80MPH

22/01/2024

Biggie & Michael Jackson 🧢

27/07/2022

A year after publishing his first novel Maya ends his long podcast tour by talking with the wonderful Sarah from Golden State Media Concepts.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gsmc-book-review-podcast/id1123769087?i=1000571273997

‎Show GSMC Book Review Podcast, Ep GSMC Book Review Podcast Episode 360: Interview with Patricio X. Maya - Jul 26, 2022

16/09/2021

Here's the full audio of Maya's talk with the lively Yaya Diamond of Dream Chasers Radio. We will post the video later for those who are more visual. Reggaetón Cruise is in the middle of a promotional media blitz! In the next few days we will share Maya's appearances in a Scottish podcast and then in a Canadian one. There should be a few more before the book readings. The plan is to promote the novel through early winter. Feel free to share. www.reggaetoncruise.net

15/09/2021

Ecuadorian writer Patricio X. Maya talks to Yaya Diamond about his novel Reggaetón Cruise and the life of a bilingual writer. Read a free chapter of the novel here: www.reggaetoncruise.net ✍️

Reggaetón Cruise. As hilarious and as unnerving as the global village itself. Get it now!

08/09/2021

https://fb.watch/7TYz8jKDsH/
"Maya’s narrative dexterity lies in the intuitive and subtle enmeshing of multiple characters’ viewpoints while simultaneously moving the story forward. Each branching out sub-story keeps the reader guessing how its disparate characters will eventually find each other. How will such divergent worlds intersect?"

07/08/2021

Reggaetón Cruise: a Dynamic Photomosaic of the Globalized World

Jeff Bezos flying a Dutch teenager to space, Apple storing iCloud data on Kremlin local servers, intercontinental love affairs via augmented reality, top grossing American movies fully financed by China, Mozambican terrorists communicating trough WhatsApp, 3D printed prosthetic limbs shipped to El Salvador from Madrid… How can one get a sense of all the ramifications and implications produced by our ever-changing globalized world? Reggaetón Cruise, the new novel by Patricio X. Maya, author of the well-received essay collection Walking around with Fante and Bukowski among other books, accomplishes this ingeniously by getting readers to navigate the multiple labyrinths of the contemporary world through characters who succeed in staying afloat or sink in the modern turmoil.

​Maya’s narrative dexterity lies in the intuitive and subtle enmeshing of multiple characters’ viewpoints while simultaneously moving the story forward. Each branching out sub-story keeps the reader guessing how its disparate characters will eventually find each other. How will such divergent worlds intersect? These intertwined tales of globalization present us with our own inevitable connection to the entire world and demonstrate that there’s really no way to escape the grid anymore. In order to do this truthfully, the author breaks from standard narrative norms and employs unorthodox communicative tools and linguistic artifacts that, paradoxically, guide us smoothly through the obscure hallways of today’s Tower of Babel. A luminous loyalty to language, which avoids relying on mechanical linguistic renditions (be it in Spanish, Quechua, Estonian, Liberian English, Japanese, or others) that would betray the essence of each story line is displayed throughout. One clear example of this kind of “translation” (or transmutation into English) happens when Delfin’s father, Yuyay Quishpe, dies and his family shares insights about his character: “Our beautiful taita's thoughts belonged to the paramo, not to other men, not even to us…”. One can hear both Spanish and Quechua sustaining or illuminating the English words.

The parallel narration of the two main characters is done gradually without attempting to create immediate connections or vapid assumptions on the plot. The plot lines remain enigmatic; up until the last page the reader is kept guessing how the life of a rural boy from the Chimborazo province in Ecuador will cross lines with a war-videogame-superstar-gone-US-military-drone-pilot from Estonia. How does Delfín Quishpe, an indigenous teen with no connections to the developed world, end up becoming a global internet celebrity? How does Artjom Pärn, a chubby suburban boy from Tallinn, Estonia, turn into a key player in world policing? Moreover, how do two peripheral underdogs become world saviors? Ultimately, the convergence between Artjom Pärn and Delfín Quishpe can only become a reality due to the power and reach of the internet and specially to one website: Youtube.

The depiction of Delfín’s indigenous community, its rituals, cosmology and language is traced with great sensibility by Maya. He employs a series of Quechua words and phrases to illustrate and establish them as leitmotifs for Delfín’s inner speech. As Delfín shares his words with us, we grow closer to him with every new obstacle that he overcomes. The Quechuan elements – symbols, signs, words, and prayers— become essential during the most critical moments of his journey. They are more powerful for him than any word in Spanish could ever be. Similarly, videogame chatrooms are Artjom’s main form of communication and it is only through these that the reader can grasp several layers of his personality. Artjom's emoticons and abbreviated chat messages convey an enormous amount of information in terms of character and story. After a war videogame victory, for instance, Artjom, who goes by $doomMetalBo, replies on the chatroom to his defeated and enraged opponent with a Kaomoji emoticon (arrangements of Japanese, Latin, and modern punctuation marks to form an expression) and through this abstract discussion we learn much about his emerging Machiavellian character: “Same s**t T-Rex500 did to u ┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴ ” $doomMetalBo posts after backstabbing his “friend.” Fidelity to the character’s teen-gamer world is accomplished in such daring narrative patterns.

