Tyszka, Alberto Barrera 1960- (Alberto Barrera)

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Tyszka, Alberto Barrera 1960- (Alberto Barrera)

PERSONAL:

Born 1960; married Cristina Marcano.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Caracas, Venezuela.

CAREER:

Writer, journalist, novelist, biographer, and columnist.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Herralde Literary Prize, 2006, for La Enfermedad.

WRITINGS:

(Under name Alberto Barrera) Edicion de Lujo, Fundarte (Caracas, Venezuela), 1990.

Coyote De Ventanas, Monte Avila Editores Latinoamericana (Caracas, Venezuela), 1993.

(With Cristina Marcano) Hugo Chavez Sin Uniforme: Una Historia Personal, Debate (Caracas, Venezuela), 2004, published as Hugo Chavez, translated by Kristina Cordero, introduction by Moises Naim, Random House (New York, NY), 2007.

La Enfermedad (novel), Editorial Anagrama (Barcelona, Spain), 2006.

Author of Sunday editorial column, El Nacional. Contributor to periodicals, including Letras Libres.

SIDELIGHTS:

Venezuelan writer Alberto Barrera Tyszka is a much-published journalist and columnist in his native country. He is a Sunday editorial columnist for El Nacional, Venezuela's national newspaper. He regularly writes for other publications as well, such as Letras Libres.

With his wife, Cristina Marcano, Tyszka is the author of Hugo Chavez Sin Uniforme: Una Historia Personal, published in English as Hugo Chavez. In this book, the authors "have aimed for rare middle ground with a biography that neither extols nor decries" the controversial but undeniably popular president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. With this book, the authors "provide the non-Spanish-speaking reader with the first balanced account of the Venezuelan president's troubling rise to power. They also offer a clearer picture of why Chavez, rather than simply anointing a capable and ideologically sound successor, desperately clings to the presidency," noted Michael C. Moynihan in Reason.

Tyszka and Marcano delve into the life and background of the politically inflammatory Chavez. They describe his impoverished upbringing in a house roofed with palm leaves and that provided no running water. Raised by his grandmother, Chavez struggled against his early poverty, yet always maintained optimism and big dreams. The authors note his deep love of baseball and how he had early plans to become a professional baseball player. These plans receded as he grew up and joined the military. There, as a young military officer, Chavez's aspirations grew even larger, encompassing the desire to become the president of Venezuela. Involvement in a failed military coup and subsequent imprisonment some twenty years later seemed to quash this desire, but against the odds, Chavez achieved his goal and was elected president in 1998.

The authors trace Chavez's rise to power and explore his accomplishments since becoming president. They note that his personality, amiable charm, and occasionally clownish actions mask a brilliant political player with steely resolve and well-defined goals. "While gleefully playing the buffoon, he has dismantled and refashioned most of Venezuela's political institutions, taken control of its crucial industries (oil, most importantly) and rewritten its Constitution—twice. He has used headline-grabbing rhetoric, aggressive diplomacy and petrodollars to become one of the most famous political figures in the world," remarked Daniel Kurtz-Phelan in the New York Times Book Review.

Among other elements of Chavez's life and personality, Marcano and Tyszka "focus on the president's psychology, plumbing his strained relationship with his mother and his lust for the spotlight," commented Alexandra Starr in the Washington Post Book World. They cover his conflicts with the United States and the brusque challenges he has issued to President George W. Bush. They note how Chavez has aligned himself with foes of the United States, such as Cuban president Fidel Castro and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in what sometimes appear to be deliberate provocations. The authors include interviews with many who have known and worked with Chavez, and examine his personal life as well as his political fortunes. They note that Chavez has expended much effort in attaining his position, and that he is widely popular in his country and throughout some parts of the world because of his appeal as a "man of the people." However, they also conclude that a large measure of Chavez's popularity rests on the huge upswings in the oil market, and subsequent massive infusions of cash into Venezuela, that have occurred since he became president.

Vanessa Bush, writing in Booklist, called Marcano and Tyszka's work a "fascinating biography of a complex and forceful political figure who bears watching." A Kirkus Reviews critic named it a "thorough, thoughtful biography of Venezuela's controversial leftist president" and an "admirable search for the facts and insight that are often swamped in Chavez's turbulent wake." Moynihan concluded that the book is a "comprehensive portrait of Chavez, a necessary antidote to the political mythologists who have, since the April 2002 coup that briefly ousted his government, exerted a disproportionate influence on the Venezuela debate."