Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Not Exactly Mexican Gothic, But Close Enough

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

September 9, 2025 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

cbr17bingo Border Now this was an interesting one.  Mexican Gothic is my jam, and I thought that this would be along that vein, but it turned out to be definitely its own thing – an intriguing cross between fictionalized family lore and magical realism.  And when I looked up the translation of Part Two – El Tragabalas, I discover that it is the book’s title in Spanish, but it is also the title of a fairly well known Mexican movie from the mid-60s, and the […]

Filed Under: Featured, Fiction, History, Horror, Western Tagged With: cbr17bingo, Drought and hard times, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, Family history sorta, magical realism, Mexican movie star, Mexico and Texas in the 1890s and the 1960s, Mysterious grotty book, Not all characters are human, Texas rangers never give up even when it makes no sense, Violent and gory

elderberrywine's CBR17 Review No:42 · Genres: Featured, Fiction, History, Horror, Western · Tags: cbr17bingo, Drought and hard times, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, Family history sorta, magical realism, Mexican movie star, Mexico and Texas in the 1890s and the 1960s, Mysterious grotty book, Not all characters are human, Texas rangers never give up even when it makes no sense, Violent and gory ·
Rating:
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