Moondogs

Zusatztext 77506156 Informationen zum Autor ALEXANDER YATES grew up in Haiti, Mexico, Bolivia, and the Philippines. He holds an MFA from Syracuse University, and his short story “Everything, Clearly” will appear in the 2010 American Fiction: Best Short Stories by Emerging Writers. Klappentext A singularly effervescent novel pivoting around the disappearance of an American businessman in the Philippines and the long-suffering son! jilted lover! slick police commissioner! misguided villain! and supernatural saviors who all want a piece of him. Mourning the recent loss of his mother! twentysome­thing Benicio-aka Benny-travels to Manila to reconnect with his estranged father! Howard. But when he arrives his father is nowhere to be found-leaving an irri­tated son to conclude that Howard has let him down for the umpteenth time. However! his father has actually been kid­napped by a meth-addled cabdriver! with grand plans to sell him to local terrorists as bait in the country's never-ending power struggle between insurgents! separatists! and "demo­cratic" muscle. Benicio's search for Howard reveals more about his father's womanizing ways and suspicious business deals! reopening the old hurts that he'd hoped to mend. Interspersed with the son's inquiry and the father's calamitous life in captivity are the high-octane interconnecting narratives of Reynato Ocampo! the local celebrity-hero policeman charged with rescuing Howard; Ocampo's ragtag team of wizardry-infused soldiers; and Monique! a novice officer at the American embassy whose family still feels feverishly unmoored in the Philippines. With blistering forward momentum! crackling dialogue! wonderfully bizarre turns! and glimpses into both Filipino and expat culture! the novel marches toward a stunning cli­max! which ultimately challenges our conventional ideas of family and identity and introduces Yates as a powerful new voice in contemporary literature. Leseprobe Chapter 1 mr. orange A man and a rooster exit a taxi idling on a crowded street. The man is short and thin, and the rooster is green, and the rooster belongs to him. The taxi belongs to him as well. He's wearing a fresh shirt, the blood all washed out, and his polyester slacks shine a little in the afternoon light. He's too young to be balding, but is. His mouth is a rotten mess, owing to bad hygiene and a shabu habit. His name is Ignacio. He and the rooster are villains. Ignacio grips the open taxi door and stretches his legs. It feels good to be standing. The drive south from Manila should have taken only an hour, but he demanded that Littleboy--his idiot brother--make wrong turns so they'd be harder to follow. He'd barked instructions from the backseat, where he and Kelog pored over a soggy map and planned intricate double-backs. Kelog is the rooster. He's named Kelog because he's green, with red and orange in his tail, and a blood-red comb, like the rooster on the cereal. He used to be a fighting cock. He still would be, if not for the onset of blindness. He's retired now. Littleboy stays in the family taxi, drumming his fingers on the wheel and singing along to the SexBomb Girls on the radio. Littleboy loves the family taxi. He never minds picking up Ignacio's shifts, and people tip him better, because he's a safer driver and doesn't look so scary. He looks big and soft. When the song ends he leans out the window and calls over to his brother. "Is this it, Iggy? Are we there yet?" "Not so loud, dummy!" Ignacio shouts. "What did I tell you?" Littleboy looks embarrassed and squints. He hadn't been loud at all. Ignacio holds Kelog tight and releases the open taxi door like a mother's hand. He steps into the after-lunch foot traffic, searches out a number above the shops and checks it with the address he'd written on his palm the night before. They're in the right spo...

Product details

• Authors: Alexander Yates
• Publisher: Anchor Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.06.2012
• EAN: 9780307739810
• ISBN: 978-0-307-73981-0
• No. of pages: 352
• Dimensions: 132 mm x 203 mm x 21 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature