When Luis Miguel Dominguín, the celebrated torero, died at the age of 69 in May 1996, the obituaries were many and generous. They recalled his curious relationship with Ernest Hemingway, his love affairs with the likes of Ava Gardner, and that he was the father of the famous singer Miguel Bosé. They made much of his close friendship with Picasso, and Le Monde quoted from his brief work of 1960, Pour Pablo. Dominguín had written:

Tout homme célèbre doit veiller à ne pas détruire sa propre légende, celle qui l'accompagne tout au long de sa vie, dès la naissance jusqu'à la célébrité. La vie d'un homme n'est jamais assez longue pour détruire une légende et en créer une autre. Et, sans légende, il est impossible d'entrer dans l'Histoire.

LRB 27 August 2009 | PDF Download