The Fountain at the Center of the World [Paperback]

Robert Bruce Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2003

The three-strand narrative of this lively thriller starts with Chano Salgado, a reclusive young widower being chased by police and soldiers for blowing up pipelines that were draining the local groundwater. Meanwhile, in London, PR flack Evan Hatch is dying from leukemia. Hoping to find a bone marrow donor, he tracks down his long-lost brother in Mexico. In the third strand, Salgado’s 14-year-old son, given up for adoption, goes on his own journey to find his father — a trip that will tie together all three strands in an unforgettable ending. An intricately plotted political thriller, The Fountain at the Center of the World is based on exhaustive research and the author’s compelling mix of political analysis and human compassion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this intense but flawed global drama, a British PR flack tries to find his long-lost brother after being diagnosed with a fatal form of leukemia. Evan Hatch works long hours running interference for a firm that specializes in complex governmental trade issues, but his sudden cancer diagnosis forces him to track down his brother, Chano, to orchestrate a bone marrow transplant. The search is complicated by his brother's work as a political activist in northern Mexico, where Chano is on the run for bombing a sluicing plant that was poisoning the local groundwater supply. The family angle turns into a triangle when Chano's teenage son, Daniel, who was put up for adoption, travels to Mexico from Costa Rica to try to locate his father. A complex, extended game of hunt-and-chase then ensues, with Chano and Daniel fleeing the various authorities who want to arrest and deport them, respectively. Meanwhile, Evan learns that he has been misdiagnosed, and that he is in the last, deadly stage of a rare tropical blood disease called Chagas' disease that he contracted as an infant. The climax takes place in Seattle against the backdrop of the riots that shut down the World Trade Organization meetings several years ago, where the paths of Chano, Daniel and Evan finally converge. Newman's extensive political research adds depth and breadth, but it also clutters the book with so much factual detail that the protagonists are thrust aside, and the problem is compounded by the introduction of far too many ancillary characters. With a bit more clarity, this might have been a superb novel, but instead it is a compromised testimonial to Newman's formidable range, intelligence and talent.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (August 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932360115
• ISBN-13: 978-1932360110
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, September 1, 2004

By 

quackhead (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Fountain at the Center of the World (Paperback)

The subject matter intrigued me. The backdrop of the Seattle riots was informative and interesting.

But I just couldn't get into it. Everything seemed one-dimensional. It was like a political instruction booklet, except, poorly disguised as fiction. Mind you, I happen to agree with the author's politics, but I found the book quite flat.

The descriptions of the riots were good, but the characters seem poorly constructed. They were mostly one dimensional (even the young Mexican police captain who practiced yoga in his office)

None of the characters had the complexity that is often inherent in people. Nor did its subject matter seem complex. Which is interesting, since, humans, expecially interesting people tend to be complex, just like provocative topics like globalization.

In addition, the book relies too much of its politics on a black and white, us versus them, we're always right -they wrong perspective. Personally, I believe that complex topics are not covered well or done much justice, if the approach is that constricting.

At other times the book can get over-the-top sappy (politically).

I liked "No Logo" better.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars got it right!, March 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fountain at the Center of the World (Paperback)

It is so very satisfying to finally have access to fiction that represents the realties of those of us who participate in the global social justice movement. The author was obviously here in Seattle during the events of November 1999. Sometimes I imagine he was right behind me. He got it right on so many levels.

The novel is surprisingly well plotted and fast paced, considering the stereotype of most political novels. It is also humorous throughout. I did not want to put it down until I found out what happened. When it was over I was sorry I rushed through it so quickly.

I'm sure this novel will be applauded as word of mouth spreads. We have found another writer whose works we can eagerly anticipate.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars forced, March 26, 2005

By 

a pilgrim revolutionary "lost in durham" (somewhere between layovers) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fountain at the Center of the World (Paperback)

the story felt forced and the characters and the storyline were predictable. it was as if the story was written around the argument, which was: the dehumanizing effects of globalization. the two main characters: chano & evan, separated not only by geography but the differing realities of the globalized world, each interprets the present condition of the world according to the environment which formed them.

this book pushed hard for a new vocabulary, a new understanding of our globalized world both linguistically and emotionally. but it fails to convince perhaps because the world newman constructs, an audacious one where poor mexican gives a speech to a international convention in seattle under an assumed identity, where a young 14 year old boy stows away on a boat to england, then somehow ends up in the u.s., becomes an activist in bolivia, etc. cannot be held in a logical tension with the accurate portrayal of the world the author tries to convey.

but it is the only book out there that tries to bridge the experiential gap between the developing world and developed world within the framework of globalization and for that it deserves three stars.