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by Guillermo Saccomanno
Open Letter. Feb. 2019. 262p. tr. from Spanish by Andrea G. Labinger. ISBN 9781940953892. pap. $14.95; ebk. ISBN 9781940953939. F
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In 1977, in the depths of the Videla dictatorship, gay high school teacher Gómez stands by as 30 policemen swarm his classroom in Buenos Aires and take away smart young Esteban. Later, Gómez returns to his apartment, where the smell of burning hair pervades the hallway and the sly super points out that you can't trust anyone, and also visits a spiritual adviser who gives him a cut-rate price despite how badly he's damaged psychically. Gómez also manages to hook up with a macho "half-breed" cop among a patrol that violently accosts Gómez and a quarreling lover. What's significant here is what Gómez doesn't do: despite the occasional little gesture, like helping a student after the raid, he doesn't protest the regime.
VERDICT In prickly, energized language, Saccomanno (Gesell Dome) captures the fearfulness of those living under dictatorship. For most readers.
Reviewed by Barbara Hoffert , Mar 01, 2019
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