Pacazo [Hardcover]

Roy Kesey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2011

Roy Kesey's riveting debut novel tells the story of John Segovia, an American historian who teaches English at a small university in Piura, on the desert coast of Peru. The narrative moves between John's obsessive search for his wife's killer and his attempts to build a new life for himself and his infant daughter. The storms of El Niño and the ghosts of history that stalk the sands of the Sechura Desert give this novel the sweep of an epic tale. Throughout, Pacazo explores and celebrates the many ways in which we construct the stories we tell of ourselves and those we love. It gives living form to anger and fear and desire, to courage and kindness and strength, and in so doing confirms Roy Kesey as one of the most innovative and compelling American writers working today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Here, the story--the seamless commingling of past and present--and language play off each other to create (is it too plain a way to say it?) one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. 

- Jena Salon, Books Editor, The Literary Review

"(Kesey) is excellent on the country's past, which he superbly integrates into Segovia's stream of consciousness, jumping centuries within sentences and creating a web of subtle allusive links between the conquistadors and Incas, and the mix of foreigners and locals that populate the country today."
- David Annand, The Daily Telegraph

"(T)his is one hell of a novel, which quietly stakes out unusual territory with such ease that sometimes it's surprising to realize how deeply immersed one has become in the multiple pasts and the uncertain future of the narrator... (W)ise and sorrowful and joyful..."
- Philip Graham, Inside Higher Ed

"Pacazo (...) is so stunning sentence by sentence, its scenes and characters so intimately connected, they create a portrait of the end of the last millennium that's surprising in momentum and scale. And that scope may just be the novel's great achievement."

- Christian DeBordo, Kenyon Review

"A wholly immersive reading experience - both heart-rending and complex."
- Stuart Evers, The Sunday Telegraph

"(A) shaggy-dog tale that eventually—boldly—invites comparison to its great progenitor, Don Quixote. By and large (Pacazo) earns its claim to the old knight's inheritance. (A) fresh and powerful reminder of what fiction can accomplish at full length."—John Domini, Bookforum

"We think that Kesey, already so respected for his short stories, is going to be known as a major novelist following the publication of this work."—Stephen Elliott, The Rumpus

Chosen as the January selection for The Rumpus Book Club

Chosen as the February selection for Newtonville Books First Edition Club

About the Author

Roy Kesey's previous books include the award-winning novella Nothing in the World, a historical guide to the Chinese city of Nanjing, and a short story collection called All Over, which made The L Magazine's recent "Best Books of the Decade" list. His short stories, essays and poems have appeared in more than eighty magazines, including McSweeney's, Subtropics, Ninth Letter and The Kenyon Review. Among other awards, his work has won a Pushcart Prize Special Mention and the 2008 Missouri Review Editors' Prize in Fiction, and has appeared in several anthologies including Best American Short Stories, The Robert Olen Butler Prize Anthology and New Sudden Fiction. He is the recipient of a 2010 prose fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He currently lives in Peru with his wife and children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 530 pages
• Publisher: Dzanc Books (January 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982631820
• ISBN-13: 978-0982631829
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #813,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roy Kesey's books include his debut novel Pacazo, the award-winning novella Nothing in the World, a historical guide to the Chinese city of Nanjing, and a short story collection called All Over, which made The L Magazine's recent "Best Books of the Decade" list. His short stories, essays and poems have appeared in more than eighty magazines, including McSweeney's, Subtropics, Ninth Letter and The Kenyon Review. Among other awards, his work has won a Pushcart Prize Special Mention and the 2008 Missouri Review Editors' Prize in Fiction, and has appeared in several anthologies including Best American Short Stories, The Robert Olen Butler Prize Anthology and New Sudden Fiction. He is the recipient of a 2010 prose fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He currently lives in Peru with his wife and family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Long, but good, May 22, 2011

By 

Kristina - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pacazo (Hardcover)

the book was 531 pages, but for some reason Goodreads had it listed as 400 pages. My main issue with this book was that I believe it should have been 400 pages. There were too many wasteful moments that could have been spent discussing other things, or taken out of the novel completely. Pacazo is about a man named, John Segovia, who 300 days ago lost his wife, Pilar, after she was raped, beaten and left for dead in a Peruvian desert. John is left heartbroken and angry and tries to deal with his pain while raising his 11 month old daughter, Mariángel. The last time he saw his wife, she was getting into a "taxista" (which is basically a Spanish taxi), headed to the market. The only thing John remembers about the taxista is the license plate which started with a "P" (ironically, the first letter of his wife's name), and ended with a 22 (her age). Wherever John goes he searches for the taxista with this license plate. I had the impression that we were going to suffer along with John. We would grieve with him, and watch how his grief turned into anger. But John is already angry, actually he's crazy and in chapter 1, kills a taxista driver with the license plate beginning with a P, and ending with a 22, who may or may not have killed his wife. We watch him go deeper and deeper into madness trying to find his wife's killer(s?). The interesting thing about this novel is Kesey weaves history into the plot. The beginning of the sentence he is talking about the present, and all of sudden, using a conjunctive jump, added Peruvian history. Being a history nerd, I enjoyed reading these bits, but I thought that sometimes it was too much, and would have much rather read about John and his struggles. This is a story about tragedy, love, language, regret, and revenge. It was a powerful story, and without giving anything a way, I enjoyed the ending, and as a reader, I received some closure and was left with hope.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting and Original -- A Must-Read, June 23, 2011

By 

Gail Siegel - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pacazo (Hardcover)

This homage to Peru, love, history and the beautiful way inwhich non-sequitors capture the torrential streams of our consciousnesses is a must-read. Kesey is riveting, original and smart. The plot revolves around a murder, but encompasses everything from colonialization to botany, floods to academia. And Kesey delivers humor, flashes of brutality and tenderness along the way. It's a big book to read, and you will be glad, because you won't want it to end.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliriously Intelligent, May 1, 2011

By 

Stefanie Freele (Geyserville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pacazo (Hardcover)

This is a long, heavy, page-turning novel to hole away with - on the couch during a storm, away at a cabin, in bed with a headcold. Join John Segovia, the protagonist, an unforgettably compelling character, flawed, funny, haunted, sassy on his unpredictable journey. The prose is often staged in fresh and unique ways: accepting that the reader is very bright, very intelligent and needs no explanation. The setting is generously revealed - you are immersed in Peru and will still be there for days after finishing the book. The pace, deliriously even and forceful. Highly recommend.