Confidence of the Heart

Schweidel's first novel, winner of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, ventures deep into the dark heart of friendship and identity amid the post-civil war chaos of Guatemala. Spoon, a radical anthropologist whose only fear is of ``becoming a fat-assed yuppie slut like my brother,'' convinces his former roommate, Armando, to ``step out of the frame'' and be best man at his wedding to the daughter of a corrupt Guatemalan coffee baron. Armando, drifting since his father's death, agrees that under Spoon's guidance ``it might be possible to change myself a little, to become, if not carefree, at least somewhat less careful.'' What starts as a Latin American road trip descends into a violent exploration of political allegiance and blood ties when Armando is abducted by anti-American guerrillas and Spoon must put his leftist ideals to the test after his future family-in-law assassinates a fellow radical. Schweidel creates two compelling personalities, and if he occasionally indulges an overly romanticized view of ``the dark, distant petroglyphic Indians,'' the searching dialogue between old friends and the intriguing plot adequately compensate. With an ambiguous ending appropriate to its shadowy tone, Confidence of the Heart provides a powerful illustration of the uncharted boundaries of friendship. (May)