This little gem of a book is, in the way that only Mexican, Central and South American literature can be, as dark and gritty as it is poetic; as fanciful as it is starkly realist. Using the deck of the Mexican Bingo-style card game, Lotería, as its visual and contextual muse, a family saga is told in 54 chapters, each thematically linked to a card. The cards themselves, which feature everyday objects,—El Melón; El Paraguas—mythological creatures
—La Sirena; El Diablito—and concepts central to Mexican culture—La Rosa; La Calavera—are representative of the complexity and range of this novel: a heartbreaking narrative that is just as funny as it is tragic and domestic. My only complaint is that perhaps the diches—rhymes associated with each card, explaining their meaning—might have been included. Don’t read this book without doing a bit of research—it will increase your enjoyment exponentially.
This article appears in Nov 21-27, 2013.