Damnificados: A Novel

by J.J. Amaworo Wilson

Uses magical realism, revolutionary politics, and romantic adventure to bring to life a colorful community of squatters in an imaginary Latin American city
 
Damnificados is loosely based on the real-life occupation of a half-completed skyscraper in Caracas, Venezuela, the Tower of David. In this fictional version, 600 “damnificados”—vagabonds and misfits—take over an abandoned urban tower and set up a community complete with schools, stores, beauty salons, bakeries, and a rag-tag defensive militia. Their always heroic (and often hilarious) struggle for survival and dignity pits them against corrupt police, the brutal military, and the tyrannical “owners.” Taking place in an unnamed country at an unspecified time, the novel has elements of magical realism: avenging wolves, biblical floods, massacres involving multilingual ghosts, arrow showers falling to the tune of Beethoven’s Ninth, and a trash truck acting as a Trojan horse.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Science Fiction, Book Club, Dystopia, Politics

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Kalin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written book that unearths beauty in the most unexpected places.

Such as:

~ The language often scintillates with wit:

On the sixth day of the rains, a plague of mosquitoes arrives and the damnificados are struck by a mystery virus. Their eyeballs go blue and they begin to shake. Six hundred of them sweat and tremble and take to their beds, and Nacho cancels school and all other gatherings because of the fear of contagion.
“It’s borne on the wind,” says a windbag.
“There’s no hope,” says a no-hoper.
“We’re all doomed,” says a doom-monger.

... or merely scintillates:

A song finishes and a roar goes up. The singer says something in Arabic, pauses for a subdued cheer, then switches to Turkish. More cheers. She grins and raises her arms, lifts her head to the sky and closes her eyes like a child swallowing rain. Then she lets out an unworldly note—an ahhhh at top C, somewhere between a scream and the sustained plaint of an opera diva. The note resolves into a sequence, sliding down the arpeggio as the percussionists ram home the beat.

~ The "Chinaman"'s death and funeral were the stuff of legends. In fact, the whole book has a legendary sound and feel--reminds me of Milorad Pavić's Dictionary of the Khazars.

~ Yes, this is a story about stories:

And like all stories, this one grows and grows, warps out of shape till it’s only half-recognizable: eyewitnesses report that thousands of wild animals were seen evacuating before the Great Drop occurred, and others give interviews claiming they helped to set the trap, digging below the surface of the land and covering it up with just enough soil and stone to prevent the ruse from being discovered. Some even produce the tools used to dig the hole, showing off the shovels they held, the hoes, pick axes and augers they carried night after night to lay the trap that slew the monster.
In the provinces, the name of Nacho Morales becomes synonymous with heroism and ingenuity. He receives notes and telegrams and messages of congratulations and an honorary doctorate from a university in Gudsland. A local bigwig suggests putting Nacho’s face on a stamp, and a hack approaches him to write a biography. Outside a museum in Favelada, a statue of Nacho goes up, idealized, with his hair all wrong and his muletas nowhere in sight, so he looks like a Spartan warrior. A chef invents a soufflé that sags in the middle and names it the Grand Nacho.
A movie goes into production, then a children’s cartoon to be serialized, and an action figure with crutches that turn into guns or fold out to become wings.

And:

The tales they tell their children about the tower change according to the teller and the language. When the story is told in Italian it becomes florid, a tale of excess and color and light, and when it is told in Arabic it assumes a formal grace as if it is myth become real, and when told in Xhosa it becomes a poem sung by iimbongi. And the details change every time, the wolves becoming tigers or snakes, the Torres brothers assuming the shape of demons, horned and scaly.

(Which also excuses the omniscient narrator. It's just another story they're telling us ... are they omniscient in fact? Or reliable? ;)

~ What mars my overall enjoyment is the nagging feeling that nothing much depends on the characters' choices. The great plot resolutions all seem to come from fortunate circumstances. It heaps more helplessness and hopelessness on a condition that doesn't offer lots of hope in the first place.

