I found Rabbit Boss as an impressionable 16 year old, living in a small town in the English Midlands in the mid-1970s. It's hard to say quite why it made such an unforgettable impression on me, but suffice to say that I logged on to this site to try and find THIS book - I have been searching for years. Now I find it is regarded as a canon of American fiction - and rightly so. Sanchez's brilliant evocation of a state of mind, and of a whole way of being, was entirely new to me and has haunted me ever since. The quality of the writing is simply stupendous.

This novel put the author's name on my must-read list. It is a powerful story of the effect of white culture on the native American. Starting with an encounter with the Donner party, it continues down to the early 30's. Parts of the novel are written in a visionary style similar to "Black Elk Speaks." There are numerous memorable characters, especially Hallelujah Bob and Captain Rex, who loses his thumbs. There is violence and tragedy. Sanchez has an excellent ear for dialogue, especially considering that this book was written when he was only 21. I have read this book three times (at over 500 pages) and recommend it to all my friends.

Yeah, this is the one! Well, at least one of the TOP FIVE BOOKS read this year by me! Honestly, you'll get plenty of honesty in this hear piece of fict'n... purnhaps even mor'n you already know, heh? Wonderfully written, and like Kerouac used to say, it's an "Indian thing". The story follows the natural flow of generations of Washo people try to eek out a meagre existance in the "wild" west; beautifully documenting the collapse of the many layers of native culture since their "discovery".

I really like that it is written simply and is easy to understand. It breaks up the things to be done in the garden and yard into seasons so that you can easily tell what you can do during a particular time of the year! It's a great book!

I have read most of Sanchez's novels. King Bongo does not dissapoint. What really amazes me is that this is not a best seller. This story has everything: mystery, history and humor. It brings Havana of the 50's alive. The writing is both intelligent and easy to read. If you want a great summer read and a story that will stay with you forever READ King Bongo. Wake up Hollywood this novel would make a great film.

Thomas Sanchez has created in KING BONGO a post-modern legendary novel, rich and mythological. Like Graham Green in his time, Sanchez has the courage to write about how politics shaped a particular cultural moment . Don't be misled that the politics are the author's, as some will mistakenly present them to be, in the same way that Green was often misinterpreted. Sanchez did not write a revisionist history, seen from a half-century on. He wrote about high and low society and everything in between, about politics both personal and self serving, about dreams, desires and obsessions, tossing them all into the conflicted boiiling stew that was Havana in the mid-1950s. This book is for those with open minds and prepared for an unforgetable wild ride.

I have read all of Thomas Sanchez's novels and have never been disappointed. You won't be disappointed either. He always delivers. And he delivered with King Bongo. It reads seamlessly from beginning to end. I read it in one long dream where I forgot who and where I was, and was transported into the world Sanchez created that is really one of a kind. Bravo.

This book is the worst piece of tripe I have ever read. In case you think I exaggerate, let me quote from the first page: "Seabirds fly into new day, beneath them a watery word of mystery equal to the airy one above, where a man-made bird of steel streaks atop a pillar of flame. Only moments before the bird shook off an umbilical maze of flight feeders, its capsule head inhabited by six humans, their combined minds infinitely less than the birds's programmed range of computerized functions." What the hell? If you're looking for something to read about Key West, I submit that a cereal box would be more entertaining!

One Helluva, Ingenious piece of writing. I first read this novel more than 10 years ago in a fog of overlooked impatience. Then, I must have categorized this book as an experimental exhibit in semi-obscurity. Upon second reading, I realize the genius of Thomas Sanchez' work. St. Cloud and Justo are authentic, breathing characters, and Key West remains the psychological and cultural frontier town; a perfect setting.

