A "San Francisco Chronicle" Recommended Book of 2015 * A "Kirkus Reviews" Best Book of 2015 * One of the "Texas Observer" s Five Books We Loved in 2015 * One of PRI s The World s Five Books You Should Read in 2016
Profound and wrenching A deeply moving chronicle of one family s collective devastation, full of remarkable wisdom and humor ("The" "New York Times Book Review") that follows the members of a wealthy Mexican family after their patriarch is kidnapped.
On an unremarkable night, Jose Victoriano Arteaga the head of a thriving Mexico City family vanishes on his way home from work. The Arteagas find few answers; the full truth of what happened to Arteaga is lost to the shadows of Mexico s vast underworld. But soon packages arrive to the family house, offering horrifying clues.
Fear, guilt, and the prospect of financial ruin fracture the once-proud family and scatter them across the globe, yet delicate threads still hold them together: in a swimming pool in Palo Alto, Arteaga s grandson struggles to make sense of the grief that has hobbled his family; in Mexico City, Arteaga s mistress alternates between rage and heartbreak as she waits, in growing panic, for her lover s return; in Austin, the Arteagas housekeeper tries to piece together a second life in an alienating new land; in Madrid, Arteaga s son takes his dog through the hot and unforgiving streets, in search of his father s ghost.
A stunningly original exploration of the wages of a hidden war, "Barefoot Dogs" is a heartfelt elegy to the stolen innocence of every family struck by tragedy. Urgent and vital fiction, these powerful stories are worthy of rereading in order to fully digest the far-reaching implications of one man s disappearance this singular book affords the reader the chance to step inside a world of privilege and loss, and understand how the two are inextricably intertwined ("San Francisco Chronicle")."