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Barefoot Dogs: Stories
An unforgettable debut of linked stories that follow the members and retinue of a wealthy Mexican family forced into exile after the patriarch is kidnapped.
On an unremarkable night, José Victoriano Arteaga—the head of a thriving Mexico City family—vanishes on his way home from work. The Arteagas find few answers; the full truth of what happened to Arteaga is lost to the shadows of Mexico’s vast and desperate underworld, a place of rampant violence and kidnappings, and government corruption. But soon packages arrive to the family house, offering horrifying clues.
Fear, guilt, and the prospect of financial ruination fracture the once-proud family and scatter them across the globe, yet delicate threads still hold them together: in a swimming pool in Palo Alto, Arteaga’s young grandson struggles to make sense of the grief that has hobbled his family; in Mexico City, Arteaga’s mistress alternates between rage and heartbreak as she waits, in growing panic, for her lover’s return; in Austin, the Arteagas’ housekeeper tries to piece together a second life in an alienating and demeaning new land; in Madrid, Arteaga’s son takes his ailing dog through the hot and unforgiving streets, in search of his father’s ghost.
Multiple award-winning author Antonio Ruiz-Camacho offers an exquisite and intimate evocation of the loneliness, love, hope, and fear that can bind a family even as unspeakable violence tears it apart. “A straight-on jab to the soul” (Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), Barefoot Dogs is a heartfelt elegy to the stolen innocence of every family struck by tragedy. This is urgent and vital fiction.
On an unremarkable night, José Victoriano Arteaga—the head of a thriving Mexico City family—vanishes on his way home from work. The Arteagas find few answers; the full truth of what happened to Arteaga is lost to the shadows of Mexico’s vast and desperate underworld, a place of rampant violence and kidnappings, and government corruption. But soon packages arrive to the family house, offering horrifying clues.
Fear, guilt, and the prospect of financial ruination fracture the once-proud family and scatter them across the globe, yet delicate threads still hold them together: in a swimming pool in Palo Alto, Arteaga’s young grandson struggles to make sense of the grief that has hobbled his family; in Mexico City, Arteaga’s mistress alternates between rage and heartbreak as she waits, in growing panic, for her lover’s return; in Austin, the Arteagas’ housekeeper tries to piece together a second life in an alienating and demeaning new land; in Madrid, Arteaga’s son takes his ailing dog through the hot and unforgiving streets, in search of his father’s ghost.
Multiple award-winning author Antonio Ruiz-Camacho offers an exquisite and intimate evocation of the loneliness, love, hope, and fear that can bind a family even as unspeakable violence tears it apart. “A straight-on jab to the soul” (Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), Barefoot Dogs is a heartfelt elegy to the stolen innocence of every family struck by tragedy. This is urgent and vital fiction.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published March 10, 2015
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908 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
May 18, 2019
I'm very taken with this one. I appreciate a book that forces me to look at and evaluate things differently. This is a novel comprised entirely of short stories. An interesting concept and an excellent book.
The book is about the aftermath of a kidnapping of a wealthy patriarch in Mexico City, Jose Victoriano Arteaga. A kidnapping that occurs off page. Because of the gang violence in Mexico, this event has significant implications to the family. They are forced to flee the country. The book is a series of short stories of how this event impacted various members of his extended family.
Each story had a sufficiently different voice though they were all responding to the same event. There is a tremendous sense of bewilderment and sadness and confusion that surrounds this family of means. None of these family members are suffering from lack of money or the things that money can buy. These people are suffering the theft of their security, their sense of self, their peace of mind, their stability, their soul crushing guilt, and even the heritage has been taken from them when they are forced to leave their homeland. Ruiz-Camacho also provides the point of view of the collaterally damaged. The people whose livelihood depended upon the good fortunes of the Arteaga family. For me the stronger stories were about the adults, rather than the children. The children's lives were affected but one gets the impression that they will eventually adapt. The adults however… I thought the book was brilliant.
4.5 Stars rounded up
Read on kindle
The book is about the aftermath of a kidnapping of a wealthy patriarch in Mexico City, Jose Victoriano Arteaga. A kidnapping that occurs off page. Because of the gang violence in Mexico, this event has significant implications to the family. They are forced to flee the country. The book is a series of short stories of how this event impacted various members of his extended family.
Each story had a sufficiently different voice though they were all responding to the same event. There is a tremendous sense of bewilderment and sadness and confusion that surrounds this family of means. None of these family members are suffering from lack of money or the things that money can buy. These people are suffering the theft of their security, their sense of self, their peace of mind, their stability, their soul crushing guilt, and even the heritage has been taken from them when they are forced to leave their homeland. Ruiz-Camacho also provides the point of view of the collaterally damaged. The people whose livelihood depended upon the good fortunes of the Arteaga family. For me the stronger stories were about the adults, rather than the children. The children's lives were affected but one gets the impression that they will eventually adapt. The adults however… I thought the book was brilliant.
4.5 Stars rounded up
Read on kindle
July 20, 2018
Dieser Roman von Antonio Ruiz-Camacho besteht aus einer Reihe von Kurzgeschichten einer Familie, die am Ende zu einer großen Einheit und einem Gesamtbild – quasi einer Familienchronik – zusammengesetzt werden sollten. Normalerweise bin ich ja eine denkbar schlechte Rezensentin für Short-Stories, da ich viel zu sehr auf Figurenentwicklung und Plotgestaltung achte und für mich deshalb auf so wenigen Seiten meist einfach zu wenig Raum bleibt, um meine Anforderungen an eine gute Geschichte zu erfüllen. Dieses eher ungewöhnliche Stilmittel hat mich dann aber dennoch sehr interessiert und herausgefordert, zumal mir der ähnlich gestrickte Roman Ruhm von Daniel Kehlmann bereits vor Jahren sehr gut gefallen hat.
