The novel's title, "Back to Blood," refers to the subliminal, if not irrational, instinct to belong to, trust, and affiliate with one's own biological kind, that is, to racial or ethnic identity. In an age when other values are in flux, this is the fallback position. The setting of this story is Miami, Florida, a major city dominated by Cubans, with significant enclaves of Haitians, American Blacks, other Latinos, Jewish retirees from New York, Russian emigres, and a significant number of Anglos who are economically and educationally well-off, wielding influence rather than power, beset with the decadence that comes from affluence without responsibility.
The story centers on Nestor, the Cuban policeman assigned to the water patrol, a part of the Miami Police still dominated by Anglo officers. The overlapping dynamics of police culture, Cuban versus Anglo social norms, and their resulting tensions is tellingly portrayed in the course of Nestor's carrying out a difficult order to rescue a Cuban refugee trapped on the crow's nest of a sailing ship that has drifted too close to a bridge. The refugee, fearing he would be arrested before he could reach shore and claim asylum, boards the luxury vessel where the owner's son is partying with friends, then runs to the mast and climbs up to his dangerous perch, where he causes a traffic jam on the bridge. Nestor climbs up the mast and holds the refugee by his legs as he works hand over hand down the yard arm, winning the respect of his police colleagues. He is televised and celebrated on the news for his athletic feat. But the Cuban community sees the deed as the arrest of a countryman fleeing from Communism and regards Nestor as a traitor and pariah, including and especially his family. At the same time his girlfriend, Magdalena, unaware of Nestor's celebrity/notoriety, has decided to call their relationship quits in favor of one she has developed with her boss, an Anglo psychiatrist almost twice her age, but somewhat of a celebrity noted for his treatment of "pornography addiction." The story traces these two individuals' experiences, choices, and interactions with members of all the aforementioned Miami communities, several of which are also well-developed characters.
The Author's vivid portrayal of communities and individuals, with especial attention to social class, is a great strength of this narrative. The rich interaction of varying perspectives and the humor that arises therefrom is almost Shakespearean. Generational perspectives and the diverse development of siblings is also reflected in this story. I listened to the reading of Lou Diamond Philips on Brilliance Audio who conveyed the Cuban, Black, Russian, New York, Haitian accents, along with individual characteristics, in a manner that served the narrative well.
It is common sense, yet controversial, that an individual may hold ethnic, gender, and racial prejudice (some would say that is inseparable from being ethnocentric), and yet be able to fraternize with and respect, individuals of other categories. This is amply illustrated throughout this story in the interactions Nestor and Magdalena have when each leaves the tight-knit Cuban community to live and work with people of varying background, and with differing values stemming from both social conditioning which is race/class/gender specific, and personal choice which may be myopic/oblivious, or aware/discreet.
There was also a telling portrayal of the differences between men and women, whose habits of thinking and interacting also lead to contrasting cultures within ethnic or racial cultures. There was a strong element of sex in this novel which many readers will find distasteful, if not morally objectionable. Insofar as this element is A) a reflection of American morals, and B) a reflection of the choices, flaws, mistakes, crimes, or obsessions of the various characters, I might allow that they are artistically justified. Though there is a lot, I would not characterize it as gratuitous. I appreciate that it is presented in an uncommonly honest way, for example, men who find individuals attractive, but set these lustful thoughts aside to focus on the duty of the moment. Our Author avoids the all or nothing approach whereby characters. are either all lust or all purity. What is more, the story has scenes which bring out the ambiguous nature of sex, as when one of the female characters chooses to dress in a breast-revealing outfit and alternates through the evening between pride that all the men are glancing at her and embarrassment that all the men are glancing at her. Her feelings about her date shift from hopes to win him, then despair when she realizes (or convinces herself) that she was just a one-night throw-away. The man's power and charisma at first excited her, and within 12 hours frightened her. This is real life, worth pondering.
There is also several revealing portrayals of manly ritual, the posturing, silent challenging, looks and verbal formulae that save face, require acknowledgment, or establish dominance. Interestingly, many of these transcend ethnic and racial barriers but are meaningless across gender lines. I appreciate the Author's ability to observe and articulate what most men only intuit.
Who wins at the end of the story? The individuals who retain integrity. This integrity is based on values that transcend the convenient or momentary. They are often intuited, though not directly expressed. This integrity is threatened by group-think (I am nothing more than my ethnicity/class/race/etc.) which insists on sacrificing the individual's perspective based on experience to the group's narrative based on emotion (usually fear) and imagination. But, this integrity is also threatened by the individual's own selfishness which may blind him/her to the fact that the heart wants contradictory things and must choose. American culture, by affirming that all values are "equal," ends up relying on the lowest common denominator ("Everyone's talking about the new craze, Honey- All you are looks and a whole lot of money..."). Wolfe's story of Miami characters working out a personal integrity presents a penetrating portrait of American culture.
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Top reviews from other countries
Neasa MacErlean
Fear and love in a great American city
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2016
