About the book:
“Easy Listening” is nothing more than what essayist Andrew Rooney merely called “pieces of my mind,” an old man’s rumblings, notes, and notations on nouns and verbs, on persons, places, and things, little essays on family and friends, life and times, on flora and fauna, cats and dogs, customs and traditions, experiences that strike a chord, not necessarily discordant, on this one passerby who’s been there, done that, yet not quite over the hill, searching for more rainbows in an already colorful life and career.
Happily, they are just that, rumblings, not rants, on what is true, good, beautiful, and memorable.
Jotting them down, glossing over them, make, for the author, a veteran journalist and university lecturer, the essence of a good life, like savoring a cup of brewed, steaming hot coffee in the morning. Enjoying them through sheer remembrance, seizing the moment, listening to winds of change, looking back with joy, love and thanksgiving in one’s heart, is one secret to youthfulness and towards happy old age.
Reflected in these pages are qualities and practices, which we take for granted, but which make us what we are as a people: like hospitality toward neighbors; long wakes which serve as reunions for family and friends, amidst an abundance of food and drink; an understanding of the healing qualities of plants; a natural affection for animals; the practice of having children sleep in the same room as their parents all the way to adolescence… All in all, the book makes for a pleasant experience. It’s like having a casual visit with the author, on a quiet afternoon, sharing a cup of that Baraco coffee, and conversation on this, that, and the other. One comes away from the experience realizing that one is feeling lighter and better about oneself and the world, as a result of the friendly companionship, and the homespun wisdom.
—— CRISTINA PANTOJA HIDALGO