Destiny and Desire

September 20, 2010
The decapitated head of Josué Nadal, washed up on the shore of the Mexican Pacific, narrates this "manuscript of salt and foam," the cacophonous latest from Fuentes (The Old Gringo). As Josué's brain oozes onto the sand, he considers the political history of his country and the ill-fated relationships that led to his death. He recalls a lamentable childhood salvaged by Jericó, an enigmatic fellow student whose circumstances seem uncannily similar to his own and who rescues him from the bullies at school. Their friendship is powerful and lifelong, eventually split by the pursuit of power and ambition: Jericó's increasingly sinister designs are disguised by his work for the Mexican president while Josué studies law under Antonio Sanginés, who has a secret interest in the young men's entangled fates. When presidential and business interests collide, Jericó and Josué face each other from opposite sides of the conflict. Fuentes offers up a positively unruly contemplation of Mexico's history and future, frequently interrupted by digressions that are often philosophical, political, slapstick, or raunchy, but always provocative.

October 1, 2010

A novel of substance about friendship, philosophy and politics set in the "thousand-headed hydra of Mexico City" from the prolific pen of distinguished man of letters Fuentes (The Death of Artemio Cruz, 2009, etc.).

The author immediately elevates the status of his characters—in fact almost to mythic proportions—in the sheer act of naming them. Narrator Josué Nadal recounts his close, almost inseparable, relationship with Jericó (part of whose mystery involves having no surname) but starts with an unexpected twist—Josué has been executed, his head severed from his body, so he begins his narration as literally a disembodied voice. As adolescents their lives become entangled with that of Errol Esparza, whose arrogant, distant and brutal father gives Errol something concrete to rebel against. Josué recounts the major events of his life, including his seduction by a beautiful nurse and his tutelage in philosophical inquiry, but most importantly his extraordinarily intense friendship with Jericó. They share an interest in profound philosophical questions and are particularly enamored by Nietzsche and Spinoza, and they also share sexual experiences with an infamous prostitute with a bee tattoo on her buttock. As they grow older, they drift apart—Josué becomes involved in law studies, and Jericó cryptically disappears for a while, presumably traveling abroad. In the meantime Josué becomes romantically involved with several women, the drug-addled Lucha Zapata and the stern but gorgeous Asunta Jordán, aide to Max Monroy, a mysterious and enormously rich businessman who is powerful, self-confident and presumptuous enough to treat with contempt Valentín Pedro Carrera, the president of Mexico. Josué's erstwhile friend becomes an enemy of the state, so much so that Josué refers to him as "Jericó Iscariot," and their friendship/brotherhood symbolically shifts from Castor and Pollux to Cain and Abel. Throughout the complex narration, Fuentes moves his characters from whorehouse to prison house to boardroom with ease and assuredness.

A compelling novel by one of the masters of contemporary fiction.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2010

At school, narrator Josue, an orphan, is befriended by the tough Jerico, who has no last name. A Colombian priest ignites their philosophical curiosity, and the friends exult in the free will they think they enjoy. They opt to live together, and their discourse sparkles with observations, e.g., Mexicans, despite being the "Italians of the Americas," because they value form so highly, sit around in cantinas waiting for the future, while Americans, who are essentially no happier, work themselves to death. Josue goes to work for magnate Max Monroy, whose mantra is to mulct the impoverished populace, while Jerico joins the staff of the sanctimonious new president of Mexico. As the friends are sucked into the vortex of corruption, they learn astonishing news and come to understand they are pawns in a vast chess game that leads inevitably to a final solution. VERDICT This bold probe of the Mexican situation by a literary master should be enjoyed by everyone interested in the conflicts and contradictions of our global culture.--Jack Shreve, Allegany Coll. of Maryland, Cumberland

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2010
The great Fuentes latest novel, which arrives in the form of a lengthy statement about contemporary Mexico as viewed from both the personal and the national level, not only reasserts the continued livelihood of magic realism long after its advent in Latin American fiction in the 1970s but also reaffirms the sheer livelihood of that wondrous characteristic when handled as provocatively as it is here. The novels opening pages are presented under the heading, Prelude: A Severed Head. It seems the severed head of a young man named Josu' floats in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. What the headJosu'narrates is the highly dramatic events in the involved (and, from the readers point of view, involving) story of his friendship with Jeric. They grow up, and grow up as close as brothers; then they grow apart, as far apart as enemies. One enters the political arena, the other the business world. Those two poles not only create the narrative tension but also serve as the foundation of Fuentes startling rendition of Mexican life in all its passion and sadness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)