Or am I being unfair? Would the wolf pack have come to the rescue if the characters hadn't treated it humanely in the very beginning? And how about the denouement?

At any rate, what does depend on the characters' choices are their day-to-day lives. Perhaps this is where the greatest hope lies.

[Gwen Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong read

It took me awhile to get into the weave of the storyline. I kept at it and am so glad that I did. The words become a river that winds down many different paths. The beauty and the ugliness of this world, is worded in such strength, that you hear, see and feel what the author describes. I felt as though I knew the characters and the depths of their individual descriptions, left me wanting more. I'm a tough critic and almost gave up on this. Please don't give up on this literary gem. It's slow to start, but grabs you and completely mesmerises you with almost poetic sentences and paragraphs. This is one of those stories that will stay with me, hopefully, for a lifetime.

[Sharman Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

J. J. Wilson is a terrific writer, so I would read anything by him. Also my twenty-eight-year-old son lives in Sao Paolo, Brazil now--up on the seventeenth floor of a high-rise like a lot of young professionals in Sao Paolo in so many other high-rises. I've never been to Latin America and I'm interested in anything that lets me see that world a little better. Damnificados is a great read. Two-headed beasts, biblical floods, dragonflies to the rescue...magical realism threads through this compelling struggle of men and women—the damnificados—to make a home for themselves in a half-completed skyscraper in an imaginary city (based on the real Tower of David in Caracas, Venezuela). As the crippled Nacho in the book says, the refuge he helps create is ”always on the brink of chaos.” Yet into this modern, urban, politically-familiar landscape of the “have-nots” versus the “haves,” Wilson introduces archetypes of hope and redemption that are also deeply familiar—-true love, vision quests, the hero’s journey, even the possibility of a happy ending. This dream stayed with me for a long time after I put the book down. (And I like to imagine my son also encountering some magical realism in his life in Brazil. Certainly some dragonflies looking out for him...)

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

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Damificados is full of wonderful magical realism, motley characters you become attached to, a narrative capturing your attention, sturdy writing. Imaginative and creative read.

Wilson demonstrates inventiveness with his dynamic characters. Magical realism plays an important part, as well as smart satire in the very clever narrative providing twists and turns when least expected – two-headed wolves, rescuing dragonflies, floods. Belonging, loss and love play a vital part among the colorful cast, the damificados might be fractured, certainly not broken.

The plot focuses on the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, privileged and burdened, power and politics. The outcasts struggle for dignity and a home in an abandoned skyscraper – which I found very symbolic.

A colorful landscape gives this book a boost of beauty – a wide variety of people coming together, working together despite their varying backgrounds and circumstances. Differences aside they form a team, an extended family of sorts in concert to fight for a mutual cause.

Wilson’s innovativeness really comes alive, a poignant tale, strong messages carried throughout the characters and narrative. Looking forward to more from this talented author.

[Book Riot Community]

600 "damnificados" (vagabonds and misfits) take over an unfinished skyscraper in Venezuela and set up an entire world for themselves, complete with schools, stores, salons and an army. Their struggle to hold onto the tower and fight off corruption from the outside is a wonderful, often funny, story. Amawaro Wilson has taken a real-life event and added a twist of magical realism to create this tale of an urban utopia.

Tune in to our weekly podcast dedicated to all things new books, All The Books: http://bookriot.com/category/all-the-...

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won a free copy of this book through goodreads giveaways. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this book so much, but I just had a really hard time getting into it. I only made it about halfway through before I gave up on it. The book jumped between the past and the present without much warning. I would be reading and be really confused only to realized that it was taking place in the past. Also some of the characters spoke in other languages, but it was never translated to english, so alot of the time, it was like reading a one sided conversation and having no idea what was being talked about.

[Karen Mahtin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was beautiful. The idea of people taking over an empty building and organizing much-needed housing for themselves in inspiring (even if the building was built on a garbage dump and is thus so unstable that it blows in the wind). The residents work together to clean up the building, to make it habitable, and to try to keep it _theirs_. Nacho is their leader (the book shows some of the downfalls of not having everyone participate in decisionmaking and communicating) and a very likeable character.

