Though this book can be stylistically mannered, eschewing commas for example, it was entertaining and pleasurable to read. I enjoyed being fully immersed in the author's macho, emphatic language and living in the scarred and caloused skin of the main character. I chose to interpret the storytelling and setting as mythic rather than documentary. As far as realism goes, my more Latin culture-savy friends felt that The Dog Fighter misrepresented Mexico, even to the point of racism. It certainly is a brutal, bloody life in the small town on the Sea of Cortes which is in fact the setting of this noirish tale about a little Cesar who excels in the eponymous passtime. Highly recommended, but not for everyone; content warning: extreme animal violence.I met Mr. Bojanowski at Cody's Books (god rest its soul) at the time this was first published. He was a very serious and intelligent fellow, but he seemed beset by the work of publicizing his novel, and would've clearly rather been 'round the corner with a pint than standing reading excerpts in front of 15 complete strangers seated on folding chairs.Don't know what Marc is up to now, we all wish him the best of luck developing his talent.
I generally feel that, in a work of fiction, messing with things like structure and getting creative with punctuation are a waste of a good writer's craft. It doesn't matter how clever you get with these, what matters is solid things like story, character, perspective, and the general arc of the story. I felt this way when I started reading this book. It wasn't until I was nearly done with it that it struck me how much of the chosen grammatical structure of the work contributed to it. It certainly adds to the voice of the narrator, which is the main drive of the book--the narrator and his voice. It has good character, plot, and a very unique perspective. It's all a kind of poetry, really. One of those books you don't know how much you will enjoy when you start reading it, but you find you never put it down for long. It's a good book.
Do You like book The Dog Fighter: A Novel (2015)?
Shocking tale that doesn't apologize for its disposition and lays it out flat. Grabs you from the first chapter til the last with no holds barred...if you are a dog lover do not read this book !This is just a precursor to what you are going to encounter with this book... as it bares your own account and how you will digest it. The dogfighter tries to find his manhood in bravery and wrestles with newfound love as only a dogfighter can... Its a wretched story with a painful love song playing in the background..On the flip side it is culturally beautiful and the pictures are painted vividly ...the bright flowers along with the smell of the splattered blood in this roller coaster of a read.
—Johnfx750
This book surprised me. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, but this was a really good book. I'm not sure if it was the relatively sparse dialogue or the way the author describes everything, but more than any book I've read in a while every time I opened it it was like taking a little vacation. Spending some time in a quiet little town in Baja. The protagonist is intentionally despicable throughout the beginning of the book, but he grows on you. The ending was unexpected and perfect, with no apologies. I liked this one quite a bit.
—Andrew
Seldom have I read a book where the all the characters were so likeable. Through all the betrayals, friendships, and story developments, all the personalities in the novel won my favor; till the last page, I even enjoyed what I suppose would be called 'the villain...' though, those classical distinctions were anything but clear - all the characters were at times villainous or heroic, respectively.The book's stylistic grammar was also a fresh change of pace; though, admittedly, at times confusing. Instead of using traditional punctuation, the author opted to use - from what I can tell - nothing more that periods throughout the entire short book.I could barely put this book down.
—Garrett Mcgeein
