What do you think?
Rate this book
Poor Man's Wealth
For fans of Andrew Nicoll's THE GOOD MAYOR, this is a delightfully wise and witty tale of a hoax perpetuated by a group of narcoleptic villagers - led by their mayor, El Gordo - to rescue their town from ruin, abandon their inhibitions and unite two lonely hearts.Part fable, part love story, part comi-tragedy, Poor Man's Wealth is narrated, somewhat unreliably, by El Gordo, the Fat One. He is the mayor of Higot, a dusty village in an unnamed Spanish-speaking country under military rule. He and the secret Marisol Committee, a group of local councillors, dream up a plan to save the village from economic death and the exodus of its young people, especially now that tobacco, their one source of income, is a suspect crop.they start a hoax.El Gordo, whose charming English comes via a library bequeathed to him, argues that the hoax which so changes the life of Higot is no more a deception than, say, the Loch Ness Monster, Ireland's Blarney Stone, the Colossus of Rhodes ...Can they pull it off, attract tourists to unattractive Higot? Will the hunchback Bartolomeo, a sex scandal involving a bicycle, or the military junta, blow the hoax apart and see its perpetrators 'disappeared'?El Gordo takes the reader on a joyous, witty and wise journey through the travails of his village ... and his heart.Product of an Australian mother and an American father, Rod Usher lives in Extremadura, Spain, with his Spanish wife, Angela Gutierrez. He grew up in Melbourne, where, after dropping out of law school, he began a career as a journalist. He has been literary editor of tHE AGE, chief sub-editor of tHE SUNDAY tIMES, London, and senior writer for the European edition of tIME MAGAZINE.His poetry is published in Australian literary magazines, including QUADRANt, ISLAND and MEANJIN. He plays flute, not very well, in the Guzman Ricis municipal band in the village of Barcarrota.A delightfully wise and witty tale of a hoax perpetrated by a group of villagers to rescue their community from ruin - in the process abandoning their inhibitions, and uniting two lonely hearts.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 8, 2023
I commented in a recent review that I had read several fairly downbeat novels in a row and was looking for something lighter, and this novel was recommended by a GR Friend. The setting is a remote and dusty pueblo, Higot, in an unnamed Spanish speaking country ruled by a junta. The story is told from the perspective of the town mayor, El Gordo, “The Fat One”.
El Gordo’s life is transformed by the arrival in Higot of an elderly British aristocrat, Giles, who is looking for a house in a warm climate that allows him to escape the British winter. He is accompanied by his butler, Todforth. El Gordo learns English and becomes good friends with Giles, gaining access to the latter’s extensive library. The author adopts the technique of having El Gordo tell the story in English, a language he has learned only in books and through speaking to an English aristocrat and his butler. Much of the humour is derived from El Gordo’s struggles to understand the stranger elements of colloquial English, and the humour in this book is really quite good.
Access to Giles’ library leads El Gordo to read about the Blarney Stone, the Loch Ness Monster and the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan, and he hits on the notion that Higot’s economic woes could be solved by devising a myth that would lure tourists. The idea that he comes up with delivers the second aspect to the book’s humour, and I for one was laughing out loud throughout much of it, particularly the first and last thirds.
El Gordo’s idea is initially a great success, but complications arise because Higot is seen as challenging entrenched economic interests elsewhere. The downsides of tourism on such a quiet backwater also start to reveal themselves, meaning that the middle section is bit more serious. Ultimately though, this is a feelgood novel.
The author also works in some messages about attitudes towards disabled people and older people, but he keeps the message within the story and doesn’t allow it to dominate the novel - it’s a pet hate of mine when authors do the latter.
I really enjoyed this one. A charming, amusing, tale.
El Gordo’s life is transformed by the arrival in Higot of an elderly British aristocrat, Giles, who is looking for a house in a warm climate that allows him to escape the British winter. He is accompanied by his butler, Todforth. El Gordo learns English and becomes good friends with Giles, gaining access to the latter’s extensive library. The author adopts the technique of having El Gordo tell the story in English, a language he has learned only in books and through speaking to an English aristocrat and his butler. Much of the humour is derived from El Gordo’s struggles to understand the stranger elements of colloquial English, and the humour in this book is really quite good.