In wirklich sehr kurzen Geschichten wird ein Abriss von Figuren der Familie Artega sehr grob skizziert, die in der gesamten Welt verstreut leben. Wie bei den meisten lateinamerikanischen Familien üblich, führen Kinderreichtum, Namensgleichheiten von Vater und Sohn, uneheliche Kinder und viele Domestiken in den einzelnen Haushalten zu extrem viel Personal im Roman und ordentlicher Verwirrung. Dem sind der Autor oder der Verlag oder beide gemeinsam sehr genial mit einem übersichtlich strukturierten Familienstammbaum zu Beginn des Buches entgegengetreten, in dem nicht nur alle Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse, sondern auch das Hauspersonal namentlich angeführt sind und zudem auch die Nummer der Kurzgeschichte, in der alle Figuren auftreten.
Nach und nach erfährt die Leser*in, indem er/sie immer wieder das Organigramm studiert, was wirklich passiert ist: das Familienoberhaupt José Victoriano Artega wurde entführt und in kleinen Paketen in Einzelteilen der Familie per Boten zugestellt. Ob dieser Bedrohung verlassen alle Verwandten das Land und stieben gleich einem Stern von Mexiko aus in viele Richtungen und Kontinente. Die Kurzgeschichten geben Auskunft, wie die einzelnen Familienmitglieder mit der Tragödie umgehen. Dabei entstehen durchaus auch spannende kuriose Einzelschicksale und Geschichten wie die Story von einem Bären, der sich beim von der Polizei abgesperrten McDonalds an den Muffins gütlich tut, während sich die ehemaligen Hausangestellten, die nun illegal im Lande sind, vor Angst wegen der amtshandelnden Behörden fast in die Hose machen. Oder die Ehefrau Laura, die sich in der Diaspora aus Langeweile in einem Waschsalon einen jungen Mann aufreißt, mit dem sie den ultimativen sexuellen Kick durch eine Fahrt im Wäschetrockner erlebt.
Abseits der etwas kuriosen Einzelgeschichten erinnert die Rezeption des gesamten Plots – also die Chronik der gesamten Familie Artega seit der Entführung des Familienoberhauptes Don Victoriano – an ein kniffliges Puzzle, das auf Grund des eingangs erwähnten Organigramms doch recht leicht zusammenzusetzen ist. Mir hat es wirklich viel Spaß bereitet, dieses Bild Stück für Stück zu montieren. Aber ergibt das Puzzle ein schönes detailreiches Gesamtbild? Oder hat es zu viel unstrukturierten flachen blauen Himmel? Das ist hier die Frage, die sich jeder selbst für die eigene Rezeption des Romans beantworten muss.
Für mich waren die Einzelfiguren um eine Nuance zu farb- und substanzlos, vor allem auch, weil ich eigentlich viel zu wenige Geschichten über die Familienmitglieder gelesen habe, sehr viele Figuren fehlten völlig. Vielleicht hätten mehr beschriebene Protagonisten in einem längeren und dickeren Buch dieses Familiengeflecht für mich viel dichter, greifbarer und substantieller erscheinen lassen. Da war mir der Autor bei der Konzeption des großen Ganzen einfach ein bisschen zu minimalistisch beim Erzählen, zumal die Gschichtln ja auch sprachlich gut fabuliert sind, vor innovativen Ideen strotzen und wirklich viel Freude machen. In diesem Fall hätte ich einfach gerne noch mehr erfahren.
Fazit: Wer das Stilmittel zusammengesetzter Kurzgeschichten zu einem Roman und die Erfahrung des Navigierens durch den Familienstammbaum gleich einem Spiel schätzt, wird seine helle Freude an dem Werk haben. Wer auf tiefe Figurenentwicklung Wert legt und nicht vor dem Autor den Hut ziehen kann, dass er mit einer derart minimalistischen Konstruktion die Familie, das Geschehen und die Verlorenheit der Diaspora nach der Katastrophe ausreichend gut beschreiben konnte, wird ein Haar in der Suppe finden. Mir ging es in beiden Rezeptionsmodellen gleichermaßen so wie beschrieben. Einerseits habe ich diesen minimalistischen Aufbau und den Stilgriff des Romans sehr bewundert, andererseits bin ich traurig, da ich einfach auf sorgfältige Figurenentwicklung Wert lege. Insgesamt auf jeden Fall ein sehr gut konzipiertes, lesenswertes Buch!
In wirklich sehr kurzen Geschichten wird ein Abriss von Figuren der Familie Artega sehr grob skizziert, die in der gesamten Welt verstreut leben. Wie bei den meisten lateinamerikanischen Familien üblich, führen Kinderreichtum, Namensgleichheiten von Vater und Sohn, uneheliche Kinder und viele Domestiken in den einzelnen Haushalten zu extrem viel Personal im Roman und ordentlicher Verwirrung. Dem sind der Autor oder der Verlag oder beide gemeinsam sehr genial mit einem übersichtlich strukturierten Familienstammbaum zu Beginn des Buches entgegengetreten, in dem nicht nur alle Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse, sondern auch das Hauspersonal namentlich angeführt sind und zudem auch die Nummer der Kurzgeschichte, in der alle Figuren auftreten.
Nach und nach erfährt die Leser*in, indem er/sie immer wieder das Organigramm studiert, was wirklich passiert ist: das Familienoberhaupt José Victoriano Artega wurde entführt und in kleinen Paketen in Einzelteilen der Familie per Boten zugestellt. Ob dieser Bedrohung verlassen alle Verwandten das Land und stieben gleich einem Stern von Mexiko aus in viele Richtungen und Kontinente. Die Kurzgeschichten geben Auskunft, wie die einzelnen Familienmitglieder mit der Tragödie umgehen. Dabei entstehen durchaus auch spannende kuriose Einzelschicksale und Geschichten wie die Story von einem Bären, der sich beim von der Polizei abgesperrten McDonalds an den Muffins gütlich tut, während sich die ehemaligen Hausangestellten, die nun illegal im Lande sind, vor Angst wegen der amtshandelnden Behörden fast in die Hose machen. Oder die Ehefrau Laura, die sich in der Diaspora aus Langeweile in einem Waschsalon einen jungen Mann aufreißt, mit dem sie den ultimativen sexuellen Kick durch eine Fahrt im Wäschetrockner erlebt.
