Friction

by Eloy Urroz, Ezra E. Fitz (Translator)

The "friction" of the title -- one letter away from "fiction" -- is what's generated when reality and the imagination begin to rub against one another, and Eloy Urroz always makes sure that these two worlds are brought into uncomfortable proximity. This playful novel, told in the second person, is the story of an escalating series of comic events at a university, touched off when Matilde's young wife becomes determined to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a renowned politician. While she's conducting a series of interviews with the vanished man's lecherous son, a professor is watching, dazed, as his second marriage and academic career both collapse around him . . . and an army of fictional and historical characters begin to materialize in a certain imaginary Baja California town.

419 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

Eloy Urroz is a Mexican writer and Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at The Citadel in South Carolina. Though born in New York, Urroz grew up in Mexico City and is of Mexican nationality. He is one of the founding members of the Crack Movement, along with such writers as Ignacio Padilla and Jorge Volpi. Urroz has written eight novels, four books on literary criticism, four books of poetry, three political reportages and dozens of essays, articles, and reviews on Latin American and Peninsular Culture and Literature. Some of his novels have been translated into English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and German. In the United States, his novels are published by Dalkey Archive Press.

Reviews

[Cristobal Cavazos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta mucho. Urroz tiene un estilo post-modernista muy colorido y vibrante. Es un libro muy mexicano con muchos albures y retruecanos Defences. Apenos lo empiezo pero me entretiene montones!