Amigoland

Reviewed by Enid Grabiner for [...] (10/09) Estranged brothers, Don Fidencio and Don Celestino, the oldest and youngest of a large Mexican American clan are in their declining years. Don Fidencio, 91, is confined to Amigoland, a nursing home. He feels stripped of his independence and is resentful that he is forced to cope with the mortification of incontinence, insomnia and memory loss. Don Celestino, decades younger, is recovering from a heart attack and living on his own, but is also aware of his own diminishing physical abilities. Self-reliant now, he sees his future with its impending indignities of old age and illness looming over him. Don Celestino has recently become enamored of Socorro, a younger Mexican housekeeper who cleans for him. She is warm and compassionate and longs for a relationship. His caring advances help to initiate an affair between them. She encourages him to reconnect with his brother, which he reluctantly does. They visit Don Fidencio at the nursing home and exchange old memories. Most intriguing is the tale Don Fidencio insists is fact. He insists that a group of Indians raided the family's Mexican ranchito while the residents were enjoying a circus. Most of the people were murdered and scalped. Their grandfather, just a young boy at the time, was kidnapped, but eventually was dropped on the other side of the river, left to fend for himself. He found an uncle who raised him and he never returned to Mexico. Although skeptical of the veracity of the legend, the brothers and Socorro set out to find the truth. As they take Don Fidencio on a journey back to Mexico, the three each discover things about their past as well as their present as they test each other along the way. They learn to accept their own humility and to respect the needs of each other. There is much humor in this book, but at the same time Casares compassionately makes so vivid the realities of advancing years and declining health. Old age can suck!!

While some have called this novel hilarious, it is not. It is better described as touching, wise, and absolutely wonderful. However, there are indeed comic moments to be found in this story of two brothers who have long been estranged. Ninety-one year-old Don Fidencio and his brother, Don Celestino, younger by two decades, are all that remain of eight brothers and four sisters. When Fidencio thinks of his younger brother he realizes that they haven't spoken in years and wonders why. He doesn't even know whether or not Celestino is alive, thinking, "That the youngest was alive would make sense, he supposed, but what good reason could there be for the oldest to be alive and for the rest of his brothers and sisters to be gone?" Don Fidencio is the reluctant resident of a Brownsville nursing home, Amigoland. Relegated there by his daughter, Amalia, and her husband known to us only as The Son Of A Bxxxx, Fidencio suffers from many of the indiginities visited upon the elderly - incontinence, insomnia, and forgetfulness. Wishing to have nothing to do with his fellow residents he has not bothered to remember their names - referring to the women as The Turtles and others by such sobriquets as The Gringo With The Ugly Finger or The One With The Worried Face. He's dosed with a variety of pills, and keeps his worldly possessions in four shoe boxes. Don Celestino, on the other hand, is a retired barber, widowed, and engaged in a relationship with his housekeeper, Socorro, a widow in her forties who lives across the border in Matamoros. She's a kind woman who wants more than a weekly physical relationship with Celestino, she wants to know more about him. Upon learning that he has a brother she encourages Celestino to find him. Once reunited the brothers disagree on much, primarily a story Fidencio claims to be true - that their grandfather, Papa Grande, witnessed the killing of his family and was kidnaped by Indians. In order to determine the truth this unlikely threesome sets off on a journey to Linares to find Papa Grande's 's home. El Rancho Capote. Celestino considers the story a figment of Fidencio's wandering mind, and goes only at Socorro's behest. It's a 4-day trip during which each learns a great deal as does the reader. We're reminded of the importance of family, dignity, acceptance, love, and hope. Casares is a magnificent writer with an eye for telling detail and an obvious respect for the characters he has created. We await more from him. - Gail Cooke

Amigoland poignantly reminds me of my mother's old saying, "Laughing and crying come out of the same box." Comedy and Tragedy tumble over each other in this amazing book. Having been through the decline of my 95 year old stepfather whose life ended sadly in a nursing home, this story touched my heart. Casares' beautifully descriptive narrative touches the reader on numerous levels. The fact that it has a Hispanic setting simply enhances and adds color to the universal story.

In `Amigoland', Oscar Casares serves up a rich slice of life that subtly rewards the reader with the gift of life's meaning. No matter one's age, one's life experience, or where one calls home, the storyline is timeless and universal. Mr. Casares's characters are so exquisitely drawn, you will recognize many, identify with some, and come to care about them all. I laughed - out loud and often; I cried; and I thought about this book long after I finished it. For these reasons I wholeheartedly recommend this talented writers latest work `Amigoland'.

This is a story of getting older and all that comes with it. The characters are Mexican American but their experiences cross over to other cultures. The experiences in a nursing home, the experiences of coping with medical conditions, along with the experiences of family are all told on this journey. I recommend this book to all. At some point we will know someone who will get older if not ourselves.