Abseits der etwas kuriosen Einzelgeschichten erinnert die Rezeption des gesamten Plots – also die Chronik der gesamten Familie Artega seit der Entführung des Familienoberhauptes Don Victoriano – an ein kniffliges Puzzle, das auf Grund des eingangs erwähnten Organigramms doch recht leicht zusammenzusetzen ist. Mir hat es wirklich viel Spaß bereitet, dieses Bild Stück für Stück zu montieren. Aber ergibt das Puzzle ein schönes detailreiches Gesamtbild? Oder hat es zu viel unstrukturierten flachen blauen Himmel? Das ist hier die Frage, die sich jeder selbst für die eigene Rezeption des Romans beantworten muss.
Für mich waren die Einzelfiguren um eine Nuance zu farb- und substanzlos, vor allem auch, weil ich eigentlich viel zu wenige Geschichten über die Familienmitglieder gelesen habe, sehr viele Figuren fehlten völlig. Vielleicht hätten mehr beschriebene Protagonisten in einem längeren und dickeren Buch dieses Familiengeflecht für mich viel dichter, greifbarer und substantieller erscheinen lassen. Da war mir der Autor bei der Konzeption des großen Ganzen einfach ein bisschen zu minimalistisch beim Erzählen, zumal die Gschichtln ja auch sprachlich gut fabuliert sind, vor innovativen Ideen strotzen und wirklich viel Freude machen. In diesem Fall hätte ich einfach gerne noch mehr erfahren.
Fazit: Wer das Stilmittel zusammengesetzter Kurzgeschichten zu einem Roman und die Erfahrung des Navigierens durch den Familienstammbaum gleich einem Spiel schätzt, wird seine helle Freude an dem Werk haben. Wer auf tiefe Figurenentwicklung Wert legt und nicht vor dem Autor den Hut ziehen kann, dass er mit einer derart minimalistischen Konstruktion die Familie, das Geschehen und die Verlorenheit der Diaspora nach der Katastrophe ausreichend gut beschreiben konnte, wird ein Haar in der Suppe finden. Mir ging es in beiden Rezeptionsmodellen gleichermaßen so wie beschrieben. Einerseits habe ich diesen minimalistischen Aufbau und den Stilgriff des Romans sehr bewundert, andererseits bin ich traurig, da ich einfach auf sorgfältige Figurenentwicklung Wert lege. Insgesamt auf jeden Fall ein sehr gut konzipiertes, lesenswertes Buch!
April 5, 2016
Review can also be found in my blog: http://wp.me/p7a9pe-mg
Barefoot Dogs is a book that demands we relish every word and revel in its ephemeral nature. It is a slender collection of only 140 pages of content that exudes sophistication and relevance. The narrative follows the Arteagas, a wealthy Mexican family who is forced to expatriate and abandon their ancestral home in Mexico after the patriarch, Jose Victoriano Arteaga, is kidnapped by a drug gang and all their lives face immediate peril.
Even though it could easily pass for one, Barefoot Dogs is not a novel, but a collection of short stories told from the perspectives of several members of the Arteaga tribe or people who had close ties to them, such as a maid who had been working for the family for decades or the mistress nobody knew existed. The link between these stories is sometimes subtle, but the haunting memory of the kidnapping and the feeling of exile that permeates all of them makes it clear that this is a grand family drama told in short form, in stunning vignettes.
The most striking feature of Barefoot Dogs is the elegant, perceptive, and evocative language. At times, I was struck by how beautiful and original the sentences were. Titles such as “Origami Prunes,” the titular “Barefoot Dogs,” and phrases like “Laura’s helplessness was wrapped in a thin layer of arrogance” are clever and memorable. At a book signing event in Austin, the author interestingly described writing in English as being similar to how we see when opening our eyes underwater! So this strange and clever language is all the more impressive when one considers that English is the author’s second language, one he learned later in life.
I am unabashedly a lover of ambitious and sprawling narratives, so when I read short story collections, my brain naturally seeks to find a connection of any sort between them. This book is admittedly not a sprawling narrative. Thankfully, it reads more like a very short novel than a collection of stories and I appreciated having a reference point from which to experience all the them — the kidnapping of the patriarch and the family in exile.
I will refrain from discussing individual stories in-depth due to the short length of the work. But I will say that Antonio Ruiz-Camacho wrote an impressively diverse set of stories that cover several themes and ideas and are told in varying narrative structures. From stream-of-consciousness narration to stories told entirely through dialogue — the writing keeps you on your toes and is executed expertly.
The family tree at the end proved to be tremendously influential in my enjoyment of the overarching story because I was quickly able to place a character in context of the larger narrative. For example, Laura from “Origami Prunes” is the eldest daughter of the kidnapped patriarch; Fernanda and Nicolasa from “It Will Be Awesome Before Spring” are Laura’s daughters, though I would have never known if I had skipped the family tree. These subtle connections are suddenly made significant and as a result I was able to appreciate the stories both individually and collectively.
Barefoot Dogs earns my most earnest praise and recommendation. It is timely, powerful fiction about a family torn apart by violence that is brilliantly rendered in smart and singular language. As far as short story collections go, this is one of best you’ll read in 2016.
Barefoot Dogs is a book that demands we relish every word and revel in its ephemeral nature. It is a slender collection of only 140 pages of content that exudes sophistication and relevance. The narrative follows the Arteagas, a wealthy Mexican family who is forced to expatriate and abandon their ancestral home in Mexico after the patriarch, Jose Victoriano Arteaga, is kidnapped by a drug gang and all their lives face immediate peril.
Even though it could easily pass for one, Barefoot Dogs is not a novel, but a collection of short stories told from the perspectives of several members of the Arteaga tribe or people who had close ties to them, such as a maid who had been working for the family for decades or the mistress nobody knew existed. The link between these stories is sometimes subtle, but the haunting memory of the kidnapping and the feeling of exile that permeates all of them makes it clear that this is a grand family drama told in short form, in stunning vignettes.
The most striking feature of Barefoot Dogs is the elegant, perceptive, and evocative language. At times, I was struck by how beautiful and original the sentences were. Titles such as “Origami Prunes,” the titular “Barefoot Dogs,” and phrases like “Laura’s helplessness was wrapped in a thin layer of arrogance” are clever and memorable. At a book signing event in Austin, the author interestingly described writing in English as being similar to how we see when opening our eyes underwater! So this strange and clever language is all the more impressive when one considers that English is the author’s second language, one he learned later in life.
I am unabashedly a lover of ambitious and sprawling narratives, so when I read short story collections, my brain naturally seeks to find a connection of any sort between them. This book is admittedly not a sprawling narrative. Thankfully, it reads more like a very short novel than a collection of stories and I appreciated having a reference point from which to experience all the them — the kidnapping of the patriarch and the family in exile.
I will refrain from discussing individual stories in-depth due to the short length of the work. But I will say that Antonio Ruiz-Camacho wrote an impressively diverse set of stories that cover several themes and ideas and are told in varying narrative structures. From stream-of-consciousness narration to stories told entirely through dialogue — the writing keeps you on your toes and is executed expertly.
The family tree at the end proved to be tremendously influential in my enjoyment of the overarching story because I was quickly able to place a character in context of the larger narrative. For example, Laura from “Origami Prunes” is the eldest daughter of the kidnapped patriarch; Fernanda and Nicolasa from “It Will Be Awesome Before Spring” are Laura’s daughters, though I would have never known if I had skipped the family tree. These subtle connections are suddenly made significant and as a result I was able to appreciate the stories both individually and collectively.
Barefoot Dogs earns my most earnest praise and recommendation. It is timely, powerful fiction about a family torn apart by violence that is brilliantly rendered in smart and singular language. As far as short story collections go, this is one of best you’ll read in 2016.
July 18, 2017
3.5 - Barefoot Dogs is a slender volume of connected short stories glimpsing at the lives of a wealthy Mexican family after the patriarch has been kidnapped. Each story is about a son, daughter, mistress, maid or other relative displaced in Palo Alto, New York, Austin and Spain. It is an unusual book - subtle and thought provoking. I was left wishing for more.
April 26, 2015
The patriarch of a wealthy Mexico City family disappears. Kidnappings are common, and the grown children, most with families of their own, do not respond to ransom requests. Pieces of their father begin to arrive in the mail.
The family scatters, leaving their home and privileged lives out of guilt, panic, and genuine concern over possible continued violence. Ruiz-Camacho’s linked short stories takes up these lives in cities spread across the United States. One son, with his wife and child and dog, winds up in Paris. He’s paying a lot of money for a tiny apartment in an exclusive neighborhood. The washer/dryer in the kitchen both mystifies and depresses him, but you have to realize that this is a man who has never before made his own coffee.
Some family members are able to bring at least one servant with them to their new homes. In Austin, a young woman, once a maid, has been let go and is making her own way by working in a McDonald’s. Children as especially baffled by the changes, although a pair of teenagers, left largely on their own in a nice Manhattan apartment, are creating a world of their own.
That bit about making one’s own coffee is the type of detail that could make these people easy to mock, but Ruiz-Camacho does not play situations for laughs. America is a nation of immigrants, right? We love their stories. These are immigrants of a particular class, but their assimilation into contemporary American society has many of the hallmarks of other immigrant narratives, only minus the poverty. Still these are people who know there is no going back. The one son who has stayed on in the family’s Mexico City mansion lives alone with the ghost of this nanny.
The family scatters, leaving their home and privileged lives out of guilt, panic, and genuine concern over possible continued violence. Ruiz-Camacho’s linked short stories takes up these lives in cities spread across the United States. One son, with his wife and child and dog, winds up in Paris. He’s paying a lot of money for a tiny apartment in an exclusive neighborhood. The washer/dryer in the kitchen both mystifies and depresses him, but you have to realize that this is a man who has never before made his own coffee.
Some family members are able to bring at least one servant with them to their new homes. In Austin, a young woman, once a maid, has been let go and is making her own way by working in a McDonald’s. Children as especially baffled by the changes, although a pair of teenagers, left largely on their own in a nice Manhattan apartment, are creating a world of their own.
That bit about making one’s own coffee is the type of detail that could make these people easy to mock, but Ruiz-Camacho does not play situations for laughs. America is a nation of immigrants, right? We love their stories. These are immigrants of a particular class, but their assimilation into contemporary American society has many of the hallmarks of other immigrant narratives, only minus the poverty. Still these are people who know there is no going back. The one son who has stayed on in the family’s Mexico City mansion lives alone with the ghost of this nanny.
October 10, 2021
2.25 / 5 stars
content notes:
◦ moderate: death (child, parent), infidelity, kidnapping, rape, violence
◦ minor: drug abuse, fire/fire injury
April 5, 2015
If you keep your eyes trained straight ahead, you might be able to convince yourself that the horrible thing going on in the periphery of your vision isn't really happening. That's what reading these short stories is like. The horrible thing (and this isn't a spoiler) is the kidnapping and torture of the patriarch of an affluent family in Mexico City. The stories are all inter-related; each one focusing on a different member of the family (including their domestics), who are all forced to either flee Mexico City or drastically alter their lifestyles.
