Books by "Paco Ignacio Taibo II"
3 books found
Sex, murder, and gun-toting poets in post-Revolutionary Mexico City. Dominoes are played by all.
The Uncomfortable Dead (What's Missing Is Missing)
by Subcomandante Marcos, Paco Ignacio Taibo
2010 · Akashic Books
A stylized reissue of the acclaimed, surreal noir collaboration between Mexico's greatest writer and its most courageous revolutionary. "Taibo's expertise ensures a smart, funny book, and Marcos brings a wry sense of humor." — Publishers Weekly In alternating chapters, Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos and the consistently excellent Paco Ignacio Taibo II create an uproarious murder mystery with two intersecting storylines. The chapters written by the famously masked Marcos originate in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico. There, the fictional "Subcomandante Marcos" assigns Elias Contreras—an odd but charming mountain man—to travel to Mexico City in search of an elusive and hideous murderer named "Morales." The second story line, penned by Taibo, stars his famous series detective Hector Belascoaran Shayne. Hector guzzles Coca-Cola and smokes cigarettes furiously amidst his philosophical and always charming approach to investigating crimes—in this case, the search for his own "Morales." The two stories collide absurdly and dramatically in the urban sprawl of Mexico City. The ugly history of the city's political violence rears its head, and both detectives find themselves in an unpredictable dance of death with forces at once criminal, historical, and political. Readers expecting political heavy-handedness will be disarmed by the humility and playful self-mocking that runs throughout the book.
Stan Laurel, one of the heroes of Four Hands, wanders into Mexico and witnesses the assassination of Pancho Villa. There follow other episodes, centered on Greg, an American journalist, and Julio, his Mexican friend and collaborator. Taibo gives the reader a plethora of brilliant characters in this panoramic novel that moves backward and forward in time.