The unknown
by Raul Rodriguez Cetina
(October 14, 2022)
This short novel, published in 1977, tells the story of a teenager, lonely and traumatised after being raped, who begins his life at a boarding school – where he is abandoned by his father – and continues with his attempts to survive on the streets of the city, rejected by his family, in a situation of extreme poverty. Forced by necessity and after trying his luck in different and exhausting jobs, advised by a friend he becomes an inexperienced prostitute who sells his youth to foreign tourists as the only way to cover basic needs or pay for the studies with which he hopes to improve his situation.
A disturbing and uninviting novel, although easy and enjoyable to read due to its direct style, short sentences and lively dialogues, it was the first work of Mexican literature in which the protagonist is a male prostitute, although in this case, and unlike other characters who would follow, he does not enjoy prostitution. An almost autobiographical novel –as the author himself would acknowledge–, a milestone in literature with a sexually divergent theme written in Spanish, it is today, along with the rest of the work of this singular author, Raúl Rodríguez Cetina, not only forgotten, but practically unknown in his own country. Amistades Particulares now rescues it for Spanish readers.
Source: https://algunoslibrosbuenos.com/el-desconocido