Others might find the book to be sad and even gross- a baby is abandoned (seems to have had polio), people live in desperate poverty and many make a living by going through the trash at the dump), the slums go on and on and on for miles... Nacho may have found a member of his birth family, but there is a language barrier and he is so focused on his mission that he can't take the time to explore why there is a strong resemblance between himself and this other person...

I can't help but wonder if the author is disabled; it doesn't quite "feel" ok for an author to write about someone whose disability miraculously goes away near the end of the book - especially since that healing doesn't affect the outcome of the Fifth and final Trash War. And it doesn't change how people remember him as the "crippled" guy.

The book seems to send the message "Nature bats last," which helps the residents only up to a point.

I loved the author's use of language. There are several cases where names relate to the story- for instance, the erstwhile owner of the tower (torre) is Torres. There are words and phrases from quite a few languages peppered throughout the book. The place is very diverse - so diverse that I couldn't be sure if the book took place in Brazil, or not. Since the area where the characters live is called Favelada, I kind of assume that it does take place in Brazil. The location ultimately doesn't matter, as the exploitation of land and housing happen everywhere, and poverty spreads as a result.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really enjoyed this book. It's smart and engaging and moves swiftly, with so much energy and intelligence. I have one quibble--SPOILER--why does the main character have to be "cured"? Why couldn't he remain disabled? He was strong and lovable and smart. Why did he have to become physically perfect? That bothered me. Still bothers me. Also, there's an implication that because he's disabled through most of the book, he's given up on romantic love, whereas his handsome brother gets to have the woman. That bothered me too. Other than that though, I loved it.

[JG (Introverted Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who practically mainlines fantasy of any sort, I have a surprisingly hard time with magical realism. While I did enjoy this for the most part, I can't say that I really "got" it. That's what I always complain about when I read this kind of thing. Others who enjoy magical realism more than I do should like this.

[Jerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing deserved a 5 while the story itself deserved a 3. I just found it hard to stick with the story. It took me months to finish. I would read 30-40 pages then stop and read another book (or two) and pick up where I left off without missing a beat. I never was able to form an emotional attachment to the characters. This saddened me because the writing flowed like poetry and I wanted to love the story as much as the execution.

[Bant · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5! I liked this, in general. I can’t explain what it was. Is it dystopian? Is it contemporary? Is it fantasy? I think it’s technically contemporary literary fiction. But the fact that it’s so unclear is frustrating. But it is intriguing and well written.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magical realist fable; an anarchist fairy tale; a pocket-sized epic of unlikely heroes and villains.

[K. Counihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profound unique and a very good book

People scraping together a meager, but happy existence .
A new world comes to life.. Characters that live and breathe.

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his debut novel Damnificados, JJ Amaworo Wilson has created a unique yet familiar world. No doubt reflecting Wilson’s experiences living in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Lesotho, Colombia, England, Italy, and the United States, the story is set in a fascinatingly diverse, polyglot city surrounded by an equally multi-national countryside. As an analytical, often literal-minded reader, I spent some mental energy at first trying to determine where on Earth I was: South America felt right at first, but the place names seemed to come not only from Spanish and Portuguese but also French, Arabic, Mandarin, and Eastern European languages (Czech?). After a short while I allowed myself to relax and just enjoy my new, exciting surroundings.

Although aspects of the world of Damnificados may seem foreign and exotic; the vivid, precise, and insightful description transports the reader easily. I found myself thinking, “Oh yes, I’ve been there.”

Up to this point I have had mixed reactions to fiction incorporating magical realism. Often I have read such works and found the introduction of “magical” or supernatural elements to be jarring. In some cases, I have had difficulty seeing how a supernatural element enhanced the story. Damnificados changed this for me. The realistic and modern elements blend so naturally with the unexpected, magical elements that the whole story is seamless, believable, and engrossing. The storyline shifts organically from contemporary plotline to historical account, from slightly unusual characters or odd occurrences to unnatural occurrences. When something happens that defies the natural order of things, at first the reader may not even notice. Nothing is superfluous; every magical event in Damnificados has been added to the story for a reason.

