cover image Los Impacientes

Los Impacientes

Gonzalo Garces. Editorial Seix Barral, $17.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-84-322-1064-8

Garcis, a 26-year-old Argentine who has been living in Paris since 1995, struck gold with this second novel, which won the Premio Biblioteca Breve 2000. The virtually unknown writer was thus placed in the company of celebrated writers like Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, Luis Goytisolo, and Guillermo Cabrera Infante, who have previously won the $27,000 prize. This novel is the story of three 17-year-old friends who live in Buenos Aires an aspiring writer haunted by childhood trauma, a pianist who yearns to play jazz, and the narrator, whose character emerges through the chaos that he intends to sort out by writing in his journal. Nothing monumental happens in terms of plot; instead, mundane events are enlarged by the lens of teeenage fantasy. Luckily, this is not a tale of drugged-out and decadent teens seeking to annihilate themselves but an account of individuals who look at themselves from the inside out and live with a sense of urgency. It is ultimately about love and friendship, fantasy and fear. Garcis has written a human tragedy with great precision and insight, giving teen angst a fresh voice. Recommended for all bookstores and libraries. Tatiana de la Tierra, Univ. at Buffalo, Undergraduate Lib.