FEAST OF THE GOAT, by Mario Vargas Llosa

Nobel Prize winning Peruvian author Vargas Llosa's political side comes to the surface in this dark yet optimistic fictionalized true story of the assassination of the dictator Bautista in the Dominican Republic. It reads in parts like reportage, but has a vividness that is both moving and even shocking, as in the sections describing the torture of the conspirators. Ultimately, it is a story of courage, survival and justice, which, although solidly realistic, surely fuctions as an allegory for present-day struggles against injustice around the world. That the book is written by the same writer as the witty and fun Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter attests to the amazing range of his talents.

Click here for a review of the book by The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/apr/06/fiction.reviews

DESTINY AND DESIRE, by Carlos Fuentes

Destiny and Desire is a recent book by Carlos Fuentes, Mexico's most internationally renowned novelist. It's a sweeping tale of politics and passion, with plenty of magical realism. In fact, the story is narrated postumously by the severed head of the protagonist, Josue Nadal. The story relates the friendship between Josue and Jerico, which starts in middle school and proceeds in its own way. The friends separate take rather different paths in life and eventually reunite. Their friendship takes a radical turn, with serious consequences. I won't spoil the ending. It's heady, mystical, political, passionate, and all in all a very good book.

click here for a review of the book by http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/books/review/Wood-t.html?pagewanted=all

CHRONIC CITY, by Jonathan Lethem

Being a big fan of Lethem, I can't recommend this book strongly enough. It's an amazing journey through a kind of alternate New York. It's basically a buddy novel (as was Lethem's wonderful Fortress of Solitude), this time between a hard-boiled NY cultural critic, Perkus Tooth, and a washed-up 80's child sitcom actor, Chase Insteadman. The unlikely friendship between the two results in growth in both men. Surreal, postmodern chaos reigns in New York, the "chronic city" that provides the opportunity for Lethem to engage in some sophisticated and humorous cultural criticism of his own.

click here for a review of the book from NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/books/review/Cowles-t.html

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT, by Mark Haddon

This enjoyable award-winning book, set in Swindon and London, is framed as a detective story narrated by 15 year old Christopher Boone, who is an autistic savant (sort of a "rain-man" type personality). He is a math wiz but has some unique social behaviors (e.g., doesn't like being touched, cannot easily process large amounts of new information, hates yellow and brown but likes red, etc.)  Because the story is told in his words from his unusual point of view, it has a surreal quality and is very engaging. Christopher's hunt for the killer of his neighbor's dog leads him to make a startling discovery about his troubled working class family. He embarks on a harrowing trip to London, and the story plays out. It's touching without being sentimental, often funny in a peculiar dead pan way.

click here for a review of the book from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/15/books/the-remains-of-the-dog.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

   

TWELVE BAR BLUES, by Patrick Neate

This is a very lively and entertaining book about a search for identity of a half-black half-Italian English singer  (and former prostitute) named Sylvia Di Napoli who travels from London to Chicago and Africa in 1999 looking for her roots. She uncovers a connection to a great, tragic early jazz master named Lick Holden, who was part of the New Orleans jazz scene in the early 20th century. The stories intertwine and are energetically and colorfully told. The book won the 2002 Whitbread Novel Award. It is the second part of a loose trilogy, the other novels being Musungu Jim and Jerusalem. I've only read the latter and found it also a very good read.

Click here for an article about the book and its author from BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1741108.stm

THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE, by Louise Erdrich

The book is the strange story of a farm woman who by chance takes on the role of a country priest, Father Damian Modeste, in a Native American Objiwa reservation in North Dakota in 1912. Erdrich won the National Book Critics' Circle Award for the novel. Much of the book chronicles her amazing yet sincere role play. The other aspect of the plot is her investigation into purportedly miraculous occurances that might lead to the cannonization of a local nun, sister Leopolda,  that had taken place in the previous century. The "miracles" plotline moves in unexpected and interesting directions. The story's chronology is complex and shifts back and forth over a century. It's a book of great beauty that highlights the complex struggle to understand "truth".

click here for a review of the book from NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/08/reviews/010408.08klinket.html

IDORU, by William Gibson

Considering that the book was written in 1996, William Gibson has created a surprisingly believable SciFi cyberworld set in "the not too distant future" 21st century Tokyo. The storyline is rather strange but somehow makes sense in the world Gibson has created. It traces the unconnected efforts of two characters, 13 year-old music fan Chia Pet McKenzie, and 40-something IT dataminer  Langley as they investigate reports that rock icon Rez intends to "marry" an "idoru" or complex computer program which uses AI beyond any previous incarnation. The two investigators' paths intersect during the latter part of the book in unexpected ways. Gibson creates a vivid and imaginative world in which the complex cyber reality is only slightly stranger than "real life" brick and mortar Tokyo.

Click here for a review of the book from Project Cyberpunk: http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/idoru.html