Access to Giles’ library leads El Gordo to read about the Blarney Stone, the Loch Ness Monster and the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan, and he hits on the notion that Higot’s economic woes could be solved by devising a myth that would lure tourists. The idea that he comes up with delivers the second aspect to the book’s humour, and I for one was laughing out loud throughout much of it, particularly the first and last thirds.
El Gordo’s idea is initially a great success, but complications arise because Higot is seen as challenging entrenched economic interests elsewhere. The downsides of tourism on such a quiet backwater also start to reveal themselves, meaning that the middle section is bit more serious. Ultimately though, this is a feelgood novel.
The author also works in some messages about attitudes towards disabled people and older people, but he keeps the message within the story and doesn’t allow it to dominate the novel - it’s a pet hate of mine when authors do the latter.
I really enjoyed this one. A charming, amusing, tale.
August 18, 2023
If I enjoyed author Rod Ushers A Man of Marbles then I enjoyed this one just as much. This is an easy read that contains “a wise and witty tale” just as the cover blurb says.
Told in the first person by the mayor of a poor, dusty, small and obscure village called Higot that has little going for it in an unnamed Latin speaking country. El Gordo, the mayor, perpetrates a hoax to try and get the village heading towards a wealthier future. El Gordo is the benefactor of a 23,000 book library left to him by an upper class Englishman who lived in the village for 7 years with his butler. This led to friendship between them, with El Gordo learning English from what little he understood of the strange utterances of both the Englishman and via the books left to him.
This leads to a very wittily told tale that mixes, for example, English poetry and colloquialisms with some Spanish words that had me laughing out loud on several occasions, such was the clever wit. This was not meant to be making fun of a Spanish speaker attempting to speak English by the author. Of an Australian background with a Spanish wife and living in Spain, Rod Usher has I suspect noticed that English is not that easy to understand for those of another lingo.
Thematically there is a lot covered from depression, the power of the written word, a changing world, greed and love.
There is one other theme that would in fact give the plot away, and I am certainly not going to do that other than recommend this very good book to those that wish to know what poor man’s wealth is.
I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
‘Good speed!'’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
And into the midnight we galloped abreast.
Told in the first person by the mayor of a poor, dusty, small and obscure village called Higot that has little going for it in an unnamed Latin speaking country. El Gordo, the mayor, perpetrates a hoax to try and get the village heading towards a wealthier future. El Gordo is the benefactor of a 23,000 book library left to him by an upper class Englishman who lived in the village for 7 years with his butler. This led to friendship between them, with El Gordo learning English from what little he understood of the strange utterances of both the Englishman and via the books left to him.
This leads to a very wittily told tale that mixes, for example, English poetry and colloquialisms with some Spanish words that had me laughing out loud on several occasions, such was the clever wit. This was not meant to be making fun of a Spanish speaker attempting to speak English by the author. Of an Australian background with a Spanish wife and living in Spain, Rod Usher has I suspect noticed that English is not that easy to understand for those of another lingo.
Thematically there is a lot covered from depression, the power of the written word, a changing world, greed and love.
There is one other theme that would in fact give the plot away, and I am certainly not going to do that other than recommend this very good book to those that wish to know what poor man’s wealth is.
I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
‘Good speed!'’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
And into the midnight we galloped abreast.
February 12, 2015
Mind you, I'm maddeningly frugal, but I bought 3 copies of this book so I could give some to friends, and I need to buy more. This book is hard to find online and in USA bookstores because the Australia Harper Collins has not released this gem in the United States. Bring it on, Harper! If Kent Haruf's literary masterpiece PLAIN SONG made the best seller lists and got made into a movie (not a very good film, sorry to say), Rod Usher's novel should top of the NYT list and be filmed as beautifully as THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR and THE WAKING OF NED DEVINE were.
The title of the novel is from the poem "Sleep" by Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586): COME, Sleep; O Sleep! the certain knot of peace...The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release. The story opens with a narcoleptic secretary, Marisol, whose sudden naps draw curiosity seekers to the window of an undertakers's office, and our narrator, El Gordo, imagines she is the reason business thrives in the neighboring town of Juar. Mayor El Gordo's own pueblo is so stagnant, bus service has just been cut. Seeking ways to put Higot back on the map, he dreams up the top-secret Marisol Committee, in which he and the town council plot a hoax. What if not just one person, but anyone or everyone in Higot was prone to the harmless little attacks of narcolepsy? The hoax, a sudden onset of unpremeditated public "sleeps," draws in busloads of gawking tourists and medical examiners, and Higot residents begin to wish for something better than tourism to revive their dying town.