Flawed and broken, resilient and authentic human beings underlie every part of the book. I saw the strengths, weaknesses, talents, and quirks of the communities to which I belong reflected in the damnificados’ community. I particularly loved the characters’ unique ingenuity, especially characters that society would normally consider weak. One of my favorite sections of the book describes the variety of incredible skills developed by professional garbage-sorters before the Fourth Trash War, including a woman “who could fill a gunnysack of recyclable metal in ten minutes, or so the legend goes.” Character portraits and legends such as this add a strong dose of humor to Damnificados.

Damnificados intersperses heartwarming, authentic, and humorous episodes with suspense, misfortune, and tragedy. At times it seems as if there is no escape, but survivors emerge from disaster to rebuild and improve their community. Life and love persists. The story also presents less dramatic but universally recognizable anxieties and problems. I felt the characters’ pain and gained consolation from their hope.

By blending the realistic with the epic, Wilson has allowed readers to immerse themselves in a world that is simultaneously familiar and new. The results are exciting to experience.

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read like a mythical retelling of the real life events surrounding the Tower of David in Caracas, and it was absolutely beautiful. There is interesting social and political commentary but the standout thing was the writing and the choice to go magical realism.

Wilson is a true citizen of the world and it shows in his multinational characters and his inclusion of various languages into the narration. It heightens the scope of the novel. And I need to keep coming back how this read like a myth which made this so amazing and wonderful to read to me. There are two-headed wolfs next to crime lords, ghost figures show up during slum war fights, psychic readings become true: all on the side of this story of the the outcasts, the misfits, the homeless, that attempt to build a community against the powers that be.

This is one of those reviews where I don't have much to say, a novel to me better read than talked about because it just has so many dark yet gorgeous moments to it, it created some images in my head that will stay with me. I had it sitting on my shelves for two years now and regret not having picked it up sooner. While I called it magical realism earlier I now struggle shelving this book, it is so well done that I cannot decide if I want to put it with my realistic books or the fantastical ones, because it is decidedly both.

4.5*

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mythic fiction, this is the story of a group of outcasts (damnificados translates to victims in Spanish) who move into an abandoned tower block. It uses flashbacks to tell the history, conflicts and miracles around this community.

The writing is concise and the characters are richly told. Many languages are involved in this rag tag community. It is based on a real-life event, the occupation of the Torre de David, and tells the story of bakers, beauty shops and unlicensed electricity and water. The myths include a two-headed wolf, ghosts, miracles and true divinations. My favorite are the giant stone heads that remain after flood waters recede.

I don't remember why I put this on my reading list a few years back, but I really enjoyed the book. Chapters are mostly short and to the point. In mythic terms, this is a journey - but one mostly taken within the tower. A solid 4 of 5 stars.

[lina Kastoumis · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was drawn to this book by its description here in Goodreads - pretty much multiculturalism and urban social politics of power that i am wanting to see more of in fiction. i was also so very intrigued to see if this can be written as a magical realist fable? will the writer pull it off? hell yeah. he did! the writing is immediate, not convoluted - it covers so many fantastic events, characters, perilous dangers and unforeseen triumphs..much like a fairytale..you just accept the storyline and move through to the next round of 'oh wow!'. but there's a tenderly observed and so gratifyingly diverse humanity throughout this book. the ending or coda..did feel a little too swift, but i loved this book..and will seek out more of the authors' work.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book because I am fascinated by the real life Tower of David in Caracas, Venezuela.
Wilson's magical realism works well in this unnamed setting with such misfit but lovable characters.
The writing is beautiful and there is romance, adventure, tragedy and humor. The only thing that hung me up was the structure. I was taken in and out of the story at hand too abruptly at times, especially at the beginning. And I'm sure there was a lot to this book that I didn't get in terms of metaphors.

