There just aren’t enough superlatives to describe how good this book is. It’s an epic of Greek myth proportions, with an unparalleled narrative breadth and depth, featuring a superbly drawn antihero protagonist who is at once a ruthlessly violent bandido in southern Texas and northern Mexico, and a ‘Robin Hood’ who gives away his hard-won plunder to the poor. And, more amazingly, this magical realist narrative has its origins in the author’s own family history.
The narrative has two time frames. The first follows the titular character in 1895 as he plots a train robbery across the border in Texas. The second relates to his grandson, Jaime (who’s unaware of his infamous grandfather) in the 1960s.
‘The bullet swallower’ is Antonio Sonoro, whose plans to rob the train are thwarted by the Texas Rangers. His (adopted) brother, Hugo, is shot dead by the Rangers. Antonio is shot through the jaw. The lead Ranger, Captain Fish, can’t find a pulse and assumes him also to be dead. Antonio is nursed back to health and plots revenge. Meanwhile, Jaime is a famous Mexican film star who’s given a strange book detailing the Sonoro family history.
Linking both narratives is the timeless character, Remedio, a collector of souls. He refused to take Antonio’s soul at birth because he wanted to see if a condemned soul could correct itself over time. Borders, both physical and metaphoric, inform the narrative – Texas and Mexico; life and death. Barbarity is juxtaposed beside sensuous colours.
The writing in The Bullet Swallower is densely intricate, with exquisite imagery. Action scenes are graphic without being gratuitous. There are no wasted words and this will be a slow read … but it will be worth every second.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Gonzalez James is the author of the novels Mona at Sea(SFWP, 2021) and The Bullet Swallower (forthcoming Simon & Schuster, 2024), as well as the chapbook, Five Conversations About Peter Sellers(Texas Review Press, 2023). Her stories and essays have appeared in The Idaho Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Rumpus, StorySouth, PANK, and elsewhere, and have received numerous Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations.Originally from South Texas, Elizabeth now lives with her family in Massachusetts.
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