The book is short, and you'll be tempted to do what I did and race through it. DON'T! Put the book down between each story and savor it. I wish I had. The writing is top notch. It's hard to believe that something so tightly and nearly magically constructed is Ruiz-Camacho's first book. I'm looking forward to many more.
So...pick this up and experience the many voices of fear and grief. Then put it down, and breathe. Then pick it up again.
The book is short, and you'll be tempted to do what I did and race through it. DON'T! Put the book down between each story and savor it. I wish I had. The writing is top notch. It's hard to believe that something so tightly and nearly magically constructed is Ruiz-Camacho's first book. I'm looking forward to many more.
So...pick this up and experience the many voices of fear and grief. Then put it down, and breathe. Then pick it up again.
November 18, 2018
This book has a quite interesting structure with several short stories being connected by one family hit by tragedy. I liked the varying writing styles of the different chapters that often reflected the age or education of the given person. This technique made the stories themselves more nuanced and held my interest more. With regard to the plot(s), some of the stories were quite moving with their focus on loss and how to come to terms with change. However, most of them lacked the "special sauce" that usually draws me into short stories and leaves me breathless or emotional at the end.
Overall, the concept of the book is interesting, but for the most part it lacked the emotional impact that I expected.
Overall, the concept of the book is interesting, but for the most part it lacked the emotional impact that I expected.
April 20, 2017
The patriarch of a wealthy family in Mexico is kidnapped and family members scatter to Europe and the United States in fear. One son is left behind in the family estate to monitor the situation. These stories are linked but not in a linear fashion and each family members situation is discussed in the stories.
It's quite rare to read stories of Mexicans or Mexican life where the stories are of well-to-do characters and not just the poor. I enjoyed reading these stories and rushed through them trying to find out exactly what has happened to the father. Ruiz-Camacho is a fine writer and I can't wait to read more by him.
3.25 stars
It's quite rare to read stories of Mexicans or Mexican life where the stories are of well-to-do characters and not just the poor. I enjoyed reading these stories and rushed through them trying to find out exactly what has happened to the father. Ruiz-Camacho is a fine writer and I can't wait to read more by him.
3.25 stars
October 31, 2015
Me encantó, sencillo, sutil, real pero fantástico.
May 2, 2021
Absolutely loved this book. Well written, interesting story told through linked short stories.
April 5, 2015
ANTONIO RUIZ-CAMACHO
Barefoot Dogs: Stories
FICTION
New York: Scribner
Hardcover, 978-147684960 (also available as ebook)
156 pages, $23.00
March 10, 2015
Reviewed for Lone Star Literary Life by Michelle Newby, 4.5.15
Most of the Mexicans we read about in the United States are immigrants, maids, janitors, day laborers, and the like. In this country we don’t often read about Mexicans in Mexico unless they’re drug lords – cartel kingpins and their enforcers – or the poor, desperate classes victimized by them. We almost never get fiction in English telling the other side of that conflict. So Antonio Ruiz-Camacho’s Barefoot Dogs: Stories is a rare thing on this side of the Rio Bravo.
Ruiz-Camacho tells the stories of the wealthy, privileged, cultured, and ambitious (let’s go ahead and call them plutocrats) Arteaga family of Mexico City. He has an uncanny ear for the prattle of pampered children trying adulthood on for size and for conveying their sheltered lives:
“It is the year we meet people who don’t live in the same neighborhoods as us….It is the year we get to know real artists who rent studios in dangerous districts on the other side of the city, and it is the year we socialize with historians and anthropologists and performance artists and book editors who live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have cars; these are fascinating, glamorous people who ride the subway and take taxicabs.”
It turns out to also be the year of kidnappings when the patriarch fails to come home from the office one day – the year the blinders come off. This collection of linked short fiction follows the diminished fortunes of the children and grandchildren who are forced to flee the country for their own safety.
“Okie” follows grandson Bernardo, a third-grader acting out as he tries to adjust to a new life with his parents in Palo Alto. In “Origami Prunes,” set in Austin, daughter Laura indulges a certain nihilism as she searches for purpose. Grandchildren Homero and Ximena are stranded in New York before their parents join them, high on whatever they can find, trying to escape homesickness and limbo.
Perhaps most movingly, “Deers” is told from the point of view of Laura’s maid who had to leave her own children in Mexico when the Arteagas fled – not all privilege has been left behind. The bear in the McDonald’s is an apt metaphor for the Arteagas diaspora; they’re all in unfamiliar places, trying to figure out how they got there and how to get home. In “Better Latitude,” the grandfather’s mistress (“He loved us the same way people like him love pedigree dogs, expensive cars, time-shares in Acapulco”) tries to shield their son from Mexico’s version of strange fruit while deciding whether they should leave, too, because her child carries his father’s name. Martin and Catalina try to adjust to the alien landscape of Madrid with their infant son. It doesn’t help that visions of Grandpa continue to haunt them as they scatter.
In the end, Grandpa is not the only one lost – they all are. Barefoot Dogs is an exploration of the reverberations of violence in the lives of the survivors.
Barefoot Dogs: Stories
FICTION
New York: Scribner
Hardcover, 978-147684960 (also available as ebook)
156 pages, $23.00
March 10, 2015
Reviewed for Lone Star Literary Life by Michelle Newby, 4.5.15
Most of the Mexicans we read about in the United States are immigrants, maids, janitors, day laborers, and the like. In this country we don’t often read about Mexicans in Mexico unless they’re drug lords – cartel kingpins and their enforcers – or the poor, desperate classes victimized by them. We almost never get fiction in English telling the other side of that conflict. So Antonio Ruiz-Camacho’s Barefoot Dogs: Stories is a rare thing on this side of the Rio Bravo.
