Daniel Alarcón is of two worlds. He was born in Lima, Peru, yet he was just named one of Granta’s Top Young American Novelists. He is the associate editor of Etiqueta Negra, a monthly magazine published in Lima, and he lives in Oakland, California. Alarcón’s short story collection, War by Candlelight, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and he was recently on a panel of Latin American authors who are replacing “magic realism” with “gritty realism”. He is both North American and South American.
It should come as little surprise then that Alarcón’s novel Lost City Radio is loaded with contradictions and dualities. The novel takes place in an unnamed South American country that has undergone years of civil war. The war pits the government of an authoritarian dictator (the right) against guerrillas and idealists (the left). The seat of the government power is in the city, while the opposition hides in the jungles and country side.
The title refers to the name of late-night radio call-in show. Callers phone Miss Norma, the beloved host, to talk about family members who have become lost in the upheaval. Occasionally tips come into the station that lead to tearful on-air reunions. More often than not, however, the missing are not found. The lost have usually left the jungles, as we are told all of the boys do, for a chance of a future in the city. The future that awaits is generally not what they have imagined.
Alarcón’s descriptions of the lush jungles contrasted with the rapidly decaying capitol city are highlights of the book. Each has its own dangers and pitfalls, and it is not clear which is preferable - the suffocating and wild Eden or the unpredictable and cruel squalor of the once great city.
It is out of the jungle that a boy is delivered to the radio station at the insistence of his village after his mother’s (and sole parent’s) drowning in a river. His appearance opens a door to Norma’s past. The novel then alternates between Norma’s present and her past. The past for Norma was a time of optimism, hope, excitement, and love. Her present is filled with fear, longing, grief, and despair. Norma’s story, in many ways, mirrors that of her country. Each has suffered its share of betrayal.
The armed struggle in Norma’s country has been going on so long that its beginning is shrouded in mystery. It’s no longer clear what sparked the conflict. It has become clear, however, that neither side is innocent. Both sides are responsible for the destruction of the country and acts of great cruelty upon its citizens. There is no longer a claim to the moral high ground.
“Gritty realism” is an apt a descriptor for Lost City Radio. Gritty as it is, the novel does not lose sight of its humanity. Norma’s story is that of a real person trying to make sense of her life in a world that stopped making sense long ago. It’s easy to see why Alarcón made the list of Top Young American Authors.