[Thomas Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular fiction indeed

Damnificados is unlike anything I have ever read before. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, written in an unusual style, rich in imagery and unforgettable characters, give this one a chance.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.5 of 5

In the heart of a large city in a Latin American country is a once-abandoned high-rise tower. It is now filled with squatters - families with nowhere else to as well as loners just looking for a safe place to dwell. These are the 'damnificados' - the unwanted; those damned to dwell where no one else dares to live. They become a city unto themselves, watching out for one another, creating schools, and stores to meet their needs.
But while the building was abandoned before the damnificados took over, it still has an owner and he wants it back. He asks nicely, trying to point out that they don't really have a right to be in the building, but the damnificado community isn't willing to move.

The building owner will return with an army and face off against the ragtag bunch of squatters but fate, more than skill, may save them on more than one occasion.

Wow. This book came completely out of the blue for me, but author JJ Amaworo Wilson quickly grabs the reader's attention with some really great characters in a really great situation. We are brought into the damnificado community and we feel like we belong there.

There's a lot of humor here, despite a couple of private armies ready to kill every man, woman, and child in the tower, but the humor isn't a moment of respite from the threats and violence - it's the humor of everyday humans and the absurdities of fate.

What really makes this book such a wonderful read, though, is the humanity. There is much to be admired about the damnificados - the people in the community appear to have a respect for one another (sometimes that respect is shown by leaving someone alone) and they will stand up for their community against overwhelming odds.

This is one of those rare books that I'm putting in my 'read again' pile and I think it might be one of the best new books I've read so far this year.

Looking for a good book? Damnificados by JJ Amaworo Wilson is an excellent morality tale with great characters, some humor and absurdity, set in the modern era in the center of any major city. This is well worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

5/7 stars. I really liked Wilson's writing: the language was somehow both fairly direct and dreamy. The world that he built was likewise a contradictory pair of being very realistic while also being a dreamy amalgamation of real cultures coming together to create something otherworldly and magical. The story kind of meanders through this multilingual world, giving bits of history here and there, and slowly developing.

There are two weaknesses to this book for me, though. There's a certain romantization of slum life that I don't think is healthy. I appreciate that it's humanizing the impoverished and trying to illustrate the fact that, given real opportunity and resources, the "damnificados" can live a very full and productive life. However, it's also kind of "Holiday in Cambodia:" almost a sort of ruin porn exoticising the "soul" and "realness" of the slums for the edification of the priveliged class who will make up most of the audience for this book.

The second weakness is that I don't feel that it really takes its themes very far. There is minimal character development: only a few of the characters are given much depth and they don't change much over the course of the novel. I felt that the damnificados of the tower were too reliant on Nacho's leadership and, arguable, never really formed a meaningful community with its own culture. The ending is very realistic, but it doesn't really show anyone having learned anything or grown from the experience. The tower could only exist with Nacho's leadership and when he walked away, nothing was left. He could build another such community elsewhere, but not only is the legend of the tower reduced to an absurd and unrealistic myth, nothing of the culture survives with the damnificados that leave. I suppose we could read it as a statement of the importance of providing a stable home for people in need to help them realize their potential, but we don't really see anyone actually being changed by the experience in the tower and we don't see that their lives are really that different before and after. In short, I wanted more philosophical questions to ponder from this novel than it gave me.

[Marius Jaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damnificados has magical realism, squatters, authoritarian petty tyrants, slums, and an abandoned high rise building. In the midst of this creative, engaging setting, Amaworo delivers high caliber storytelling.

So many things work:
Short, punchy sentences.
Clear character development—empathy with multiple characters is easy.
Believable, interesting dialogue.

Readability: once you are immersed in Amaworo’s world, which took me 20-30 pages, it’s an easy flow from chapter to chapter. As soon as one ends, you step to the next one because you want to flow into the next scene. He’s figured out how to put just enough material in a chapter to keep it robust, how to build tensions towards the end, and close it off. So you just flip to the next page and start another chapter.

