Hay Locos

by Hope Bolyston, Marcelo Montecino (Photographer)

In 1969, two pretty girls graduated from college and set out on an improbable they drove from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Santiago, Chile to get to a New Year’s Party. They travelled along 12,000 miles of roads and were three months late. Along the way, they met dictators and revolutionaries, generals and peasants. What began as pure adventure gradually became a voyage of love, danger and self-exploration that challenged everything Hope Boylston thought she knew about the world.Boylston experienced one of the grand social experiments of the last century. Allende was the only freely elected socialist government South America has ever had. Although Boylston’s stories are mostly very personal, the events that surrounded them were momentous. Salvador Allende’s three-year “peaceful” revolution was followed by General Pinochet’s 17 year dictatorship. Her essays record these extraordinary experiences with passion, humor and a fine sense of the absurd.“Boylston’s bite-sized vignettes...slip by as amusing roadie tales from two privileged but adventurous Florida girls with fresh tans and a saucy attitude. But little by little, the anecdotes turn deeply, then deadly, serious....her own inner North-South boundary becomes blurred forever.”—Tim Frasca, author ofAIDS in Latin America“Like opening a photo album in which each picture opens more memories and stories...Hay Locos, is rich with remembrance and understanding. Boylston’s stories from those years offer a unique and poignant account of what it was like to be fully engaged in those tumultuous times.”—Steven Volk, Professor of HistoryOberlin College

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 23, 2012

Reviews

[Edie Ayala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hay Locos is a compilation of memories of a young American woman who, together with a friend, drove to Chile from Florida in 1969... that in itself is a feat. But what happened after, changed her life. Bolyston's humor and honesty shines through in each chapter, with each memory. The empathy she felt for people in dire economic, social and political situations during and after the Allende years resulted in her participation in clandestine movements, putting herself at risk. These stories are all very interesting but the thing that stands out most is her love of and loyalty towards the Chilean people.

Bravo for a book is well written, stories well-told, and for memories, ideas and sympathies shared.

[Rajesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unassuming account of the trials and tribulations of a wandering woman through latin america in 1980s. The book follows a roughly linear narrative, with multiple essays making the whole of the book. Every vignette revolves around a particular person or a place in her life. She does make you feel like you're hearing the stories firsthand from a distant cousin of yours.