Odyssey to the North

Fiction. Latino/a Studies. Translated from the Spanish by Susan Giersbach Rascon. Showing both the heartbreak and the humor of life in a strange culture, award-winning author Mario Benecastro creates a caring portrait of Calixto as he seeks not only work, but safety from unjust persecution in his homeland. The even-tempered prose of this quietly resolute political novel gives voice to a generation of Central American immigrants...The novel's dramatic tension emerges through a series of interpolated flashbacks. Through an artful collage of the conversations between [the hero] Calixto and his friends, news reports, courtroom transcripts, love letters, and anecdotes, Bencastro documents the hardships Calixto suffers...Unpretentious and reportorial, Benecastro's tone is welcomingly understated — and his message is more powerful for it — Publishers Weekly.