At some points, this felt like a squatter version of talented circus performers or extras from the HBO show Carnivale coming together in a text. However, the book’s characters are more human—and their humanity is revealed in their supposed flaws.

Brilliant, engaging setting, especially considering how many actual citizens of the world are homeless.

Curious revealings of how communities, and disempowered communities, often work as well as the accompanying challenges of organization and leadership.

Not sure how to respond to Nacho’s disability. It did not seem like a prop but worked along with the Moses-like opening parable of Nacho’s birth. But the ending, well, I’m not sure how well that aspect dealing with his disability was handled. That is to say, that’s the only real issue or problem I had with Damnificados.

So enjoyable, it’s easy to read in two or three days; reading it feels like a novella, but you get the depth of characters and sensory experiences of a robust novel.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I guess I would describe this as a magical, futuristic saga about a cripple named Nacho and his de facto leadership of a high-rise full of squatters. In this world, language is a strong theme. The people speak lots of languages and neighboring towns have foreign-sounding names. It helps if you have some knowledge of foreign languages, but you won't miss much if you don't. I suppose the high rise signifies the Tower of Babbel and part of the reason Nacho can bring people together is because he is a translator.

The main story is about how the group gathers at this run-down building and takes over, then resists being evicted by the owners. The cast of characters includes a pair of German twins, a family of bakers, a priest, a hairdresser, wolves, alligators, Easter Island-type stone heads that just show up out of the blue, a ghost, and more. Some of the scenes could stand alone as short stories, like the stories of the Trash Wars and the snippet where people line up to see a piece of bread with Jesus' face on it. (I think it was Jesus's face... correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, plenty of scenes have this sort of dreamy cast to them and you could remove them from the book without affecting the course of the narrative, like in "Moby Dick." I suspect there were a lot of references I didn't get.

Bonus points because the main character uses crutches and I broke my leg while reading it.

[Sandra The Old Woman in a Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I’m giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 just to honor the author’s effort and originality. BUT, this fantastical novel just tried to be too much. It felt like it was written by a young soul trying to be a wizened sage. Over and over again paragraphs devolved into lists that did more to show off the author’s mastery of languages and cultures. Yes, he’s traveled the world - and he wants you to know it. It was just overdone and overwrought. I suppose it’s best classified as a myth. Maybe magical realism or maybe fantasy. I say fantastical and too much. The book does have a cult following - so maybe it’s for you. Not for me though.

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great opening, then a bit slow to pick up, but gets going as the stories of the Trash Wars progress and the tower is threatened by one Torres madman after another. Characters are well developed and the language is surprising, at times lyrical and at others rather humorous. A great legend is interwoven with the stories of nobodies accompanied with ghosts, dragons, two-headed wolves, giant crocs, armies of feral cats and rats.

Recommended for those who like animals, legends, forests, school, wheelbarrows, and giant head statues.

[Nick Woodall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting novel. Very eerie, but at the same time down-to-earth and visceral. I enjoyed the author's perspective, especially appreciating the poor and the down-and-out. Also, the author can tell a story, because I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter to see what happened next. Would make a great movie!

[Marjorie Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I slogged my way through this wretch of a novel during the height of the pandemic, and I think I would have enjoyed a novel about the pandemic more. While I am always up for a good story centered on a skyscraper, Damnificados was so bleak, and quite unenjoyable.

Damnificados are the dregs of society. They’re trying to make the best of their miserable situation, and look to a little crippled guy who goes by the name Nacho to lead them to if not salvation then at least a semblance of prosaic sustainability. Nacho dutifully takes on this role and facilitates the semi-habitation of an abandoned 60-story building infested with crocodiles and wolves.

Here we go. The ambiguous setting is very depressing and Third-Worldy, and everything is built up on trash piles. It’s the ultimate tofu foundation. Everything the characters use is either stolen or made out of discarded parts and other assorted garbage. Most of these people have no possessions, but everyone has some skill or other that they can contribute to make life around their building a little easier: a bouncer, a hairdresser, a family of bakers, an electrician who cobbles together wires and random components into primitive communication devices. In most cases they need equipment to be able to utilize their skills, and if they can’t acquire this equipment second-hand, they must MacGyver it into existence. Nacho is a clever dude, so his contributable skill is problem-solving, and as a pragmatic person he tries to delegate tasks to various people in the tower, according to their different skillsets, and get everyone working together for their collective greater good.

