scrow1022's review
4.0
Absurd and delightful, and a satisfying intellectual brain-tangler. I wish I'd read this before "I Don't Expect...", I think it would have helped me get into that one sooner. And now I want to re-read his first two books in light of these later ones.
shanviolinlove's review against another edition
4.0
Playful and witty. I love a good cast of characters, from mischievous Teo to revolutionary Juliet, the bumbling Willem and the anarchist Mao, plus the coterie of literary salon minions who live like creatures of the Underworld, bent over their reading lights.
The premise is hysterical, with zany plot twists reminiscent of a Coen brothers film. It also calls into question the system of valuing life, both as Teo wrestles with the ennui of retirement-home community living and the futility of posterity in the art (or art-decadent) world. Characters confront philosophical, political, and aesthetic pursuits, as the ground is literally opening up beneath them, unearthing pagan gods; and as Cuban ballads drive allegedly CIA-constructed cockroaches out of Teo's apartment. Meanwhile, what makes failed artist Teo renowned in his area, apart from his avid love and literacy in the art world, is his taco dog meat recipe, which, he discovers post-retirement, is now a taboo practice.
Villalobos strikes a good balance between over-the-top events that are still believable enough to be coherent. Right up until the ending, which I felt was a bit of a creative let-down for a novel otherwise charged with originality. This is a novel whose main character is accused of writing a novel (despite his many protests to the contrary), but it does draw attention once again to the decadence art-lovers attach to art. Teo is first mistaken for a professional artist when he is seen carrying his father's easel and painting; when it is revealed that he was, instead, a taco seller, he is villified by the literary salon's champion Francesca, who later warms up to him due to the belief that he is writing a novel, and against his will attempts to coach him based on her own background in literary criticism. In fact, literature and art appear often in the novel, but it is the ideas about them that proliferate through Villalobos' narrative, and even still in irreverent ways (Teo pounding cockroaches with his copy of Adorno's Aesthetic Theory, passages from which he also uses to befuddle telemarketers and Latter-Day Saint missionaries; Proust's In Search of Lost Time stamped with footprints and used for attempted dog-napping heists). This is a book that invites the reader to engage in the idea of the arts on whatever grounds, silly or serious, as the tongue-in-cheek tone allows both. Engaging and easily paced, this novel was a fun romp to read.
The premise is hysterical, with zany plot twists reminiscent of a Coen brothers film. It also calls into question the system of valuing life, both as Teo wrestles with the ennui of retirement-home community living and the futility of posterity in the art (or art-decadent) world. Characters confront philosophical, political, and aesthetic pursuits, as the ground is literally opening up beneath them, unearthing pagan gods; and as Cuban ballads drive allegedly CIA-constructed cockroaches out of Teo's apartment. Meanwhile, what makes failed artist Teo renowned in his area, apart from his avid love and literacy in the art world, is his taco dog meat recipe, which, he discovers post-retirement, is now a taboo practice.
Villalobos strikes a good balance between over-the-top events that are still believable enough to be coherent. Right up until the ending, which I felt was a bit of a creative let-down for a novel otherwise charged with originality. This is a novel whose main character is accused of writing a novel (despite his many protests to the contrary), but it does draw attention once again to the decadence art-lovers attach to art. Teo is first mistaken for a professional artist when he is seen carrying his father's easel and painting; when it is revealed that he was, instead, a taco seller, he is villified by the literary salon's champion Francesca, who later warms up to him due to the belief that he is writing a novel, and against his will attempts to coach him based on her own background in literary criticism. In fact, literature and art appear often in the novel, but it is the ideas about them that proliferate through Villalobos' narrative, and even still in irreverent ways (Teo pounding cockroaches with his copy of Adorno's Aesthetic Theory, passages from which he also uses to befuddle telemarketers and Latter-Day Saint missionaries; Proust's In Search of Lost Time stamped with footprints and used for attempted dog-napping heists). This is a book that invites the reader to engage in the idea of the arts on whatever grounds, silly or serious, as the tongue-in-cheek tone allows both. Engaging and easily paced, this novel was a fun romp to read.
tommooney's review against another edition
4.0
I'LL SELL YOU A DOG by Juan Pablo Villalobos.
A pleasure to read, so funny and breezy. It tells of Teo, a retired taco seller in Mexico City who fills his time warring with the retirement home reading group, spending time with pseudo-Maoists and trying to sell dead dogs to the local butcher.
A joyous, if dark, book. Villalobos is great.
A pleasure to read, so funny and breezy. It tells of Teo, a retired taco seller in Mexico City who fills his time warring with the retirement home reading group, spending time with pseudo-Maoists and trying to sell dead dogs to the local butcher.
A joyous, if dark, book. Villalobos is great.
skyroxy's review
5.0
This book was in a class by itself. Villalobos writing style is just gorgeous, and the character of Teo is just sly enough. Parts of this book were hilarious, parts bittersweet, and in my opinion, this novel was written in the Latin mysticism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, albeit in a much shorter comical version. I will go back and read other works by Villaobos, loved this book!
cinereus's review
5.0
Honestly I picked up this book on a whim for the "by an author from Mexico or Canada" summer book bingo square at Seattle Public Library and it was a delight. It plays on a lot of Mexican/Latin American literary tropes so may be best enjoyed if you have some familiarity with other literature of this region (there were especially many moments evocative of Allende's House of the Spirits and Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate for me), but overall it was just a lot of fun to read and had some great humorous, poignant, and weird-semi-magical-realism moments. While the plot was a bit loosey-goosey (this book is more slice of life than beginning-conflict-climax-resolution, though there is a low-level conflict throughout) there's a clear narrative and thematic thread about death, the meaning of art, class barriers and revolutions, and what it means to grow old and be forgotten (or not). Long live the cockroaches (if not the dogs).
mlssntsm's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
revveryerin's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
booktroverted's review
challenging
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
If you're an artist, the drive to create will never abandon you. Nor will it ever let you rest. This story is a reminder.
This is my 2nd Juan Pablo Villalobos book and I'm still not sure if I enjoy his writing. But it does stretch my perceptions and knocks me off my safe and cozy reading couch onto something more precarious and potentially rewarding. Like a wobbly bar stool where I might take a tumble, but I'm guaranteed at least a cold cerveza after my fall. (Possibly served with gringo dog tacos.)
**Not recommended for soft-hearted animal lovers.**
This is my 2nd Juan Pablo Villalobos book and I'm still not sure if I enjoy his writing. But it does stretch my perceptions and knocks me off my safe and cozy reading couch onto something more precarious and potentially rewarding. Like a wobbly bar stool where I might take a tumble, but I'm guaranteed at least a cold cerveza after my fall. (Possibly served with gringo dog tacos.)
**Not recommended for soft-hearted animal lovers.**
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty