Gringos

Written by Charles Portis

Narrated by David Aaron Baker

With an uncommonly astute eye for the absurd details that comprise your average American, Charles Portis brings to life Jimmy Burns, an expatriate American living in Mexico. For a time, Jimmy spent his days unearthing
preColumbian artifacts. Now he makes a living doing small trucking jobs and helping out with the occasional missing-person situation—whatever it takes to remain “the very picture of an American idler in Mexico, right down to the grass-green
golfing trousers.” But Jimmy’s laid-back lifestyle is being seriously imposed upon by a ninety-pound stalker named Louise, whose particular fascination with Jimmy is a mystery to him. Add to this a sudden wave of hippies led by a murderous excon
guru in search of psychic happenings, archaeologists unearthing (illegally) the Mayan tombs, and Louise and her weirdo husband’s quest for UFO landing sites, and Jimmy’s simple south-of-the-border existence is facing clear and present danger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781705062210

Charles Portis

Charles Portis lives in Arkansas, where he was born and educated. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. As a reporter, he wrote for the New York Herald-Tribune, and was also its London bureau chief.

Reviews for Gringos

[Ted Klein · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book is delightful — as colorful and droll, and as occasionally quotable and hilarious — as Portis’s other novels; and I say this as someone who normally has zero interest in Mexico, past or present. More important, David Aaron Baker’s narration actually adds to the pleasure, which I didn’t think could be possible. His delivery (with wry echoes of Jack Nicholson) is absolutely perfect, giving each character his or her own personality — which helps, as this isn’t Portis’s strong suit; some of the characters are little more than names, and it’s hard to keep them straight. (Well, Baker makes one minor misstep, giving a caricatured Boston accent to a kid from Chicago. But it actually makes him funnier.)

[encephalical · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Funny at times, but I found it pretty boring overall. The narration was at such an even keel that it didn't feel like anything was ever building to the climax until, hey, here we are.

[blanderson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hilarious, witty and written with shocking clarity. A strange, mad-cap romp thru the jungles of Mexico (and the surrounding borders), unearthing Aztec ruins, forgotten cities, oddball conspiracies and UFO theorists.

As far as plot goes, Jimmy Burns travels thru life as an aloof and facetious observer. He is essentially an everyman character who keeps his hilarious musings private. He drifts from one vignette to another, eventually getting married when a female friend moves into his gifted aluminum trailer and says, 'Why not?'

Plotwise, GRINGOS is slim pickens. Not a whole lot 'happens' in terms of narrative thrust, but the little vignettes do a good job of keeping you interested until the very last page.

The real beauty of this novel is Portis' voice. His fiction is essentially what you'd imagine from the Coen Brothers mixed with a little Barry Hannah.

From here on I will be reading everything else he's done.

[occassionalread · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My sense is that Gringos is a guys' novel, like the work of Cormac McCarthy, and I'm curious to see if my wife will get past the first 25 pages. It lacks deep character development and a strong plot. These aren't necessarily criticisms. I found it a quick and enjoyable read. The writing is brisk and Portis writes wittily about a caste of misfit American expatriates living and working in Merida, Mexico: "hippies", archeological professors, UFO hunters, retirees, new age types, grave robbers, etc. As a former Peace Corps volunteer I'm familiar with people that feel more "at home" abroad than in the U.S. It's hard to sort out the caste of supporting characters but that's not really the point. I believe Portis sketched a world he knows (he frequently travels to Mexico) in a light and lively way. If you can enjoy his dry humor and appreciate the steamy third world conjured in these pages you'll enjoy the trip.

[samsattler · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Jimmy Burns is an ex-Marine, an ex-dealer in stolen pre-Columbian artifacts, and an American expat living the simple life deep inside Mexico in a little town called Merida. He does manage to make a living using his old beat up truck to do small hauling jobs to the jungle for archaeologists and others seeking to exploit the country’s buried past, but he is easily distracted. Jimmy enjoys his down time and is not overly concerned about his future, contented to take life one day at a time.While he may be an idler, Jimmy does care about the people closest to him and he has a keen sense of the absurd. This is a good thing since his little corner of Mexico is about to be invaded by some of the most absurd Americans imaginable, a group of hippies and slackers who barely know where they are, much less why they are. Gringos centers around Jimmy’s search for Rudy Kurle, a young man for whom Jimmy feels responsible after allowing him to wander away from a dangerously isolated dig site. Jimmy’s search takes him and his crew to an ancient holy site just when dozens of the worthless hippies converge there in expectation of some major revelation. Here the search grows complicated, and changes focus entirely, when Jimmy is forced to rescue two children who will not otherwise survive the night’s weirdness.Gringos is one of those novels that suffer from a lack of likable characters to such a degree that it is difficult to care what happens to any of them, including the novel’s supposed hero/narrator. The whole novel, at times, seems as tired and pointless as the lives led by its characters, making its ending, in which Jimmy unresistingly drifts into the next phase of his life, unsurprising.Readers captivated by the renewed interest in Charles Portis novels (following the recent success of the movie remake of True Grit) will want to take a look at Gringos since Portis has written so few books. I would, however, suggest that they might want to read this one after having first sampled other Portis novels.Rated at: 2.0