From Publishers Weekly
As an activist in Mexico in the '60s, Paco Ignacio Taibo II began a search for figures in leftist history that his generation could look up to. Today an internationally famous detective novelist (An Easy Thing, etc.), the writer has validated his quest with a novel-documentary, in which he reimagines a historical figure--a mysterious Spanish anarchist named Sebastian San Vincente. Casting himself in a tale set 29 years before he was born, Taibo chronicles his present-day research and depicts a range of first-person characters (some of them real figures) who engage with the elusive anarchist. His first creation is a 16-year-old orphan called Pablo, who meets San Vicente as the anarchist arrives in Tampico from the U.S. in 1920. On the run from the FBI, San Vicente immediately plunges into revolutionary agitation in the port city, supporting himself as a mechanic. Taking Pablo under his wing, he initiates the boy into the mysteries of engine repair and the writings of the revolutionary Bakunin. But soon San Vicente makes his way to Mexico City, where he falls in with the CGT, an opposition labor union. Narrowly escaping an assassination attempt (the would-be assassin is another first-person Taibo elaboration), he becomes a secretary for the group. In 1921, he is arrested with an American Communist, Richard Francis Phillips, and deported to Guatemala. But San Vicente is soon back in Mexico, where more activism and a final arrest result in his deportation to Spain in 1922, marking his last appearance on the historical record. Incorporating historical documents or documents based on fact--letters, telegrams, police files, etc.--the author further blurs the boundary between fact and fiction. Taibo's affectionate account of working-class culture in a phase of heroic struggle is a perfect little jeu d'esprit. (Feb.) FYI: This book was originally published in Mexico in 1986 as De Paso.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
First issued in Spanish in 1986 as De Paso, this purports to be a documentary account - complete with footnotes - of the career of anarchist Sebastian San Vincente in post revolutionary Mexico of the 1920's. The problem is that no one, including the journalist nasrrator, is exactly sure who San Vicente is. We hear from the doctor who operated on him in a local brothel, from the office of the president of Mexico, from his fellow radicals and labor organizers, and from FBI reports accusing him of an assassination plot against President Wilson. The individual pieces of the puzzle are gems, and while the pieces never do quite fit together, the ultimate result is a hilariously funny novel that satirizes every possible aspect of the politics and social fabric of 20th-century Mexico. Taibo is one of Mexico's most popular writers, known for his detective fiction and more mainstream novels like Leonardo's Bicycle. Then again, mainstream may be the wrong word - in the latter two titles, as in this, Taibo plays with the definitions of novel, history, politics, and time. Very highly recommended. - May Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville,
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
... a rollicking, genre-defying, left-wing adventure. The book offers a playful glimpse into Mexican history, one very much tied to our own. --
Utne Reader, August 2000
Book Description
A true left-wing adventure novel with Paco at his post-modern best.
In this elegant and literate adventure novel set in 1920's post-revolutionary Mexico, Paco Ignacio Taibo II is searching for a hero, specifically a leftist hero, and he thinks he has found him in the person of Sebastián San Vicente. But everyone-including the baffled novelist-is trying to figure out exactly who San Vicente really is. There is some record of San Vicente in FBI records during the Wilson era, and some mention of him in anarchist records and rumors, but the rest has to be filled in. And who better to do this than Taibo? Meanwhile-with Taibo busy in the background trying to resolve the mystery of his hero's identity-San Vicente goes about his heroic avocation of organizing strikes against the capitalists, dodging thugs and hiding out from the Mexican Army.
"As an activist in Mexico in the '60s, Paco Ignacio Taibo II began a search for figures in leftist history that his generation could look up to. Today an internationally famous detective novelist (An Easy Thing, etc), the writer has validated his quest with a novel-documentary, in which he reimagines a historical figure-a mysterious Spanish anarchist named Sebastián San Vicente. Casting himself in a tale set 29 years before he was born, Taibo chronicles his present-day research and depicts a range of first person characters (some of them real figures) who engage with the elusive anarchist. Incorporating historical documents or documents based on fact-letters, telegrams, police files, etc.-the author further blurs the boundary between fact and fiction. Taibo's affectionate account of working-class culture in a phase of heroic struggle is a perfect little jeu d'esprit."- Publisher's Weekly
"…a hilariously funny novel that satirizes every possible aspect of the politics and social fabric of 20th-century Mexico. Taibo is one of Mexico's most popular writers, known for his detective fiction and more mainstream novels like Leonardo's Bicycle . Then again, mainstream may be the wrong word-in the latter two titles, as in this, Taibo plays with the definitions of novel, history, politics and time. Very highly recommended."- Library Journal (starred review)
"I am
About the Author
Paco Ignacio Taibo II is most well known for his mystery series with Hector Balascorán Shayne. He participated in the Student Rebellion that led to the infamous Massacre of 1968 Besides his novels, he is known for non-fiction books, most importantly his books including Guevara, Also Known as Che (St. Martin's) and '68 (Seven Stories Press.)
