Don Dimaio of La Plata (Akashic Urban Surreal Series)

By Robert Arellano

"A former student of Robert Coover, Arellano has created a brilliant novel of political satire based on an actual mayoral stint in Providence, RI . . . Recommended for all fiction collections." --Library Journal

"Fear and loathing with Don Quixote at your side Herein another savage journey to the heart of the American dream--but with sabor and saber latino." --Ilan Stavans, author of Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language

You're walking along the road in La Plata when the fog rolls in. Giant billboards hulk close above while the lights of the city are blotted out one by one. A black limo with the #1 license plate pulls up out of the pea soup and the driver, a goon in a trooper uniform, says, "Get een." The back door opens and there he is, all sharkskin suit and slick toupee, kicked back on the leather seat and grinning in a horizontal mirror: Mayor Donald "Pally" Dimaio. High up in the mist you hear an ape-like shriek: Ook ook ai ai ai The engine is running. "Well, buddy," says Mayor Dimaio, holding out a rolled-up hundred. "You want some of this?"

Take a bribe and a ride with La Plata's favorite rogue politico through a tripped-out town of strip clubs and drug dens where the heirs of Abraham Beige, original pilgrim, rub shoulders with gun-waving goodfellas who steal their lines from '90s gangster flicks. La Plata is a city for sale, and whether it's a job as a cop or a million-dollar contract you want, Don Dimaio will show you the way.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1888451513
• ISBN13: 9781888451511
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

genius!

I had the great fortune to personally meet Mr. Arellano, get his autograph and even jam with him in his (currently ongoing) book-signing tour. The greatest thing about his tour is that he improvises on classic rock tunes as the character of Don Dimaio. He is hilariously witty, scathing, and simultaneously touching-- when he was talking about infidelity I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!The man's book is like his presence. I haven't finished reading it (I borrowed it from my friend who bought it and plan to buy it soon) but from the 85% that I've read, I am more stunned by the lively narrative style than anything else. His sense of the American vernacular is fantastic, and he writes with a teeth-set-in humor that reminds one of some of the best of noir with the rambunctious irreverence of Great American Writers like Philip Roth and J P Donleavy.In short: a fantastic read from a fantastic man with a fantastic presence and a fantastic wit.