Vlad (Spanish Edition)

In this short novel (or long tale), first published in 2004, Mexican literary giant Fuentes forays into the recently fashionable vampire genre. In a tongue-in-cheek manner, he pulls every cliché out of the book: a sinister Romanian aristocrat, Vlad, arrives in Mexico City fleeing war-ravaged Europe during the Nazi occupation, and settles into a mansion in the posh neighborhood of Lomas Altas. Not quite unexpectedly, he turns out to be a vampire who feasts on the wife and young daughter of his hapless Mexican real estate agent, Yves Navarro. Of course, Fuentes being Fuentes, there is much more to this. Navarro is the son of a former well-to-do family that lost its fortune after the Mexican Revolution, which leads to substantive conversations with Vlad on family and privilege. Mexico's endemic corruption-a "Fuentesian" subject if there is one-is also approached. Accompanied with matching grisly illustrations, the story is wonderfully written and, aside from the predictable plot, there is an actually quite terrifying twist at the end. While not exactly a reinvention of the genre, this work offers a humorous, intelligent, and definitely amusing variation. Recommended for all bookstores and libraries.—Carlos Rodríguez Martorell, East Elmhurst, NY