The Big Banana

January 4, 1999
Eduardo Lin, a young Honduran aspiring actor who has come to New York City in the 1980s to pursue his thespian dreams, is the protagonist of this lighthearted novel by the author of The Ships. Living in the Bronx with his friend Casagrande, a well-connected, older Chilean, Eduardo drifts around the city's Latin American community, charming everyone he meets (especially women). Dubbed "The Big Banana" by Casagrande (since he hails from the Banana Republic), Eduardo is an impetuous daydreamer with persistent delusions of grandeur. He loves acting, and his passion for fame (he has fantasies about being discovered by Woody Allen) keeps him entertained while he works in construction jobs. He adores his spunky fiancee Mirian, still in Honduras, but he beds other women whenever the opportunity arises. Mirian herself is a complicated character; she's a student of political journalism driven almost by an obsession with James Bond (in an amusing touch, it's Bond as played by Roger Moore, not Sean Connery). She fell in love with Eduardo when her parents took the advice of a quack psychiatrist and hired Eduardo to enact Mirian's 007 fantasies. Eduardo's encounters with other immigrants in New York involve more serious issues: drugs, assimilation, racism; but his own problems are slight. He's a cocky playboy with a dream and an overactive imagination. Will he end up with Mirian? Will he succeed as an actor? This jaunty tale won't have the reader worrying. As Mirian says, "People suffer so much in real life, at least... fiction... should give them the right to be happy."