As an embarrassed narcoleptic myself, I confess to being biased in favor of the theme of this novel, and enchanted by the author's thank you to Professor J.D. Parks for permission to quote from the book SLEEP AND ITS DISORDERS.
I would love to say more about Bartolomeo, the deaf-mute town black sheep, first to suspect the hoax. I can only promise that like everyone and everything in the novel, Bartolomeo is more than he seems to be. And no author seems to nail physical handicaps, mental illness or alienation the way Rod Usher can. His novel* FLORID STATES is a riveting and convincing trip into the mind of a schizophrenic, and a haunting, eye-opening look at the prejudices the mentally ill can suffer from small town folk. A MAN OF MARBLES is an equally sensitive, insightful, endearing portrayal of a man who may not be mentally ill or deficient, but everyone in town sure likes to think so.
Rod Usher's prose is stellar, but I'd love his characters even in the hands of a lesser author. They're so authentic, I'd swear all three of his novels were memoirs, not fiction. Obviously, Rod cannot be Stavro "Stan" Kristopolis and Ned Quinn and El Gordo, nor all the supporting characters, but he nails "voice" and pov to the point he could convince readers that he really is all these people in real life.
Our humble narrator, El Gordo, is earnest and eager to tell his story in good English--and to impress us with all his quotations from the thousands of books he's read, in English, thanks to the legacy of a part-time British resident. In a small community where any shared secret is sure to be headline news, El Gordo is respectful and discreet with everyone's confidence. The poor man is so circumspect, even his own emotions are held in check at times when they most need to be liberated. He is so sure of his perceptions, with results that range from comical to poignant to semi-tragic. The Sparrow (as one of the spinster sisters is called), a member of the Marisol committee, begins to see the familiar fat man with new eyes, and at the same time, his awareness of this tiny but strong woman gradually intensifies.
Witty, erudite, wise, compassionate, and trustworthy, El Gordo wins the trust of the most guarded and reserved townfolk. Higot is an obscure village in an unnamed Spanish speaking country under military rule. Captain Orgullo, the thorn in El Gordo's flesh, is commandant of the Guardia cuartel, a thorn to everyone in town. For all the obstacles the Guardia puts in the way of this little town's impudent success, El Gordo and his fellow councilmen contrive a way out. When it appears that El Gordo has been defeated, the most uncooperative of all Higot residents comes through, and all the bumbling but magnanimous intentions of El Gordo come to fruition in ways bigger than he ever dared to dream.
The novel is filled with irony on several levels and in various ways, but plot spoilers keep me from reveling in them here. The deaf-mute hunchback, the spinster sisters, the landscape; the weeds; the economy-stimulating tourists; local teens who now have money to buy noisy, annoying motorcycles; tourist trinkets, especially the little statues of the mayor that come to be known as El Gordo's children; the overbearing military personnel out to ruin the fun; an elderly widow, a Brit and his butler and a library full of books -- I can't begin to do justice summing up all the perfect details in this narrative. Not once does Usher strike a false note or mention something irrelevant. Everything is right about this book. No exploding helicopters, no life or death races against the clock, no "Will he learn to set aside his fears and embrace true love when it finds him at last" cliches, no 50 Shades of graphic sex--well, there is that 30-mph-hour sex scene and a galloping poem that blow 50 Shades out of the water, even if the most explicit words in El Gordo's recollection of Browning involve three horsemen (And into the midnight we galloped abreast). Graphic/explicit will never be as memorable or moving as the subtle and poetic prose of Rod Usher.
I hope Poor Man's Wealth will be made into a movie. The aforementioned Waking of Ned Devine and Milagro Beanfield War demonstrate that insightful, wise, humorous novels like Usher's can translated into cinema masterpieces.
POOR MAN'S WEALTH has a textured cover, high quality and intriguing, proof that this jewel of a novel is leagues above those PODs and small-press book covers that embarrass the writer as well as the publisher. You really can judge a book by the cover, when the superb quality of this book cover not only will not disappoint, but the story is even better than the cover. Rich and colorful and oh-so-human, I'd say this book cover, beautiful as it is (and photos do not capture the sumptiousness of this cover), didn't even begin to capture the splendor of the novel.