Ruiz-Camacho tells the stories of the wealthy, privileged, cultured, and ambitious (let’s go ahead and call them plutocrats) Arteaga family of Mexico City. He has an uncanny ear for the prattle of pampered children trying adulthood on for size and for conveying their sheltered lives:
“It is the year we meet people who don’t live in the same neighborhoods as us….It is the year we get to know real artists who rent studios in dangerous districts on the other side of the city, and it is the year we socialize with historians and anthropologists and performance artists and book editors who live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have cars; these are fascinating, glamorous people who ride the subway and take taxicabs.”
It turns out to also be the year of kidnappings when the patriarch fails to come home from the office one day – the year the blinders come off. This collection of linked short fiction follows the diminished fortunes of the children and grandchildren who are forced to flee the country for their own safety.
“Okie” follows grandson Bernardo, a third-grader acting out as he tries to adjust to a new life with his parents in Palo Alto. In “Origami Prunes,” set in Austin, daughter Laura indulges a certain nihilism as she searches for purpose. Grandchildren Homero and Ximena are stranded in New York before their parents join them, high on whatever they can find, trying to escape homesickness and limbo.
Perhaps most movingly, “Deers” is told from the point of view of Laura’s maid who had to leave her own children in Mexico when the Arteagas fled – not all privilege has been left behind. The bear in the McDonald’s is an apt metaphor for the Arteagas diaspora; they’re all in unfamiliar places, trying to figure out how they got there and how to get home. In “Better Latitude,” the grandfather’s mistress (“He loved us the same way people like him love pedigree dogs, expensive cars, time-shares in Acapulco”) tries to shield their son from Mexico’s version of strange fruit while deciding whether they should leave, too, because her child carries his father’s name. Martin and Catalina try to adjust to the alien landscape of Madrid with their infant son. It doesn’t help that visions of Grandpa continue to haunt them as they scatter.
In the end, Grandpa is not the only one lost – they all are. Barefoot Dogs is an exploration of the reverberations of violence in the lives of the survivors.
August 23, 2016
A good debut by an author with potential. In these interconnected first person stories the extended family of a wealthy patriarch react to his kidnapping and the repercussions. Most run to America, dispersed from their family and comfortable lifestyle. While generally downbeat, the book has a lot of heart and hope.
One criticism I have is that it's hard to tell the relationships of all the people in the book at first. It's ok to flip to the back because in my edition there is a very helpful family tree. Not being someone who looks at the end of a book I missed it and wish it was up front.
One criticism I have is that it's hard to tell the relationships of all the people in the book at first. It's ok to flip to the back because in my edition there is a very helpful family tree. Not being someone who looks at the end of a book I missed it and wish it was up front.
August 21, 2015
Gorgeous, heartbreaking stories.
November 5, 2015
An excellent novel, taking a look at the lives of the more wealthy Mexican families affected by the wars with the cartels, and how it impacts on the futures of the entire family.
December 8, 2015
MADRE MÍA, QUÉ LIBRO!!!
HAY QUE LEERLO YA
URGENTE!
HAY QUE LEERLO YA
URGENTE!
August 10, 2024
Like... estuvo bien, pero no tan trascendente como creí.
Esta es la historia de una familia mexicana que huyen al exilio en diferentes partes del mundo porque después de la desaparición del patriarca, sus vidas están en peligro. Mientras cada uno enfrenta sus propias dificultades al mudarse a un nuevo lugar, tienen que enfrentar a su manera el duelo de perder a alguien importante para ellos. De igual forma, sus empleadas domésticas tienen cierta participación porque incluso cambia la vida de ellas con estos sucesos. Todos y cada uno de ellos tienen que enfrentarse a un mundo sin el pilar de su familia.
Primero, lo que sí me gustó fueron las voces narrativas. El libro está dividido como en pequeñas historias, cada una centrada en algún miembro de la familia, y todas esas historias tienen su propia voz. Por ejemplo, una empleada doméstica habla de corrido y de manera muy oral; con unos hermanos son solo diálogos, etc. Se me hizo una estrategia narrativa interesante. Lo segundo es que desde el inicio, el autor nos da un poco de contexto sobre México entre los años 2000-2010. Se me hizo una buena idea para impactar al lector y para que comprenda lo complicado de la situación. De ahí en fuera, estuvo... entretenido.
Todos los personajes son diferentes, y creo que tienen lo justo para que comprendamos quienes son y cómo son, pero igual por la extensión no pude simpatizar con ninguno. Entiendo que los secuestros en México en esa época eran cosa de verdadero terror. Como mexicana que le tocó vivir eso, entiendo la seriedad y el miedo que todos tuvieron porque fue la época en la que no importaba de que estrato social eras, te podía tocar. Sí apruebo que nos mostraran cómo ésta familia rica e influyente tuvo un choque de realidad cuando uno de ellos fue secuestrado y desaparecido, pero no fue suficiente para simpatizar.
Todos los personajes tienen que enfrentar el duelo, y claro, es diferente para cada quien, pero no pude evitar cierta resistencia porque al final de cuentas ¡eran una familia rica! El resto de los familiares pudieron darse el lujo de huir a lugares como Texas, Estados Unidos, incluso España. Y aunque no eran lugares ideales, el solo hecho de poder huir ya es suficiente. En todo caso, me interesa más la historia de las empleadas domésticas, que se vieron afectadas por estos sucesos. ¡Se las llevaron y luego botaron! Y claro, lamento que la familia Arteaga tuviera que pasar por ello, es un evento horrible, pero que botaran a las criadas que los cuidaron toda la vida... bueno, no les suma puntos.