There comes a moment for Delfín when his life in the rural Andes (away from the opportunities provided by Western progress) falls short. But how can this South American migrant accomplish his goal of reaching one of great capitals of the world? In this Tom-Sawyer-meets-Enders-Game novel, a series of road adventures are intertwined with technology and the effects of globalization. Truthful to the realities of the current world, the author doesn’t steer away from the sacrifices that crossing the US border demands and instead describes with rawness the environment and the lives of immigrants who are unlikely to reach their desired destination. As Twain uses the Mississippi to take his hero along, Maya uses the Pan-American Highway and the Río Lempa for Delfín’s odyssey.

The severity and cruelty that this quest entails is much more complicated for Delfín because of his background. His intrepidity is tested to the limit when he is confronted with "coyotes," migrant caravans and police patrols reminding him how different he is and how inferior others consider him to be due to his ethnicity. In their eyes, an "indio" like Delfín doesn’t deserve to reach out for the American dream. A group of Central American migrants see themselves reflected in Delfín. He reminds them of their past, which they are reluctant to face. Even being aware of the extreme dangers that entail disclosing his real identity, Delfín cannot help revealing who he is. What makes Delfín’s quest unique is how he overcomes obstacles and succeeds as a true Quechua. This honesty will in turn impact those around him as the story branches out. The reader will witness and understand the outcome as years go by in the novel and Delfín’s influence comes to fruition.

​From the ruthless world of Delfín, marked not only by the triumphs of migration but also by the trauma of cosmopolitanization, the novel's intricate narrative transitions to the chic world of affluent Japanese sisters. Maya doesn’t disappoint the reader in truthfully depicting Japanese culture, particularly the dynamics between the Furukawa sisters and their parents, but also between their "foreign" boyfriends: Mamadú, a Liberian real estate agent with a traumatic past and Alvo, a frustrated former professional tennis player from Guayaquil. During an emergency road trip across the US, Alvo and Mamadú face off each other in a series of discussions which question their origins, their dreams, the nature of their identities, and the problematic parallels between Africa and Latin America (particularly in terms of precariousness, autocracy, and world soccer). Their confessions become violent collisions as both men come from opposing social classes, but ultimately draw them closer together, making them realize how, in America, they are pieces of the same game, or as Maya labels them, "pawns in the greater structure of globalization.”

​The ending of the novel is a shock and a provocation, not only because of what and how it happens, but also because of how brightly everything comes together at once. Patricio X. Maya's Reggaetón Cruise is like a vast puzzle that first displays numerous little pieces on the table and then brings them together deftly. A sharp image of our times is apparent at last: the autonomous little pieces have become essential to one another and like in Dali’s photomosaic of Lincoln, we can only see the whole picture once it’s all formed and its tragedies and triumphs have settled.

Review by Juan David Castilla

Reggaetón Cruise. As hilarious and as unnerving as the global village itself. Get it now!

24/07/2021

"I’ve been a bad daughter, momma. I didn’t even tell you how Big Toño died, and it’s been seven years,” said Sandrita, with eyes wide open. “Look at all you do for us. I should be the one making you coffee.”

A fragment from the novel Reggaetón Cruise by Patricio X. Maya.

24/05/2021

21/05/2021

Free for 24hrs. 🌎🏞🏝Get it now!! https://reggaetoncruise.net

20/05/2021

18/05/2021

Check out our landing page! 💯🗺🏝🎢. Those who requested a free copy of the book will get it in two days. We're running a promo. Hop on the cruise!

Reggaetón Cruise. As hilarious and as unnerving as the global village itself. Get it now!

07/05/2021

After getting nearly crushed on his way to magic America, the alien drifter most likely to fail posts a song that blows up on YouTube. Cringe factor is part of the viral charm. The flashy farmer must be a joke! But maybe he’s the opposite of a joke. He’ll sort that out for himself when he performs his smash hit at the flamboyant Reggaetón Cruise, which might be a gig to die for, literally. GET IT NOW! 🐳🌊 https://reggaetoncruise.net/

28/03/2021

"Nothing so much as a techno-beat The Great Gatsby" - Graydon Miller
"A Celebration that reads like a warning or a warning that reads like a celebration. It's subject? That wonderful net of inmensurable proportions: capitalism, globalization and hyperreality; in short, our era."
Pío Tapia, Literary Critic

Out now! Free Kindle for 48hrs. Great reactions so far (more on that soon). Hop on the cruise!!🗺💯🏝🌎🎢

❤️ https://reggaetoncruise.net/ 💚

08/03/2021

En vivo ahora!

