The Fountain at the Center of the World

by Robert Newman

Book Overview

Police across Tamaulipas, Mexico's north-eastern state are hunting Chano Salgado. A reclusive young widower and political apostate, Salgado goes on the run after he is persuaded to blow up the pipelines of a sluicing operation sucking the local groundwater dry. Meanwhile, Evan Hatch, a London-based flack for an "issues-management" PR firm, is dying from leukemia. Hoping to find a donor, he tracks down his long-lost brother in Mexico (from where he...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932360115
• ISBN13: 9781932360110
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Soft Skull
• Length: 339 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Well Worth the Read!!!

This is one of those book that before you are a few pages in, you know it's gonna be great. By the time I had read 20 pages I was going online and recommending it. It's one of those books you start reading and you can hardly put it down till you finish. It's very Dickensonian, in the very best sense, making real the lives of the poor, the global poor, as well as the WTO rich. It follows the lives of two brothers, Chano, a poor Mexican activist, and Evan, adopted by a rich British family, one of the World Trade Organization's movers and shakers. There's a Prince and the Pauper touch as well when the poor brother replaces the rich to speak to those in power, who, of course, hear only what they want to hear. There's also the story of Chano seeking his lost son Daniel who always seems to be flittering just out of his reach. I believe, as humans, that we like our lessons wrapped in stories, that stories makes it easier for us to learn, to understand. The story of Chano and Evan and Daniel is wrapped around a lesson about globalization, about the World Trade Organization, NAFTA and the Mexican maquiladora plants near the border, plants that pollute the environment and poison their workers - because they can. The human stories make the global economic stories easier to understand. It's also wrapped around the Seattle protests against the WTO, making them mythic in an almost John Reed way. It makes you wanna be there, well, except for the beating and shooting and gassing.... The Fountain at the Center of the World is a book about global issues but also about personal issues and how the two intersect. That's something that's left out of books these days. People in most books seem to live in a vacuum, unaffected by global issues while, in reality, all are affected. The Fountain at the Center of the World shows us how we are affected, shows us in the stories of the dying Evan, the despairing Chano and the lost Daniel. Despite Evan's wealth, his intelligence, his support for and his knowledge about the system, he is isolated even in his death. Chano and Daniel are surrounded by friends and allies who help them survive and escape as they try to make the world a better place. As does this book. Well worth the read!!

A novel for our time

Great novelists tackle great themes, the social and historical forces that shape the world. Robert Newman's brave and bracing novel tells the story of a Mexican family caught up in the economic whirlwinds of our time. The author really brings the debate over globalization to life, with vivid, engaging characters and a compelling, well-paced narrative. This novel contains some of the best writing I have encountered in years -- pitch-perfect dialogue, nuanced drama and satire that is pointed and brilliantly funny. Highly recommended to anyone who cares about the quality of books he reads or the kind of world she lives in.

A grand tale that informs

What a lovely book. Fearing a screaming polemic, The Fountain at the Center of the World is a humane look at differing sides of the WTO issue told through a family. This is an enlightening look at the Seattle WTO conflict told vertically as well as horizontally by the adventures of two brothers and a son separated by life. All three meet eventually in what was the battle in Seattle. Newman is an extraordinary author who we can look forward to more good work.

compelling use of fiction

it is difficult to explain the anti-globalization movement to my mother. though she is aware of corruption on a corporate scale, and that sweatshops are "bad," she is skeptical of anything that seems too "lefty" and i have never been able to articulate effectively the power of multinational corporations in shaping our culture and future. but i bet that if i got my mother to read "The Fountain at the Centre of the World," she would better understand the human aspects to the destruction of our society that is occurring through global corporate takeover. robert newman effectively tells a beautiful story about the future as we define it, and by the way that the WTO wants to define it, and struggle inbetween. using simple, but well constructed characters, plus an exhilerating storyline, newman interweaves the arguments for local control as well as the necessity for community action...if not to change the world, at least to bring hope back into it. a completely inspiring and important book, hopefully one that will be read and shared with many others.

got it right!

It is so very satisfying to finally have access to fiction that represents the realties of those of us who participate in the global social justice movement. The author was obviously here in Seattle during the events of November 1999. Sometimes I imagine he was right behind me. He got it right on so many levels. The novel is surprisingly well plotted and fast paced, considering the stereotype of most political novels. It is also humorous throughout. I did not want to put it down until I found out what happened. When it was over I was sorry I rushed through it so quickly.I'm sure this novel will be applauded as word of mouth spreads. We have found another writer whose works we can eagerly anticipate.