Una cosa peculiar es el idioma. Aunque el autor es mexicano y escribe en español, decidió publicar este libro primero en inglés. Supongo que además de ser una estrategia de marketing, le aportaba más beneficios o más alcance, pero me hubiera gustado leerlo en español. No estuvo mal el inglés, pero no sentí que aprovechó el idioma como debió, es decir, todo estaba bien escrito, solo el tono diferenciaba las voces narrativas, ¿dónde quedaron las abreviaciones para una mexicana sin educación que tuvo que aprender inglés? Por decir un ejemplo.
En fin, fue entretenido, y quizás faltó más de mi atención para apreciarlo como se debe, pero por el momento, no es de mis lecturas favoritas. A pesar de ser corto, sí me costó terminarlo, aunque no lo parezca.
Esta es la historia de una familia mexicana que huyen al exilio en diferentes partes del mundo porque después de la desaparición del patriarca, sus vidas están en peligro. Mientras cada uno enfrenta sus propias dificultades al mudarse a un nuevo lugar, tienen que enfrentar a su manera el duelo de perder a alguien importante para ellos. De igual forma, sus empleadas domésticas tienen cierta participación porque incluso cambia la vida de ellas con estos sucesos. Todos y cada uno de ellos tienen que enfrentarse a un mundo sin el pilar de su familia.
Primero, lo que sí me gustó fueron las voces narrativas. El libro está dividido como en pequeñas historias, cada una centrada en algún miembro de la familia, y todas esas historias tienen su propia voz. Por ejemplo, una empleada doméstica habla de corrido y de manera muy oral; con unos hermanos son solo diálogos, etc. Se me hizo una estrategia narrativa interesante. Lo segundo es que desde el inicio, el autor nos da un poco de contexto sobre México entre los años 2000-2010. Se me hizo una buena idea para impactar al lector y para que comprenda lo complicado de la situación. De ahí en fuera, estuvo... entretenido.
Todos los personajes son diferentes, y creo que tienen lo justo para que comprendamos quienes son y cómo son, pero igual por la extensión no pude simpatizar con ninguno. Entiendo que los secuestros en México en esa época eran cosa de verdadero terror. Como mexicana que le tocó vivir eso, entiendo la seriedad y el miedo que todos tuvieron porque fue la época en la que no importaba de que estrato social eras, te podía tocar. Sí apruebo que nos mostraran cómo ésta familia rica e influyente tuvo un choque de realidad cuando uno de ellos fue secuestrado y desaparecido, pero no fue suficiente para simpatizar.
Todos los personajes tienen que enfrentar el duelo, y claro, es diferente para cada quien, pero no pude evitar cierta resistencia porque al final de cuentas ¡eran una familia rica! El resto de los familiares pudieron darse el lujo de huir a lugares como Texas, Estados Unidos, incluso España. Y aunque no eran lugares ideales, el solo hecho de poder huir ya es suficiente. En todo caso, me interesa más la historia de las empleadas domésticas, que se vieron afectadas por estos sucesos. ¡Se las llevaron y luego botaron! Y claro, lamento que la familia Arteaga tuviera que pasar por ello, es un evento horrible, pero que botaran a las criadas que los cuidaron toda la vida... bueno, no les suma puntos.
Una cosa peculiar es el idioma. Aunque el autor es mexicano y escribe en español, decidió publicar este libro primero en inglés. Supongo que además de ser una estrategia de marketing, le aportaba más beneficios o más alcance, pero me hubiera gustado leerlo en español. No estuvo mal el inglés, pero no sentí que aprovechó el idioma como debió, es decir, todo estaba bien escrito, solo el tono diferenciaba las voces narrativas, ¿dónde quedaron las abreviaciones para una mexicana sin educación que tuvo que aprender inglés? Por decir un ejemplo.
En fin, fue entretenido, y quizás faltó más de mi atención para apreciarlo como se debe, pero por el momento, no es de mis lecturas favoritas. A pesar de ser corto, sí me costó terminarlo, aunque no lo parezca.
September 17, 2021
I love the idea of this, but the execution not so much. Writing this as a collection of stories from the different people in the family, and therefore getting a number of very different perspectives, seemed like the perfect choice for what this story was talking about. Unfortunately most of the themes I appreciated and that I was here for were overshadowed by annoying characters, relationships I didn’t care about, and extremely uncomfortable sexual content. In the end I didn’t get a lot of good commentary out of this book, and the way the themes of family were handled in here didn’t end up connecting with me either.
“It Will Be Awesome Before Spring” did literally nothing for me except make me resent the main character. I’ve read that half a day ago and already barely remember anything that happened in that story.
“Okie” was alright, but very forgettable, until it got disgusting at the end. I was also a little confused about some of the characters and their actions.
“Origami Prunes” was one of the most disgusting and ridiculous things I’ve ever read, and I never want to think about it again. Seriously, the way this book describes anything sexual, or even just peoples’ bodies, regardless of whether it’s in a sexual way, is the worst.
“I Clench My Hands Into Fists and They Look Like Someone Else’s” was probably still the best out of all of these stories, and that although I really didn’t like it. It’s entirely dialogue between two siblings, and I like both stories with a little bit of a different format and stories about siblings, but I was also rolling my eyes at every other thing these two were saying.
“Deers” was another super forgettable story, and “Better Latitude” was all about exactly the kind of relationship I truly don’t care about reading and try to avoid whenever possible. Which it wasn’t in this case, since nothing in the synopsis had suggested this being a part of the book.
“Her Odor First” felt rather senseless and was another story that left me with quite a lot of disgust after reading it, and so did “Barefoot Dogs”.
“It Will Be Awesome Before Spring” did literally nothing for me except make me resent the main character. I’ve read that half a day ago and already barely remember anything that happened in that story.
“Okie” was alright, but very forgettable, until it got disgusting at the end. I was also a little confused about some of the characters and their actions.
“Origami Prunes” was one of the most disgusting and ridiculous things I’ve ever read, and I never want to think about it again. Seriously, the way this book describes anything sexual, or even just peoples’ bodies, regardless of whether it’s in a sexual way, is the worst.
“I Clench My Hands Into Fists and They Look Like Someone Else’s” was probably still the best out of all of these stories, and that although I really didn’t like it. It’s entirely dialogue between two siblings, and I like both stories with a little bit of a different format and stories about siblings, but I was also rolling my eyes at every other thing these two were saying.
“Deers” was another super forgettable story, and “Better Latitude” was all about exactly the kind of relationship I truly don’t care about reading and try to avoid whenever possible. Which it wasn’t in this case, since nothing in the synopsis had suggested this being a part of the book.
“Her Odor First” felt rather senseless and was another story that left me with quite a lot of disgust after reading it, and so did “Barefoot Dogs”.
April 23, 2019
His face grew serious and sagged, he looked like the man he would become one day, the man who would forget how to splash into pits of colorful infiniteness and be merry, the man who one day would hurt and be hurt by the world of men and everything that came with it.
I am in awe of the rawness of the writing. The rawness of the story. I am absolutely in love with the flow of the story, as well as devastated with the venturing of unknown emotions the characters went through. I recently had a chance to meet Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, and I am so grateful to have gotten my book signed after listening to him discuss the themes of his novel. I definitely recommend Barefoot Dogs, for the voices are ones I had yet to listen to before picking it up.
December 30, 2021
Me parece sumamente interesante la manera en la que Ruiz-Camacho hurga en las intimidades de cada uno de los personajes integrantes de la familia estelar. Me parece interesante no solo por como de formas diferentes en cada capítulo va hilvanando un retrato poderoso del trauma que deja la violencia, ya desde hace harto conocida, en el país. Este es nuestro México, se dice uno mientras va leyendo, aquel país que sangra. Rui8z.Camacho experimenta con cada capítulo una nueva forma de narrar, desde diferentes perspectivas y distintos recursos literarios que hacen de cada historia especial en este tapete, este collage de una familia que lo ha perdido todo.
April 6, 2018
Fue una gran lectura, abarca un tema muy fuerte, pero siento que el libro más que hablar de lo que fue el secuestro en sí, es mostrar cómo fue que cambió la vida de sus familiares a raíz de ésto y cuáles son los sentimientos y problemas que ahora cargan gracias a la falta de su padre. Y lo mejor: la narración, la forma de escribir del autor le da un plus que enriquece el libro. No le doy 5 estrellas porque algunas partes me parecieron medio lentas, pero nada de que preocuparse. Y el final... muy conmovedor.
June 5, 2018
Really, really strong collection of linked short stories set in the US and Spain, as a rich extended Mexican diaspora family tries to deal with the fact that they've had to escape their home country due to kidnapping and murder. The stories are grim but often funny, and the characters are uprooted rich people who are now in places where their wealth and privilege doesn't buy them much.
This has been out since 2015 and I was disappointed that Ruiz-Camacho doesn't have a new novel or collection out (yet). I'll absolutely go "full hardcover purchase" when he does. This is a great read.
This has been out since 2015 and I was disappointed that Ruiz-Camacho doesn't have a new novel or collection out (yet). I'll absolutely go "full hardcover purchase" when he does. This is a great read.
June 10, 2018
Buena colección de cuentos, juntada solo por el hecho de que cada cuento tiene que ver con varios miembros de una una familia grande. Cada cuento describe una historia de los miembros muy cercanos, pero no se mencionan o involucran mucho otros miembros de la familia grande, así que cada cuento se escribe en sus propios terminos. El libro es corto, pero vale la pena leerlo. Me gusta que el árbol genealógico está al fin del libro.
August 10, 2019
3 1/2 actually. These stories all surround the disappearance of the head of a Mexican family. The family tree at the back of the book was a great reference point.
Most of the stories were filled woth such raw emotion and lyricism, that they were a joy to read. There were one or two that lost me; that I couldn't connect to.
I read this quickly, but it is probably better to savor the stories.
Most of the stories were filled woth such raw emotion and lyricism, that they were a joy to read. There were one or two that lost me; that I couldn't connect to.
I read this quickly, but it is probably better to savor the stories.
December 7, 2019
La desaparición del padre de una familia de dinero es vista a través de ocho relatos de sus hijos y nietos, que se ven obligados a mudarse por su propia seguridad. Un libro que no se parece a nada que haya leído antes y eso es una gran virtud, por momentos divertido, en ocasiones triste, con un cierre emotivo.
February 27, 2020
I don't usually like short stories, but these stories make up a novel, all telling a different part of how an event—a kidnapping of a rich family's grandfather—affects children, grandchildren and the family's servants, who have come to live a small diaspora. This is the author's first novel / collection, and it is very well done.
July 27, 2022
Cada relato me ha gustado, el estilo del narrador para transmitir cada situación es bueno, la historia se siente real pero a medias, quizá por el tipo de vida que lleva la familia es que no puedo terminar de identificarme con ellos o de empatizar con la situación. Fuera de eso me parece un libro bueno de lectura fácil y entretenido.
March 3, 2025
I really enjoyed everything about this book. The prose and imagery is artistic without being showy. The structure is simple but clever - very different points of view in each story that after a while assemble to a whole. Has a kind of Cloud Atlas feel, structurally.
A very enjoyable and well-crafted piece of art.
A very enjoyable and well-crafted piece of art.
May 21, 2017
A slim and beautiful collection of stories following a wealthy Mexican family after the kidnapping of their patriarch. The stories are from several different perspectives including grandchildren and maids, but my favorite one was the titular story at the end.
November 11, 2018
I liked the writing style, but the stories were a bit too disjointed for me. It was frustrating to find a family tree at the end of the book which would have led to my enjoyment and comprehension more. But it's a short, good read nonetheless.
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