* Rod Ushers' first novel, A MAN OF MARBLES (Angus&Robertson, 1989, 1995) was highly praised by reviewers, as was his second novel, FLORID STATES (Simon & Schuster, 1990; Allison and Busby (UK), 1999), which was shortlisted for the MIND Book of the Year award. Rod’s poetry is frequently published in Australian litmags such as QUADRANT, ISLAND and MEANJIN. Posts he has held include Literary Editor of THE AGE, chief sub-editor of THE SUNDAY TIMES (London), and senior writer for TIME MAGAZINE′s European edition.
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/autho...
The title of the novel is from the poem "Sleep" by Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586): COME, Sleep; O Sleep! the certain knot of peace...The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release. The story opens with a narcoleptic secretary, Marisol, whose sudden naps draw curiosity seekers to the window of an undertakers's office, and our narrator, El Gordo, imagines she is the reason business thrives in the neighboring town of Juar. Mayor El Gordo's own pueblo is so stagnant, bus service has just been cut. Seeking ways to put Higot back on the map, he dreams up the top-secret Marisol Committee, in which he and the town council plot a hoax. What if not just one person, but anyone or everyone in Higot was prone to the harmless little attacks of narcolepsy? The hoax, a sudden onset of unpremeditated public "sleeps," draws in busloads of gawking tourists and medical examiners, and Higot residents begin to wish for something better than tourism to revive their dying town.
As an embarrassed narcoleptic myself, I confess to being biased in favor of the theme of this novel, and enchanted by the author's thank you to Professor J.D. Parks for permission to quote from the book SLEEP AND ITS DISORDERS.
I would love to say more about Bartolomeo, the deaf-mute town black sheep, first to suspect the hoax. I can only promise that like everyone and everything in the novel, Bartolomeo is more than he seems to be. And no author seems to nail physical handicaps, mental illness or alienation the way Rod Usher can. His novel* FLORID STATES is a riveting and convincing trip into the mind of a schizophrenic, and a haunting, eye-opening look at the prejudices the mentally ill can suffer from small town folk. A MAN OF MARBLES is an equally sensitive, insightful, endearing portrayal of a man who may not be mentally ill or deficient, but everyone in town sure likes to think so.
Rod Usher's prose is stellar, but I'd love his characters even in the hands of a lesser author. They're so authentic, I'd swear all three of his novels were memoirs, not fiction. Obviously, Rod cannot be Stavro "Stan" Kristopolis and Ned Quinn and El Gordo, nor all the supporting characters, but he nails "voice" and pov to the point he could convince readers that he really is all these people in real life.
Our humble narrator, El Gordo, is earnest and eager to tell his story in good English--and to impress us with all his quotations from the thousands of books he's read, in English, thanks to the legacy of a part-time British resident. In a small community where any shared secret is sure to be headline news, El Gordo is respectful and discreet with everyone's confidence. The poor man is so circumspect, even his own emotions are held in check at times when they most need to be liberated. He is so sure of his perceptions, with results that range from comical to poignant to semi-tragic. The Sparrow (as one of the spinster sisters is called), a member of the Marisol committee, begins to see the familiar fat man with new eyes, and at the same time, his awareness of this tiny but strong woman gradually intensifies.
Witty, erudite, wise, compassionate, and trustworthy, El Gordo wins the trust of the most guarded and reserved townfolk. Higot is an obscure village in an unnamed Spanish speaking country under military rule. Captain Orgullo, the thorn in El Gordo's flesh, is commandant of the Guardia cuartel, a thorn to everyone in town. For all the obstacles the Guardia puts in the way of this little town's impudent success, El Gordo and his fellow councilmen contrive a way out. When it appears that El Gordo has been defeated, the most uncooperative of all Higot residents comes through, and all the bumbling but magnanimous intentions of El Gordo come to fruition in ways bigger than he ever dared to dream.
The novel is filled with irony on several levels and in various ways, but plot spoilers keep me from reveling in them here. The deaf-mute hunchback, the spinster sisters, the landscape; the weeds; the economy-stimulating tourists; local teens who now have money to buy noisy, annoying motorcycles; tourist trinkets, especially the little statues of the mayor that come to be known as El Gordo's children; the overbearing military personnel out to ruin the fun; an elderly widow, a Brit and his butler and a library full of books -- I can't begin to do justice summing up all the perfect details in this narrative. Not once does Usher strike a false note or mention something irrelevant. Everything is right about this book. No exploding helicopters, no life or death races against the clock, no "Will he learn to set aside his fears and embrace true love when it finds him at last" cliches, no 50 Shades of graphic sex--well, there is that 30-mph-hour sex scene and a galloping poem that blow 50 Shades out of the water, even if the most explicit words in El Gordo's recollection of Browning involve three horsemen (And into the midnight we galloped abreast). Graphic/explicit will never be as memorable or moving as the subtle and poetic prose of Rod Usher.
I hope Poor Man's Wealth will be made into a movie. The aforementioned Waking of Ned Devine and Milagro Beanfield War demonstrate that insightful, wise, humorous novels like Usher's can translated into cinema masterpieces.
POOR MAN'S WEALTH has a textured cover, high quality and intriguing, proof that this jewel of a novel is leagues above those PODs and small-press book covers that embarrass the writer as well as the publisher. You really can judge a book by the cover, when the superb quality of this book cover not only will not disappoint, but the story is even better than the cover. Rich and colorful and oh-so-human, I'd say this book cover, beautiful as it is (and photos do not capture the sumptiousness of this cover), didn't even begin to capture the splendor of the novel.
* Rod Ushers' first novel, A MAN OF MARBLES (Angus&Robertson, 1989, 1995) was highly praised by reviewers, as was his second novel, FLORID STATES (Simon & Schuster, 1990; Allison and Busby (UK), 1999), which was shortlisted for the MIND Book of the Year award. Rod’s poetry is frequently published in Australian litmags such as QUADRANT, ISLAND and MEANJIN. Posts he has held include Literary Editor of THE AGE, chief sub-editor of THE SUNDAY TIMES (London), and senior writer for TIME MAGAZINE′s European edition.
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/autho...
December 19, 2020
Sometimes I come across a gem of a book like this and I think, how did this one pass me by when it was first released? Rod Usher is an Australian author who now lives in Spain, and I stumbled on Poor Man’s Wealth in the library. It turned out to be just the perfect book to read to offset the bleakness of The Story of a Brief Marriage and my only hesitation in recommending it is that you may have difficulty finding a copy.
I picked up the book because Rod Usher’s name was vaguely familiar to me: it’s probably because he was once the literary editor at The Age newspaper. But Usher is an elusive author, and the most I could find out about him was at this exuberant post at Carol Kean’s blog. (The link is on my blog) Never mind, this novel speaks for itself, and this book will resonate with anyone who cares about the fate of small towns around the world, places being depopulated because in our crazy globalised world, there is not enough work for young people in rural areas, causing an exodus to cities.
The characterisation is so vivid that you can’t help but become invested in their fate, you find yourself cheering the love story on from the sidelines, and the plot is so cunningly constructed it will leave you guessing right up to the end.
Although Usher subtly tackles the corruption of the junta and the anxiety it evokes even in an out-of-the-way place like Higot, and there are sly asides about English class consciousness, the tone is comic throughout. El Gordo’s lack of confidence in himself, his naïveté about so many things, and his stumbles with the intricacies of the English language render him a most lovable narrator.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/01/19/p...
I picked up the book because Rod Usher’s name was vaguely familiar to me: it’s probably because he was once the literary editor at The Age newspaper. But Usher is an elusive author, and the most I could find out about him was at this exuberant post at Carol Kean’s blog. (The link is on my blog) Never mind, this novel speaks for itself, and this book will resonate with anyone who cares about the fate of small towns around the world, places being depopulated because in our crazy globalised world, there is not enough work for young people in rural areas, causing an exodus to cities.
The characterisation is so vivid that you can’t help but become invested in their fate, you find yourself cheering the love story on from the sidelines, and the plot is so cunningly constructed it will leave you guessing right up to the end.
Although Usher subtly tackles the corruption of the junta and the anxiety it evokes even in an out-of-the-way place like Higot, and there are sly asides about English class consciousness, the tone is comic throughout. El Gordo’s lack of confidence in himself, his naïveté about so many things, and his stumbles with the intricacies of the English language render him a most lovable narrator.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/01/19/p...
January 30, 2015
‘Patience is not one of our national boasts, but I ask for some.’