Thomas Sanchez's MILE ZERO was proclaimed a "masterpiece" by the NY Times; the Washingon Post declared it a "A holy terror of a book." One can see why. Not only is it masterful, but it is also, as Vanity Fair proclaimed, "mythmaking and magisterial." Since its publication, MILE ZERO has achived mythic stature, and deservedly so, its "cultural and literary intertextuality," as the Los Angeles Times observed, certainly ranks with Lowry's UNDER THE VOLCANO and Steinbeck's EAST OF EDEN, which is why I have been using it in my college core curriculum for more than a decade. The novel mines the African-Anglo-Cuban history of the island of Key West and its people over the course of an American century, creating a timeless metaphor; at its heart is a Cuban-American protagonist whose moral complexity is at once shockingly modern and heartbreakingly human. There are many reasons why this controversial, risk taking and daring novel has touched so many and will continue to do so.

... should you be tempted to read this book. The subject matter, WWII, Los Angeles in it's "noir" heyday, the Zoots, the California cults, and a gumshoe, all make it sound pretty intriguing. But Sanchez does not have control of his material, it does not cohere, the "center does not hold." Even though the bare-bones plot could work and Sanchez has a good grip on the Los Angeles of that era, his characters are not even as dimensional as cardboard. And Sanchez gets quite carried away with his verbal pyrotechnic assaults. It's another book that makes one long for serious editorial guidance.

This is a thoroughly engaging and fascinating novel about prejudice and intrigue on the home front during World War II. While not as incredibly as intense--or heart-rending--as Rabbit Boss, his previous novel, this is a gripping story with fascinating characters and puts wartime jingoism and xenophobia into an intensely personal light. This is a writer who pulls no punches and can be utterly unsentimental. He has an exceptional command of detail and pulls the reader along into a complex but believable web of intrigue. Sanchez always avoids cliches (I wish I could!) and avoids a polemic, making his point in an engaging and thrilling story line.

Thomas Sanchez has been ill-served by his publisher, Flamingo, (paperback). Whoever wrote the cover blurb had obviously not read the book. The action does NOT take place 50 years after the death of Louise, one of the two central characters in this love story. In fact she has only just died and her humble estate has only just been finalised. The language of the book is certainly poetic but there is a thread of violence and sexual perversity underneath. It is a great story of love of the kind that survives only because it is not corrupted by marriage or mundane living together. The horror of war and injury, the pettiness of people when they are reduced to basic survival is well illustrated.

The premise of this book was great; the execution of that premise was simply dreadful. I did manage to finish, but it was a real trial.

I thought it very believable that someone deeply in love would write passionate letters and then never mail them, if not mailing them was for the best during politically turbulent times. What I didn't buy was the fact that had the letters been real, the writer of those letters was telling the recipient things both of them already knew, things that were for the reader's benefit only. Shame on the author for making this very basic literary mistake!

I found the writing in the book to be over-the-top in a dreadful (there is no other word to use) sort of way. It turned what was supposed to be several tragedies, actually, into an almost-comedy. Only the dark subject matter kept me from laughing out loud.

I could write more, but let's just say this is one of the worst books I have ever read and let it go at that.

I've become disenchanted with American's views on literature after reading the other reviews.

This book is a comedy -- a masterful comedy, with tons of wit. If you can read with a light heart and an open mind, you will experience one of the richest novels you have ever cracked open. The author is brilliant and rare among contemporary writers in writing something that is not a screenplay, but an enjoyable read. This book is an experience in itself. Don't miss the opportunity to enjoy an American writer who will be remembered as one of our best.

A sweeping tale of passionate love set during the turbulent events of WW2 and spanning 50 years.

Zermano world renowned Spanish painter and his beautiful French lover Louise Collard were separated during the Nazi occupation of France. The world thought Zermano had tired of Louise, she who had once fired his inspiration for his paintings and his lust. In the end it was Louise who left the legacy and Louise who led the way. After her death intimate letters written by her to Zermano, but never posted were accidentally found. They recount the period during the war when she and Zermano were separated, when unspeakable horrors and cruelties abounded in war torn Europe.

Passionate, beautifully written letters describe the love between Zermano and Louise and recount Louise's life during their enforced separation.

This is not a soppy love story, but a powerfully, deeply moving and well written historical tale of two tragic lovers, touched with passion, politics and art. A wonderful book I didn't want it to end and which I highly recommend.