Synopses & Reviews
"O happy age and happy century,"he went on, "in which my famous exploits shall be published, exploits worthy of being engraved in bronze, sculpted in marble, and depicted in paintings for the benefit of posterity."-- Don Quixote de la Mancha, 1604
"O scabby mange and sappy anchovy,"he whacked off, "in which my heinous sex toys shall be polished, sex toys worthy of being encased in mons, pumped in mammaries, and dipped into vaseline for the better fit of posteriors."-- Don Dimaio of La Plata, 2004
In 2002, real-life mayor of Providence, Rhode Island Vincent "Buddy"Cianci was convicted of federal charges of bribery, extortion, and racketeering. This is the story of the last days of Don "Pally"Dimaio, mayor of the city of La Plata, as his corrupt administration spirals out out of control in an adventure that borrows a page from a famous tale of chivalry -- or, in Pally's case, a flaming tail of ribaldry.
Pally is the popular figurehead for legendary La Plata, celebrated in the national press as the "modern renaissance"city. In public, he's a lovable drunk. In private, Pally is also a sex-, power-, and cocaine-addict. As mayor for fifteen straight years, Pally takes credit for La Plata's rebound from decades of post-industrial economic depression. He's famous for cracking jokes about his own tacky toupees during syndicated radio interviews on shows like Amos in the Daytime, but after dark Pally wallows in a secret society of night-eroticism.
One morning, on his way home from an all-night party, Pally stops at a wig store and discovers a dusty old rug that speaks to him -- literally. The Rug tells him about its magic power to let Pally astral-project into the mind and body of anyone he wants, and thus begins the wild demise of America's longest-serving mayor. An escaped orangutan from the city zoo harasses our hero in his nocturnal ramblings, but there are no eye-witnesses of the attacks. By taking on the anatomical costume of his best friend and Chief of Staff, Pally saunters into the evidence room at police headquarters and steals six kilos of coke -- no skin off his nose. As his madness progresses, it's billboards, not windmills, that in Pally's mind take on the appearance of giant agents of the FBI. (Pally attacks them with his bottle of Lancers.)
Don Dimaio of La Plata,toggling between satyric adaptations of the language of Cervantes's legend and the satirical narrative of an American mayor's quixotic decline, promises to be a hilarious commemoration of the fourth centenary of the modern novel, as well as a rip-snort way to tip one's toupee at the state of contemporary politics.
Review
"Robert Arellano is that rare thing: an exceptional creative talent
perfectly in tune with his own rapidly changing times."-- Robert Coover
Synopsis
"Arellano is that rare thing: an exceptional creative talent perfectly in tune with his own rapidly changing times."
Robert Coover
In 2002, real-life mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was convicted of extortion. This is the story of Don "Pally" Dimaio, mayor of La Plata, as his corrupt administration spirals out of control. The novel toggles between satiric adaptations of the language of Cervantes and a narrative of an American mayors quixotic -decline.
Robert Arellano teaches creative writing at Brown University. He is the author of Fast Eddie (Akashic, 2002), and his short fiction has appeared in the Kenyon Review and Jane. As an indie musician,Arellano has played with Will Oldham and Nick Cave.
Synopsis
"A former student of Robert Coover, Arellano has created a brilliant novel of political satire based on an actual mayoral stint in Providence, RI . . . Recommended for all fiction collections." --Library Journal
"Fear and loathing with Don Quixote at your side Herein another savage journey to the heart of the American dream--but with sabor and saber latino." --Ilan Stavans, author of Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language
You're walking along the road in La Plata when the fog rolls in. Giant billboards hulk close above while the lights of the city are blotted out one by one. A black limo with the #1 license plate pulls up out of the pea soup and the driver, a goon in a trooper uniform, says, "Get een." The back door opens and there he is, all sharkskin suit and slick toupee, kicked back on the leather seat and grinning in a horizontal mirror: Mayor Donald "Pally" Dimaio. High up in the mist you hear an ape-like shriek: Ook ook ai ai ai The engine is running. "Well, buddy," says Mayor Dimaio, holding out a rolled-up hundred. "You want some of this?"
Take a bribe and a ride with La Plata's favorite rogue politico through a tripped-out town of strip clubs and drug dens where the heirs of Abraham Beige, original pilgrim, rub shoulders with gun-waving goodfellas who steal their lines from '90s gangster flicks. La Plata is a city for sale, and whether it's a job as a cop or a million-dollar contract you want, Don Dimaio will show you the way.
Synopsis
"Arellano is that rare thing: an exceptional creative talent perfectly in tune with his own rapidly changing times." -Robert Coover
In 2002, real-life mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was convicted of extortion. This is the story of Don "Pally" Dimaio, mayor of La Plata, as his corrupt administration spirals out of control. The novel toggles between satiric adaptations of the language of Cervantes and a narrative of an American mayor's quixotic -decline.
Robert Arellanoteaches creative writing at Brown University. He is the author of Fast Eddie(Akashic, 2002), and his short fiction has appeared in the Kenyon Reviewand Jane. As an indie musician,Arellano has played with Will Oldham and Nick Cave.
Synopsis
Fiction. You're walking along the road in La Plata when the fog rolls in. Giant billboards hulk close above while the lights of the city are blotted out one by one. A black limo with the #1 license plate pulls up out of the pea soup and the driver, a goon in a trooper uniform, says, "Get een." The back door opens and there he is, all sharkskin suit and slick toupee, kicked back on the leather seat and grinning in a horizontal mirror: Mayor Donald "Pally" Dimaio. High up in the mist you hear an ape-like shriek: Ook ook ai ai ai! The engine is running. "Well, buddy," says Mayor Dimaio, holding out a rolled-up hundred. "You want some of this?" Take a bribe and ride with La Plata's favorite rogue politico through a tripped-out town of strip clubs and drug dens where the heirs of Abraham Beige, original pilgrim, rub shoulders with gun-waving goodfellas who steal their lines from `90s gangster flicks. Robert Arellano taught creative writing at Brown University and is the author of FAST EDDIE, KING OF THE BEES, which is also available from SPD.
Synopsis
Don Quixote for the new millennium, celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the novel.
About the Author
Robert Arellano teaches creative writing at Brown University, and for the past two summers has been a resident fellow of the St. Petersburg Literary Seminars in Russia. He is the author of Fast Eddie, King of the Bees(Akashic, 2002), and his short fiction has appeared in the Kenyon Reviewand Jane Magazine.As an indie musician, Arellano has played with Will Oldham and Nick Cave.