El Gordo, ‘The Fat One’, is the mayor of Higot, a small village in an unnamed Spanish-speaking country under military rule, and the narrator of this book. Higot is a dusty backwater, barely sustained by its tobacco crops and it does not attract visitors. It doesn’t even have a bus stop, unlike its neighbour Juar. And perhaps Higot would have ceased to exist, except for the chance arrival of an Englishman with a large collection of books. El Gordo came to know Mr Giles de Courcy (‘Mr Giles’) quite well, and after Mr Giles died in the UK, he inherited the 23,678 books left in Higot. Reading through these books undoubtedly improves El Gordo’s English, it also gives him an idea, a way of diversifying the Higot economy by attracting tourists.
‘No, the fear of many of these citizens is that Higot has all its eggs in one paper bag.’
El Gordo realises that Higot cannot have its own Loch Ness Monster, but a sleep disorder that has citizens falling asleep in public? El Gordo has read about the sleep disorder cataplexy, and he’s seen Marisol Ruiz fall asleep over her typewriter in Juar. In fact, Marisol’s narcolepsy has been frequently observed. Now, that could be a real possibility: the residents of Higot faking syndrome that causes them to sleep in any situation at any time of day. El Gordo is far too smart to suggest this plan himself, and so the Marisol committee is formed to manage the scheme. A group of townspeople are recruited to sleep in public hoping the trend will take off. Buses full of tourists start to arrive, and buy the espadrilles, cheese wheels and novelty pencil holders, but can the hoax work in the longer term?
‘In the dictionary next to me I have noticed how close together are the words calm and calamity. And in life.’
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel: the layers of detail of the village of Higot and its inhabitants, El Gordo’s idiosyncratic use of English as he tells the story, the possibility that he may not be entirely reliable. But how can we tell? El Gordo’s is the only account we have of events. Everyone depicted in the story has character, many have nicknames. The hoax (the word ‘burla’ is used in the book, which translates as ‘joke’) has some unintended consequences as well, one being a romantic interest for El Gordo. What will be Higot’s fate? Will the road into Higot ever be repaired? Will El Gordo find happiness? You’ll find some answers in the novel, but others may need to be imagined.
This is Rod Usher’s third novel and while each is very different I’ve loved them all.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
El Gordo, ‘The Fat One’, is the mayor of Higot, a small village in an unnamed Spanish-speaking country under military rule, and the narrator of this book. Higot is a dusty backwater, barely sustained by its tobacco crops and it does not attract visitors. It doesn’t even have a bus stop, unlike its neighbour Juar. And perhaps Higot would have ceased to exist, except for the chance arrival of an Englishman with a large collection of books. El Gordo came to know Mr Giles de Courcy (‘Mr Giles’) quite well, and after Mr Giles died in the UK, he inherited the 23,678 books left in Higot. Reading through these books undoubtedly improves El Gordo’s English, it also gives him an idea, a way of diversifying the Higot economy by attracting tourists.
‘No, the fear of many of these citizens is that Higot has all its eggs in one paper bag.’
El Gordo realises that Higot cannot have its own Loch Ness Monster, but a sleep disorder that has citizens falling asleep in public? El Gordo has read about the sleep disorder cataplexy, and he’s seen Marisol Ruiz fall asleep over her typewriter in Juar. In fact, Marisol’s narcolepsy has been frequently observed. Now, that could be a real possibility: the residents of Higot faking syndrome that causes them to sleep in any situation at any time of day. El Gordo is far too smart to suggest this plan himself, and so the Marisol committee is formed to manage the scheme. A group of townspeople are recruited to sleep in public hoping the trend will take off. Buses full of tourists start to arrive, and buy the espadrilles, cheese wheels and novelty pencil holders, but can the hoax work in the longer term?
‘In the dictionary next to me I have noticed how close together are the words calm and calamity. And in life.’
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel: the layers of detail of the village of Higot and its inhabitants, El Gordo’s idiosyncratic use of English as he tells the story, the possibility that he may not be entirely reliable. But how can we tell? El Gordo’s is the only account we have of events. Everyone depicted in the story has character, many have nicknames. The hoax (the word ‘burla’ is used in the book, which translates as ‘joke’) has some unintended consequences as well, one being a romantic interest for El Gordo. What will be Higot’s fate? Will the road into Higot ever be repaired? Will El Gordo find happiness? You’ll find some answers in the novel, but others may need to be imagined.
