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The bullet Swallower
Based on (mostly) true events, The Bullet Swallower is a magical realism western about violence and revenge, a story that asks who pays for the sins of our ancestors, and whether it is possible to be better than our forebears.
In 1895 Antonio Sonoro is a fearsome bandido who sets off from his home in northern Mexico to rob a train in Texas with his younger brother. But when the robbery goes awry and the two brothers land in the crosshairs of the Texas Rangers, Antonio is launched into a quest for revenge that endangers both his family, and his soul.
In 1964 Jaime Sonoro, Antonio’s grandson, is Mexico’s favorite singing cowboy. But his comfortable life is disrupted when he discovers a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family beginning with Cain and Abel. Reading the book Jaime not only discovers the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors, but he realizes that these crimes have opened up a cosmic debt, and that he may be the next in line to repay it.
A family saga that’s epic in scope but compact in form, The Bullet Swallower tackles border politics, intergenerational trauma, and the legacies of racism and colonialism in a lush setting and stunning prose that evokes Cormac McCarthy and Gabriel García Márquez.
Praise
“An utterly original, wild ride rendered by Gonzalez James’s masterful hand that turns the traditional redemption narrative on its head. In cracking open her own family legends, The Bullet Swallower brings to vibrant, three-dimensional life the people and history of the Mexican and Texas border. Full of heart and humor, the magic in this book is not what is invented, but that it makes you wonder what it is, in all our histories, we may have forgotten?” — Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times-bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
“Mythic, epic and multi-generational in scale, the novel reclaims North American history through its grand story — a gritty and bloody, iconic and subversive, smart, heartbreaking, and often funny fire-side tale. The book asks: Is goodness even possible after a life (or history) of crimes? Can we as individuals and communities steer toward new ways of being Americans together? As with her first novel, Gonzalez James’s new novel contends with such big and necessary questions and will mark new edges on a far larger map of the American literary and historic West.” — Robin McLean, author of Pity the Beast and Get’em Young, Treat’em Tough, Tell’em Nothing
“Elizabeth González James has accomplished an astounding feat — a book that is as thrilling as it is beautiful, that challenges toxic masculinity as it envisions what manhood could be. Yet, my favorite part of The Bullet Swallower is the elegance with which it collapses boundaries between genres, crafting an entirely original text – a magical realism western that calls to mind Don Quixote? Sign me up, please. Gonzalez James is a master storyteller who has gifted us a wild, unexpected story. Bravo!” — Cleyvis Natera, author of Neruda on the Park
“The Bullet Swallower is a rollicking, inventive tour-de-force, a novel you don’t so much read as fall into like a dream–vivid, violent, and magical. Part Western revenge narrative, part family epic, part study of colonialism and displacement, this is the Texas-Mexico novel I wish had existed decades ago. We’re lucky to have it now. Elizabeth Gonzalez James is a force.” — Katie Gutierrez, bestselling author of More Than You’ll Ever Know
“To the lineage of Saramago and Borges add Gonzalez James. Resplendent and magisterial, The Bullet Swallower is an exploration of great evil, desperate longing, and redemption. This is a triumph: one of those rare stories which dwells in this our world but is not of it.” — Tom Lin, author of The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu
“One Hundred Years of Solitude meets Lonesome Dove. A gunslinging Western laced with magical realism that illuminates the complicated history between Texas and Mexico, and the impacts of colonialism and generational trauma. The Bullet Swallower is the historical novel of our time because it asks: “What do we owe for the crimes of our ancestors?” A masterpiece!” — Mary Pauline Lowry, author of The Roxy Letters
Riveting and haunting — you’ll get so caught up in this suspenseful sins-of-the-father story, you might forget to notice the gorgeous, impeccable sentences. Elizabeth Gonzalez James has written a brilliant homage to Cervantes, Marquez, Esquivel, and Allende – with a little McMurtry thrown in for good measure. Full of conscience, mystery, and adventure, The Bullet Swallower is a book to read with one hand held over your heart. Just don’t forget to breathe. — Nina de Gramont, New York Times-bestselling author of The Christie Affair