Dogfight, a Love Story

Starred review from July 12, 2010
Burgess's high-octane debut is a post-9/11 shout-out to the borough of Queens, with its roiling mix of cultures. The story chronicles one tense weekend in the life of Alfredo Batista, a 19-year-old Puerto Rican weed dealer trying to set up a dogfight to celebrate older brother Tariq's release from prison for holding up a catering hall. Alberto, who skipped out on the job at the last minute, worries that Tariq might wrongly suspect him of having snitched. Complicating matters is Tariq's girlfriend, Isabel, who's now Alberto's baby mama. And then there is Vladimir, a 15-year-old Ecstasy dealer Alberto rips off and whose brother turns out to be a Russian gangster. Accompanied by his Haitian best friend, Winston, Alberto spends most of the weekend dodging trouble and trying to steal a dog for the fight, but he can't avoid the bloodshed that erupts during the novel's attenuated climax. Despite sometimes lax plotting, Burgess's gritty, punchy narrative, propelled by fresh gusts of language, should remind readers of another outstanding outer borough literary debut—Richard Price's The Wanderers.

Starred review from September 15, 2010

Nineteen-year-old Alfredo Batista, a small-time drug dealer in Queens, NY, has things on his mind. His girlfriend, Isabel, is pregnant, and his brother Jose (now known as Tariq) is being released from prison. People think Alfredo ratted out Tariq so he could steal Isabel, which is understandable, since Isabel had been Tariq's girlfriend. How will the volatile Tariq react at his homecoming? Thinking he needs to offer his brother something, the bespectacled, neurotic, and brainy Alfredo (he's a math whiz) first steals some ecstasy from a school yard dealer and then decides to put on a dogfight to entertain Tariq. First, he must find a dog and avoid the numerous and growing hazards of his situation. Gritty, funny, violent, and genuine, this is an impressive debut. Burgess's energetic writing propels his characters through a momentous weekend in this original and complex story. Alfredo is a fresh and lovable voice, perfectly complemented by Isabel. Together they bring a sweetness to a hard tale. VERDICT Highly recommended for lovers of good writing and urban fiction. [The publisher is comparing Burgess to Junot Diaz and Jonathan Lethem.--Ed.]--Nancy Fontaine, Dartmouth Coll., Hanover, NH

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2010
Alfredo Batista of Queens wants to welcome his older brother, Jos', home from a 28-month stretch in prison for a burglary in which Alfredo was supposed to take part. So Alfredo acquires some Ecstasy for his brother (thereby seriously alienating a Russian drug kingpin) and plans a dogfight to mark the occasion. But theres still the problem of Isabel, the girlfriend of Jos' (who turned Muslim in prison and now calls himself Tariq); she fell in love with Alfredo and is pregnant with their child. Not to mention the fact that Alfredo and his best friend, Winston, are one dog short of participants for their fight. First-novelist Burgess has created full-bodied characters with on-the-mark dialogue, and he evokes his hometown of Queens (which, he notes, has the most efficiently run drug trade of the five boroughs) in a story that is alternately antic and drop-dead serious. Death is always just around the corner, as Alfredo fears, and several characters do die violently, but in the end, its life that is celebrated. An impressive debut, bristling with energy, from an author to watch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)