This is Rod Usher’s third novel and while each is very different I’ve loved them all.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 3, 2012
At first, this book seems as quiet and unassuming as the inhabitants of the small, rural town of Higot. But don't be fooled, for what is demonstrated again and again is how deceptive appearances can be. Set in Spain at an indeterminate time in the past, the book is narrated by the town's mayor – an obese ex-teacher known as El Gordo, 'The Fat One' - who has decided to write a 'record' of his town and the events that unfolded there. As a narrative device, this is extremely clever. The simple sentence constructions are what partly gives this book its fable-like quality, yet if the book wasn't narrated by El Gordo, a non-native English speaker, the artifice of such a device would seem both contrived and unconvincing. Instead, the simple language used is seen as the product of El Gordo's limited language skills and allows scope for some humorous dissecting of the English language.
As I mentioned earlier, this book constantly plays with the deception of appearances. One of the things I found so interesting about this book was how Usher uses its structur to explore this concern as much as he does his characters. On the surface, this novel seems to be part fable and part love story with all the requisite tropes and devices we would normally associate with such genres. Yet what actually 'happens' in the novel is really not what concerns Usher. Instead, he uses these simple devices as a ruse through which he explores characterisation and the broader concerns of friendship, ageing, the socially marginalised, the impact of economic change etc.
For me this novel was all about the characters and the journeys each of them embark upon as they negotiate their own inner development and the changes occurring within their broader community. But what really differentiates it is the warmth and affection the author has for his characters. After some of the more cerebral books I have read lately, it was lovely to read a book so humanist in tone that is neither mawkish nor romantic but simply moving and emotionally involving.
As I mentioned earlier, this book constantly plays with the deception of appearances. One of the things I found so interesting about this book was how Usher uses its structur to explore this concern as much as he does his characters. On the surface, this novel seems to be part fable and part love story with all the requisite tropes and devices we would normally associate with such genres. Yet what actually 'happens' in the novel is really not what concerns Usher. Instead, he uses these simple devices as a ruse through which he explores characterisation and the broader concerns of friendship, ageing, the socially marginalised, the impact of economic change etc.
For me this novel was all about the characters and the journeys each of them embark upon as they negotiate their own inner development and the changes occurring within their broader community. But what really differentiates it is the warmth and affection the author has for his characters. After some of the more cerebral books I have read lately, it was lovely to read a book so humanist in tone that is neither mawkish nor romantic but simply moving and emotionally involving.
Read
April 20, 2013A mild ramble through a Spanish hoax. I started this book straight after a thriller. Bad move! Took me awhile to slow down and appreciate the stroll! Thoroughly recommend Poor Man's Wealth, but, be warned, sit down, relax and immerse yourself.
January 10, 2012
"Sadness is anger dressed in Sunday Clothes." Loved this quote.
October 24, 2023
I indulged myself today by reading this highly amusing book from cover to cover in just a few hours, and enjoyed both its style and content very much. Without introducing spoilers, I can say that the plot is simple, but entertainingly bizarre, and holds plenty of psychological interest as well as a good old warm-hearted dose of humanity. It takes place in a Spanish-speaking country ruled by a military junta (whose influence in the story doesn’t get too nasty).
A good deal of the humour derives from the protagonist’s attempts to cope with English idiom. El Gordo, the mayor, learns English from an aristocrat with estates in England and Scotland, and from his butler, so their terminology is already specialised and fairly outdated, apart from the eccentric expressions El Gordo can make no sense of. He works hard at translating poems from a library left to him by the Englishman. There’s one place where his laborious looking-up of words in his dictionary jarred with me, which is strange, as the author manages this beautifully elsewhere. I speak no Spanish, but even I could guess that the word “monolith”, which, having come via Latin monolithus, is almost identical in Spanish, monolito, and El Gordo shouldn’t need to look it up! I am perhaps being too exacting here, as the book really was funny throughout, and very cleverly handled.
I would say that the plot was largely guessable, but when an author’s style works so well I don’t mind that. I liked the way an aspect of the end swings round to the beginning – successfully controlled writing! And by the time I got to the final chapters I didn’t mind that the author gallops along extravagantly at one point like the very horses in a poem that inspires his character, as lines from it in fourtriplezed's review were what tempted me to read the story. (The book came to me from fourtriplezed, via Ian - see links to their reviews below). Here’s the verse again, from Browning’s How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix
“I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
‘Good speed!'’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
And into the midnight we galloped abreast.”
quoted from fourtriplezed's review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and here’s Ian’s review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In a comment about one of Rod Usher's other books, “Florid States”, The Australian says, “Usher makes you care about what happens to everybody”. I like that. As Ian remarks, there is a thread of the story where the author includes themes of disability or age, but this is sensitively handled and skilfully woven into the tale.
