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From the acclaimed author of Bodega
Dreams comes a stunning novel about the changing face of the American
city.
Julio Santana is an arsonist. For a fee, Julio burns down
buildings looked upon as unseemly by investors trying to
transform the very face of the Spanish Harlem neighborhood
he calls home. Julio has pocketed thousands of dollars from
people who want to profit from the forced gentrification
of his neighborhood, money he has used to make his parents
proud by purchasing them a place of their own.
By controlling the flow of those streaming into the neighborhood,
the true power players behind this insurance scam have made
a fortune. So when Julio falls in love with Helen, a white
woman who just moved into the neighborhood, he makes it his
priority to stop setting his own neighborhood ablaze and
enter into a life of clean, honest living. Little does he
realize that his change for the good has angered his employers
and promises to threaten Julio's life, along with the lives
of everyone he loves.
As Julio struggles to live up to his decision, he is surrounded
by characters who both complicate and enlighten his life.
From the well-intentioned neighborhood pastor who sells illegal
American citizenship papers to undocumented workers, to the
Santero priest who is wise sage to all who know him, to Julio's
doting, streetwise parents, the characters here are given
life by Quiñonez in a novel whose themes are both
current and timelessly universal.
In the end, Chango's Fire is a work about what every city
in America is currently undergoing. Using his signature prose,
Quiñonez paints the face of a neighborhood we can
all identify with, helping to solidify his status as one
of the preeminent literary chroniclers of our time.
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