Nada Que Ver

The characters in this novel, Dorantes's first, are male friends in their 30s in Mexico City and Las Vegas. Perpetual adolescents guided by the pursuit of pleasure, they are obsessed with promiscuous sex (real and imagined), hallucinogens, and American pop culture. The novel is primarily the story of Rodrigo, a philanderer whose life goal is to self-destruct gloriously. He's denied his wish when he wins a lottery with a ticket purchased for him by his mother. Additionally, he wins millions of dollars on a gambling spree in Las Vegas and is forgiven by his wife for his infidelity. Dorantes's style is as quirky as the story itself, full of salty Mexican colloquialisms and English derivatives (""troka"" for truck, ""chores"" for shorts). His persistent use of mordant similes deepens the story's cynical perspective: when the narrator reconciles with his girlfriend, who had abandoned him for a mutual friend, he states that he caressed her at first ""the way I would pat a dog that had already bitten me once."" Dorantes has written a gripping tale that wastes no words on the characters' backgrounds, instead offering a slice of their barren lives that stands on its own. Recommended for public and academic libraries and bookstores in any Spanish-speaking market. Joseph Delgado-Figueroa, Columbia, SC