MACNO

by Andrea De Carlo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 9, 1986

A finely shaded, many-nuanced fable of political power from a promising Italian novelist. Macno, a former rock star/television commentator, is the benign dictator of an unnamed Latin country, but as the novel begins, he's growing tired of being trapped inside his role as savior of his people: his repeated attempts to tape a rousing speech commemorating the Third Anniversary of his rise to power meet with failure as he's stricken with a kind of existential lassitude, and can't rouse the crowds. One day a couple of freelance journalists--a German named Lisa Forster and her American cameramen, Ted Wesley--barge into the Presidential palace and are nearly murdered by Macno's bodyguards until he intervenes to save them, and even promises an unheard-of-private interview. The two stay on at the palace as his guests--the atmosphere is dreamlike, although perhaps a little too reminiscent of Federico Fellini (to whom the novel is dedicated): the place is filled with strange, secret people who live and die on Macno's every whim, all of them wearing the ""semi-Japanese style"" clothing that is their President's trademark. Lisa falls in love with Macno and learns of his growing depression, his ""nostalgia for sensations,"" and the increasing frustration of his advisors, electronic genuises who want Macno to govern through television. In an ending that is predictable--but nonetheless satisfying--Macno fakes his own assassination in a staged coup attempt and prepares to leave the country with Lisa at his side. A strong debut that is also a telling commentary on the way absolute power corrupts even the good at heart.

Pub Date: Feb. 9, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION