This engrossing novel has the Bayly seal: good rhythm, a generous dose of foul language and pornography, a rendering of the hypocrisies of Lima's bourgeoisie, and the pathetic and hilarious hand in hand. Despised by their high-class families for different reasons, el cojo and el loco are defined by this rejection. "The Cripple was not born crippled. He was born fucked." starts the novel. Bobby was a spoiled first son whose life changes forever at the age of eight, when a polio-like disease leaves one leg centimeters shorter. This discrepancy is an abomination to his father, who orders the doctor to "cut the other leg" (which the doctor refuses to do). Bobby is consequently sent to live in a room outside the house only visited by maids and never allowed in for social events. The abused boy becomes an extremely strong man with an unparalleled rage, a feared monster whose only purpose in life is to make everyone suffer as much as he did. His path briefly crosses that of el loco, whose sexual appetite and fear of society make him the opposite of Bobby. Pancho was not born mad; he was born extremely ugly, hairy, and unusually well hung, and his terrible stutter makes him unintelligible. Isolated from family gatherings and prevented from going to school so as not to humiliate his family, Pancho is eventually sent away to the countryside after his father finds him having sex with one of the maids. Grotesque and surreal, this fast-paced novel will not disappoint.-Ximena Diego, Brooklyn, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.