Heritage, Volume 12, Number 4, Fall 1994 Page: 27

IS O L A~~~~~

John Peterson, Book Review Editor

Frida Kahlo: An Open Life
Raquel Tibol, Translated by Elinor Randall.
University of New Mexico Press. 1993
(Originally published in Spanish in 1983)
Reviewed by Howard Campbell, Department
of Sociology & Anthropology, University
of Texas at El Paso
I am sick of Frida-mania. The great
Mexican painter would surely roll over in
her grave if she knew the extent to which
her work has been commercialized and
made faddishly trendy in the United
States. The nadir of all this is a projected
movie about Frida starring Madonna.
Imagine!
Given the large number of books and
essays about Frida Kahlo that have appeared
in recent years what should we
make of yet another biography ? Fortunately,
this book is not just more Frida-mania.
Raquel Tibol, a prominent critic of Mexican
art, knew Frida and Diego Rivera personally
and has commented on their work
for at least four decades. "Frida Kahlo: Una
Vida Abierta" was published before the
Frida boom reached staggering proportions
and was a key source for many later Kahlo
scholars. Those who have already read other
recent biographies of Kahlo, such as that of
Hayden Herrera, may not find much new
information in this book (partly because
these biographies have relied so much on
Tibol's writing). Nonetheless, the book is
worth reading for those interested in Latin
American art because of Tibol's sensitive
portrayal of Frida, the person, as well as the
author's insights into the brilliance of her
work.
A particularly interesting, albeit morbid,
feature of the book is an eight-page
list of Frida's medical problems. Long
passages from Frida's diary and her letters
to friends and colleagues are also presented
along with verbatim quotes of interviews
Tibol conducted with Kahlo. These materials
allow Tibol to sketch a clear picture

of Frida's personal life, quirky creativity,
and courage in the face of physical suffering.
A number of fine photographs of
Kahlo, her friends, and her home in
Coyoacan complement the relatively short
and very readable text. Elinor Randall's
translation flows smoothly and captures
the richness of the original Spanish version.

If the book has a weakness it is the
overabundance of lengthy quotations from
letters and political manifestos and Tibol's
tendency to provide lists of artists and
public figures who participated in events
with which Kahlo was associated. More
academically-oriented readers may find
Herrera's thorough biography more satisfying,
but for anyone interested in the texture
of Kahlo's life and art this book is a
valuable source.
The Lizard Man Speaks
Eric R. Pianka, University of Texas Press,
Austin. 1994
A few years ago I studied evolutionary
ecology from a classic book of the same title
by Eric Pianka. Little did I know that the
man behind the text was tearing around
the outback of Australia, chasing giant
lizards, exulting in the isolation and the
hardships of one of the largest wilderness
areas on the planet. Having now read "The
Lizard Man Speaks", I have a new appreciation
of Pianka. This recent book is part
autobiography, although he derides the
genre as the words of dead men. The book
is part natural history and is sprinkled with
insights regarding lizard and plant ecology
in the Australian desert. A few chapters, in
fact, are dedicated to lizard natural history
and biogeography but are mainly counterpoint
to anecdotes about camp life and
desert lore.
Pianka has come to love the isolation of
the wilderness and even to resent intrusions.
Is this the same guy who teaches
about ecology and lizards at UT in Austin?

His photograph in the endleaf of the book
shows an eccentric giant holding a dragon,
both looming in the foreground of the
Australian desert.
He tells stories about encounters with
hunters in the outback: "I was rather hirsute,
as my beard and hair had been growing
for more than a year. With my long
gray beard, I must have looked a bit like a
modern-day Moses...two blokes out
shooting rolled to a stop as I sauntered
up...When I told them that I'd been studying
lizards for the last 25 years, the rifleman
said, 'That's a long time,' as if he thought
that I'd been camped there for a quarter of
a century, like a Rip Van Winkle. He
began to fidget, and they both became
somewhat edgy, acting as if I must be some
kind of a nut, perhaps dangerous, and they
were eager to depart. I was glad to see them
go--good riddance."
This book is a refreshing account of the
outback and of the life work of an outstanding
and eccentric ecologist. It ought
to be shrink-wrapped with his text, "Evolutionary
Ecology", and made required
reading for his classes, so that students can
experience the freshness and flair and serendipity
of scientific investigation that
lives beyond the green covers of classic
textbooks.
John Peterson is a professor in the Department
of Sociology & Anthropology at the University
of Texas in El Paso.

HERITAGE FALL 1994 27

Attention Book Publishers:
HERITAGE magazine will be happy to
consider your books for review in this section
of our publication.
Send historic biographies or books on
Texas history, architecture, preservation,
anthropology, or archaeology to:
John Peterson, Book Review Editor
2735 Gold Avenue
El Paso, Texas 79930
There is no charge for this service.