The Bullet Swallower
A Novel
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4.1 • 19 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A “mesmerizing...wildly entertaining” (The Boston Globe) magical realism western in the vein of Cormac McCarthy meets Gabriel García Márquez, The Bullet Swallower follows a Mexican bandido as he sets off for Texas to rob a train, only to encounter a mysterious figure who has come, finally, to collect a cosmic debt generations in the making.
In 1895, Antonio Sonoro is the latest in a long line of ruthless men. He’s good with his gun and drawn to trouble but he’s also out of money and out of options. A drought has ravaged the town of Dorado, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and children, and so when he hears about a train laden with gold and other treasures, he sets off for Houston to rob it—with his younger brother Hugo in tow. But when the heist goes awry and Hugo is killed by the Texas Rangers, Antonio finds himself launched into a quest for revenge that endangers not only his life and his family, but his eternal soul.
In 1964, Jaime Sonoro is Mexico’s most renowned actor and singer. But his comfortable life is disrupted when he discovers a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family beginning with Cain and Abel. In its ancient pages, Jaime learns about the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors. And when the same mysterious figure from Antonio’s timeline shows up in Mexico City, Jaime realizes that he may be the one who has to pay for his ancestors’ crimes, unless he can discover the true story of his grandfather Antonio, the legendary bandido El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower.
A family saga that’s epic in scope and loosely based on the author’s own great-grandfather, The Bullet Swallower is “rich in lyrical language, gripping action, and enchanting magical realism” (Esquire). It tackles border politics, intergenerational trauma, and the legacies of racism and colonialism in a lush setting with stunning prose that asks who pays for the sins of our ancestors and whether it is possible to be better than our forebearers.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Gritty Western meets thrilling fantasy in this brilliant multigenerational novel written in wonderfully unpretentious prose. In 1895, Mexican bandit Antonio Sonoro is out to avenge his brother’s murder. Meanwhile, in 1964, Antonio’s grandson Jaime—a comedy star in the thriving Mexican film industry—is given a book that details his family’s unsavory history. As the story shifts back and forth between these two timelines, both men encounter the same paranormal phenomenon: spooky, ageless creatures who seek a reckoning for generational misdeeds. Between the 19th-century outlaw adventure and the resonant themes of national identity and family conflict explored in the more modern timeline, author Elizabeth Gonzalez James had us hooked. Full of both deep emotional insights and heart-racing thrills, The Bullet Swallower is one unforgettable fairy tale.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gonzalez (Mona at Sea) laces magical realism into her vivid epic of the Texas-Mexico border and the violence that shapes a family for generations. In 1895, Antonio Sonoro, a bandido living south of the border in the former mining town of Dorado, travels with his brother to Houston to rob a train. A shoot-out with Texas Rangers leaves his brother dead and Antonio with a hideous facial injury that earns him the sobriquet "El Tragabalas" (the bullet swallower). A parallel narrative set in 1964 follows Antonio's Mexican movie star grandson Jaime, who stumbles onto his grandfather's story and realizes its potential as a serious dramatic film role. The more Jaime learns about Antonio and about their family's perfidious history, the more he believes the film will allow him to redress the Sonoro name. Both story lines feature the mystical figure Remedio, a collector of blighted souls who has haunted countless generations of Sonoros. The novel's striking centerpiece follows Antonio and fellow desperado Peter Ainsley as they cut a swath across the border badlands. Their blazing guns and rich, Butch and Sundance–esque banter make Jaime's persistence in bringing their story to the big screen understandable. Readers will find this a refreshingly modern recasting of the classic western.