A story isn’t much of a story without a threat, which in this case comes in the form of a guy named Torres, who insists that he owns the land rights where the tower stands. He’s evicting the two thousand squatters, and if they don’t go willingly, he will have to take drastic measures.

The damnificados have nowhere to go, so they stay and “fight.” This hapless bunch can’t find enough guns to defend themselves, but no worries, there’s a random pack of wolves to the rescue. How convenient. Word on the street is, Torres has gone into seclusion and become a monk, but that doesn’t mean the threat is over, oh no. As if stealing a page from reality’s playbook, one dictator replaces another. Nacho determines that the best course of action is to find the first guy, so he sets out on a journey - alone - annnnnd nothing comes of it. Weeks later he comes back just in time to watch the replacement dictator roll up with 70 tanks, and miraculously, a sinkhole opens up to do basically what the wolves did earlier: defeat the enemy. Problem solved. Nacho turns to his comrades and declares, “We won!”

Not so fast. Y’all didn’t win, y’all just didn’t lose. That sinkhole was just a handy plot device to save you sad wretches the trouble of actually devising any means of accomplishing the impossible. But mostly it saved J.J. Amarowo Wilson the trouble of writing himself out of a corner.

There were many moments in the novel when Nacho, his brother Emil, and other characters throw suggestions around for how to proceed through one given predicament after another, and every suggestion is promptly shot down at every turn, because they’ll never work. “I’m out of ideas,” Nacho laments on multiple occasions.

Not to worry, Wilson is not out of ideas. He drags the reader along on one pointless journey after the next, introducing random characters such as Shivarov, a supposed “doctor” who hacks people’s limbs off for the pure fun of it, and whose entrance and exit in the story are a chapter apart near the end of the novel. Shivarov’s presence for those two chapters has literally no impact on the story at all, so you think, “What was the point in all that? Was the writer getting paid by the word or what?”

Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. The writing was probably 90% description and 10% anything actually happening. Wilson describes things with great long lists, flowery prose, word pictures and keyboard paintings, ham-fisted poetry and self-indulgent conjured images, word vomit. Much in the style of that very sentence.

It is utter garbage. I don’t care how nicely it flowed. The last paragraph of the second-to-last chapter was two pages long... and it was almost all one sentence. I wondered if Wilson had fleshed out this whole book from something that had begun as an entry for the Bulwer-Lytton contest.

Wilson made sure to populate the scenery with every variety of NPC you can think of, pouring it on in the many scenes in which revelry takes place. Wolves scared off the bad guys? Here’s a party to end all parties, complete with beating on drums of utilitarian found objects around a fire as the festive onlookers drink and laugh.

It was all just too much drivel. The point was probably to boost morale (Nacho’s last name was, symbolically, Morales) but the people, the damnificados, could not have beaten the villains with their ingenuity. Wilson kept trapping himself in a corner so he had to keep coming up with these miracles. Do miracles happen? Sure. But these people were pushing their luck. Except that they weren’t, because Wilson.

My recommendation is, don’t waste your time on this novel unless pandemic time was just too much fun and you need to bring the mood down a notch.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something very special

A fairytale tower of trash, a crippled unlikely hero, a two-headed wolf and did I mention the trash? This was such a joy to read. I hope you will give it a chance. So much more than I first expected. Truly tremendous.

[Stan Butt · Rating 2 out of 5]

So fun. Reminiscent of Steinbeck, McCarthy, and Garcia Marquez.

Good, compelling read. Full of the human condition with all its flaws and hope. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fiction.

[chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. But damn, such a slog with only a few touching radical moments. Many of the characters were flat, even stereotypes. For whatever reason, where Nazaré blew me away, this one bored me