Back to Blood

The Bonfire of the Vanities author, Tom Wolfe, ingeniously dissects the turbulent heart of America s racial vortex in this exhilarating tale of sweltering MiamiAs the police boat speeds across Miami s Biscayne Bay, the scene is set for Officer Nestor Camacho s great moment of heroism. Except that in this feverous melting pot of a city, Nestor's one act of heroism can be seen as an utter betrayal of his Cuban roots. As Nestor s world disintegrates his family disowns him, he can t get a Cuban coffee without ugly stares, and his girlfriend Magdalena leaves him for her sex-addiction psychiatrist boss his quest to right the wrongs brings him into contact with the full panorama of modern Miami. The Cuban mayor, a Yale-marinated journalist, the black police chief, the clueless baying art-buyers and an Anglo billionaire porn addict all come up for scrutiny in Tom Wolfe s high-energy, scrupulous and hilarious reckoning with our times. Back to Blood dazzles so much that you might want to read it through dark glasses Independent on Sunday