A jolly good read, and my thanks to fourtriplezed for sending it!
A good deal of the humour derives from the protagonist’s attempts to cope with English idiom. El Gordo, the mayor, learns English from an aristocrat with estates in England and Scotland, and from his butler, so their terminology is already specialised and fairly outdated, apart from the eccentric expressions El Gordo can make no sense of. He works hard at translating poems from a library left to him by the Englishman. There’s one place where his laborious looking-up of words in his dictionary jarred with me, which is strange, as the author manages this beautifully elsewhere. I speak no Spanish, but even I could guess that the word “monolith”, which, having come via Latin monolithus, is almost identical in Spanish, monolito, and El Gordo shouldn’t need to look it up! I am perhaps being too exacting here, as the book really was funny throughout, and very cleverly handled.
I would say that the plot was largely guessable, but when an author’s style works so well I don’t mind that. I liked the way an aspect of the end swings round to the beginning – successfully controlled writing! And by the time I got to the final chapters I didn’t mind that the author gallops along extravagantly at one point like the very horses in a poem that inspires his character, as lines from it in fourtriplezed's review were what tempted me to read the story. (The book came to me from fourtriplezed, via Ian - see links to their reviews below). Here’s the verse again, from Browning’s How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix
“I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
‘Good speed!'’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
And into the midnight we galloped abreast.”
quoted from fourtriplezed's review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and here’s Ian’s review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In a comment about one of Rod Usher's other books, “Florid States”, The Australian says, “Usher makes you care about what happens to everybody”. I like that. As Ian remarks, there is a thread of the story where the author includes themes of disability or age, but this is sensitively handled and skilfully woven into the tale.
A jolly good read, and my thanks to fourtriplezed for sending it!
February 9, 2018
What a delightful book - I felt as though I had really visited the village and the people. I loved the story of the sleeps, and think might try them myself.
November 24, 2014
I was sure I was going to love this book. It was put forward by a friend for her book group and I decided to read it. I don't really know why it did not grab me, I think the names and the halting language it was written in put me off. I just could never got into it. I felt every page and I never connected with the Characters, they stayed dull never quite getting the glow that happens when you become part of the story. I wish I could say I enjoyed it more than I did, as I have read some very good critiques on it. But that is just how it was for me.
August 10, 2016
Rod Usher writes beautifully in this disarming and very charming rural tale. His gentle prose brings characters to life, but also brings life to some subtle and scholarly literary concepts. I really enjoyed the character development- almost as much as the whacky idea upon which the story is based.
It was refreshing to reach various points of tension in the narrative and have them resolved by the end of the chapter, no tedious devices here to maintain reader suspense or interest, the tale just unravels in all its flawed, glorious humanity.
This is the work of a born story-teller.
It was refreshing to reach various points of tension in the narrative and have them resolved by the end of the chapter, no tedious devices here to maintain reader suspense or interest, the tale just unravels in all its flawed, glorious humanity.
This is the work of a born story-teller.
January 6, 2016
This charming tale is set in Spain, where the Australian born novelist lives. The village of Higot is in the backblocks – but the mayor thinks that inventing a tourist attraction may revive its fortunes. He decides that people falling asleep (at their jobs, in the street, in the cafes) will pull in the curious – and it does. But is this newfound notoriety really what people want? This is fun!
August 21, 2016
Absolutely delightful tale of El Gordo, the narrator and obese mayor of a tiny Spanish village, in some period during Franco's reign. We follow his learning to love books and the English language, and his eventual introduction to sexual and romantic love as he tries to save his town from economic extinction, all narrated perfectly in his somewhat eccentric English.
June 25, 2013
Neither my father nor I could finish this book, it was so bad, and I'm not one to give up on a book. Slow moving, uneventful, uninspiring. Totally devoid of interest. Can't believe the average rating for this book is so high!
February 15, 2013
A lovely, gentle read that has truly thought provoking moments.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews