Pick of the Day: “The Barbarian Nurseries” by Hector Tobar

“The Barbarian Nurseries” is the second novel of Hector Tobar; he is author of “Translation Nation” and, according to his website, he is ”a novelist, a journalist, the son of Guatemalan immigrants and a proud native of the city of Los Angeles.” This tale of racial and class divisions within one Southern Californian household sounds promising. Publishers Weekly says “Tobar is both inventive and relentless in pricking the pretentious social consciences of his entitled Americans, though he also casts a sober look on the foibles of the Mexicans who serve them. His sharp eye for Southern California culture, spiraling plot twists, ecological awareness and ample willingness to dole out come-uppance to the nauseatingly privileged may put readers in mind of T.C. Boyle.” The New York Times reviewer, Rebecca Donner, praises Tobar’s depiction of Araceli, the live-in maid in the household that provides the setting for the book. Donner also suggests that while the ambitions of the book parallel Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities,” Tobar’s characterizations are less superficial. “Tobar’s portraits, acute and humane, render his characters intelligible. His illuminations become our recognitions.”

Posted by Left Eye On Books on Dec 6 2011. Filed under Book Industry News, News Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry