TWO

About the Book

TWO BY MARK J. CURRAN ASU Days as well as The Guitars – A Music Odyssey are a return to the autobiographical. Book I ASU Days tells the story beginning with graduate study for the Ph.D in Spanish and Latin American Studies and the account of Mark’s years at Arizona State University. It is comprised of memories of teaching and research days at ASU but also a description of campus life dating to 1968. Book II The Guitars - A Music Odyssey recounts the role of music in Mark’s life from age 14 in 1955 to the present. The main characters are the guitars: a simple steel stringed Stella in 1955, an electric Kay and amplifyer in high school, 1955 - 1959 and college days, a Brazilian Rosewood Classic from Rio de Janeiro in 1966 and a Manuel Rodríguez Classic from Madrid, electrified for performance, 2002. The study, learning, practice and the performing range from early pop and Rock n’ Roll from Elvis Presley days, to serious home study of classic guitar, to the folk tunes of the 1960s, Classic Country and Western, Irish, “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” and Classic Guitar and Contemporary Catholic Songs for meditation at church. The final chapter is a work in process: practice and performance at home.

About the Author

MARK J. CURRAN is Professor Emeritus from Arizona State University where he worked from 1968 to 2011. He taught Spanish Language as well as the Survey of Spanish Literature, a seminar on "Don Quixote," Civilization of Spain and Latin American Civilization. He also taught the Portuguese language (Brazilian Variant) as well as Survey of Luso-Brazilian Literature, Luso-Brazilian Civilization, and seminars on Chico Buarque de Hollanda and Brazil's Folk-Popular Literature (the "Literatura de Cordel"). He has written forty books, eight in academic circles before retirement, thirty-two with Trafford in retirement. Images of the covers and summaries are on his website: www.currancordelconnection.com. His e-mail address is: profmark@asu.edu