivel, author of Like Water for Chocolate""
