Like Thomas Mann, the author's protagonists are often passionate about classical music. However, the "tone" of these stories are overall light and humorous: a difference between Latino and German styles perhaps. Nonetheless, the "review" of the San Juan piano recital and murder, one of my favorites, reminded me slightly of Mann's "Mario and the Magician". Unfortunately, the events of this particular story evolve in the 3rd person, leaving me with many unanswered questions of character and plot motivation.

Although the book comes across as a fairly loose collection of unrelated stories and satirical essays, a unifying theme becomes clear as one reaches the last page. The common impulse towards the careless, oftentimes hapless, adoption of the seemingly new or sophisticated, and the resulting descent from what was initially mere self-delusion towards self-made hells is my view of the author's dark vision. It's a journey from a young boy's energetic innocence in the Dickey stories, of the first half of the book, towards the final description of an island society that has become too sophisticated to have any use whatsoever for human speech.

I feel grateful to the author for, what is for me, an auspicious introduction to Latino literature. Now I feel inspired to give Marquez a whirl.