Every Wednesday The Latina Book Club features an excerpt from
an exciting new book written by a Latino
author or for a Latino audience.
This week we are highlighting DYSFUNCTIONAL MALES by Fernando Sdrigotti.
It’s an exciting collection—a little
outrageous, a little pathetic but then such are the tales of men.
Happy Reading. Read Latino.
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| La Casita Grande |
EXCERPT
DYSFUNCTIONAL MALES
by Fernando Sdrigotti
How
would a real man, say Steve McQueen, have reacted? Grabbing him by the neck,
pulling him off the wheelchair, and smashing him headfirst against the ground?
I don’t think so. Perhaps just graciously hiding the pain on the leg with a handsome
grin, leaning against the first available wall, lighting up and smoking away
for a while. What’s very clear is that he wouldn’t have stammered a few
pathetic angry words — Steve McQueen wouldn’t have released all his passive
aggression on a fellow soldier, a comrade, a man, regardless of body ability. Great
men preserve their greatness through times of trouble, even if by trouble we
understand to be getting hit by a guy in a wheelchair. And, by the way, is it
right to say disabled? Is it politically correct to say disabled to a guy you
are trying to insult? Is it morally acceptable to say to a disabled man — stammeringly
— “I don’t kick your ass because you’re disabled”? Very un-Steve McQueen-like.
“What do you mean, ‘look where you’re going’? I don’t kick your ass because you’re
disabled!”. So patronising: of course it would set the guy off. It did. It set
him off and I ended up walking away fast from the place, crossing the road to
avoid any confrontation, or the embarrassment of having people see me being ran
over by a furious guy on an electric wheelchair. This guy shouting at me from
his wheelchair — the word ‘disabled’ reverberating in my head (not even
aggressive enough to be an insult — I should have said spastic or cripple;
I would have sounded angrier, more manly).
It
was a terrible situation. And yet so easy to avoid: you only need to pay
attention to your whereabouts. If your politically correct lexicon forbids the
use of certain words, look where you’re going. Since we have become a species
that goes through space staring at mobile phone screens it can’t be attributed
to chance. The only element of chance in this pseudo-accident is that I was ran
over by an electric wheelchair and not a delivery lorry. Steve McQueen should
be happy that he passed away before the invention of the smartphone. We are all
slowly becoming screen-staring monkeys.
Excerpt printed with permission. All rights reserved by author.
SUMMARY: DYSFUNCTIONAL MALES is a collection of five
short stories set in contemporary London.
A satirical critique of the weaknesses and obsessions of the ‘stronger
sex’, this ambitious work of fiction focuses on the misadventures of its
characters to explore life and alienation in a contemporary megalopolis. At times uproarious, at others pathetic and
dark, the fables in the collection share a distinctive atmosphere beyond
fantasy and realism, inviting readers to take part in an onward flight that
could land them anywhere.
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR: Fernando Sdrigotti was born in
Rosario (Argentina) and has lived in London since the early noughties. His
fiction and critical writing has appeared widely online and in print. DYSFUNCTIONAL
MALES is his first book in English. Learn more about Fernando by visiting http://www.fernando-sdrigotti.com/.
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