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 situationâwhatever it takes to remain âthe very picture of an American idler in Mexico, right down to the grass-green golfing trousers.â But Jimmyâs 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 husbandâs quest for UFO landing sites, and Jimmyâs simple south-of-the-border existence is facing clear and present danger.
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 situationâwhatever it takes to remain âthe very picture of an American idler in Mexico, right down to the grass-green golfing trousers.â But Jimmyâs 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 husbandâs quest for UFO landing sites, and Jimmyâs simple south-of-the-border existence is facing clear and present danger.