Ciudades desiertas (MTI) / Deserted Cities

Con una prosa ágil y desenfadada, José Agustín traza el destino de Eligio y Susana en un mundo gris, superficial, aunque capaz de torcer el rumbo de cualquiera. El retrato de los personajes, a todas luces entrañables, y la manera como la prosa se extiende sobre la geografía y la relación amorosa, hacen de Ciudades desiertas una gran novela.

Ambientada en el fantasmal pero no menos atractivo Estados Unidos, los protagonistas se encuentran para perderse y, más allá de la visión satírica de la sociedad estadounidense -respuesta a los tantos análisis superficiales sobre México escritos por intelectuales anglosajones-, encontramos una reflexión sobre el hecho amoroso, la renuncia y la aceptación.


ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

By José Agustín, essential writer in Mexican literature, who started a movement now known as La Onda (The Wave).

In this novel, we find a reflection about love, resignation, and acceptance.

Deserted Cities narrates the story of Susana and Eligio, a couple from Mexico City, who put their love to the test in a small, forgotten town in the United States.

The story begins when Susana is offered to participate in a writers’ program in the country to the north, a proposal that fits her like a glove because Susana needs her own space, her own adventure, to feel alive. Without thinking twice or consulting with Eligio, her husband and an often out-of-work actor, she takes the first flight that will help her get her life back.

Two months later, Eligio finally finds Susana and decides to reunite with her. To do this, he suspends the job he is working on and flies to meet her, only to find that she is sleeping with a Polish man.

Deserted Cities by José Agustín is an intense novel about the cycles of a loving relationship, the search for identity, the dispute between Mexico and the United States, the capitalist system, anger, and machismo.

Shocking and caustic, José Agustín returns with his Mexico City regionalisms and breaks the monotony of the town, where it seems like nothing ever happens, when we hear Eligio yell, “Kiss my ass!” and “Go to hell!” Deserted Cities is a novel of searching and liberation, a lesson in both human and romantic relationships that all lovers should read and apply.