05/03/2021

EL VIRUS

Anoche
en la prensa
lo tildaban
de doble batalla:
una mujer que daba a luz
mientras con la misma sangre
intentaba saciar al virus.

Así nacía una niña, y así
ingresaba una madre
a los confusos linderos
que llamamos mejor vida
mientras al pálido padre
se le atiesaban
(ante los medios)
como mármol
las palabras
en la boca.

Como a naciones enteras
guarnecidas, en shock
porque no es garúa
lo del mapamundi
sino la enrojecida pista
del diligente agazapado
que sale en lo que se inhala
y se cola en lo que se exhala.

Y en lo que se suspira
al divisar esa sombra
que pasa en alto
buscando pulmón
o fosa para posar
su mal habida agua, que es cause
o brazo de un río tan añejo
que ni el Dante en su anchura
se imaginaba tantos afanes despojados.

Entonces
no hay atajo para el hombre
eterno cazador de la muerte
que seguirá encarando
(o con la mente trazando)
su histórica encrucijada
donde para tomarle el pulso a la lid
no hay que tomarle el pulso a la lid
sino tomarle el pulso a la lid
y cuando el emplumado se de vuelta
zamparle toda la lanza.

p.x. maya
https://www.amazon.com/80-mph-Spanish-Patricio-Maya/dp/0986273457/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=maya+80+mph&qid=1614966888&sr=8-4

80 mph (Spanish Edition)

01/03/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZKZ8YCk6Gc

19/02/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH9nsTRtHyY

06/02/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxCWp0tGIsE

01/02/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL457uvjUOQ

30/01/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peQTcHRBI4g

23/01/2021

Book Talk #2 Writers Patricio X. Maya, Graydon Miller, and Juan David Castilla talk about literature. Today's topic: Conan Doyle's The Five Orange Pips (Sherlock Holmes story)

Writers Patricio X. Maya, Graydon Miller, and Juan David Castilla talk about literature.Today's Topic: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Five Orange Pips"Books by P....

18/01/2021

Today's Topic: Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Man with the Twisted Lip"

10/10/2020

https://pajaronian.com/spanish-language-novel-delves-into-canning-strike/

Author Graydon Miller says he’s been working on his latest novel on-and-off-again for over three decades. It began in July 1985, when a number of Latina workers at Watsonville Canning went on strike, protesting sudden wage cuts and reduced health benefits. The workers, represented by Teamsters Loc...

14/09/2020

Nuestro primer review en audible! Generosa reseña de una oyente perspicaz! 👌🏽👌🏽Our first audible review!

10/09/2020

El autor de 80 MPH Graydon Miller está en vivo ahora!

08/09/2020

03/09/2020

Después de ti, fingir el éxtasis

Hablaré de ti, como de perder trenes.
Al fin y al cabo el horizonte es una cicatriz del cielo,
eso ya lo sabes.
Tengo que fingir el éxtasis,
detrás de la mirada
como semáforos a un Nunca,
a kilómetros de mis quimeras.
Mientras
voy a hacer retratos de tu ausencia,
deteniéndome en cada bajo cero,
perdiendo el control de la caída.
Y en el fondo de las manos
se escuchará el eco de los trenes.
Al fin y al cabo, el cielo pesa menos que un beso.
Eso, también lo sabes.

Óscar Noviembre - Madrid, 1992.

Lea más poemas de Noviembre y otros escritores en la antología bilingüe de 80MPH. https://www.amazon.com/80-MPH-bilingual-anthology-Summer-ebook/dp/B07T5BD8WQ

80 MPH: bilingual anthology (Summer 2019 Book 1)

02/09/2020

"The Break-Up (2)", continua el nuevo relato en ingles de Graydon Miller, autor de la novela, "Mujeres con navajas." https://www.canyon-news.com/the-break-up-2/129764

Newsroom is open 24 hours, please reach us by email at [email protected] or by phone Monday through Friday 9-5. You can place DBA (Fictitious Business Name Statement) orders online by clicking on the link Legal Filings

29/08/2020

Salió la primera reseña de Mujeres con Navajas! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8xD4aqXyTk&t=1s

27/08/2020

Tus ojos violetas en el hielo
son inmunes a la hecatombe

90057

me viste preso/enloquecido
en mi maldita máquina
chamuscadora; ofrenda tú
saltar en mi boca, desnuda
limpiarme por dentro
juré travesías en navíos
minotauro-dragón, utopías
que aniquilan el vacío
chocita-santuario
en huracán de estiércol
acuérdate:
atardecer ilegal
de mi adolescencia
y tú y yo
atrincherados en Compton
orando a una bruja, a su jauría
papeles pa’ quedar en USA
–te excitaba, pink fingers
intuir arrestos, persecuciones
(cómo te quiero, rubia)
igual: sorry, te induje a copular
en la boca del in****no

lo confieso: anhelaba
tentar tu ética anglosajona
de la cual habló Borges

la vida ilegal me mutó
el yo; equilibrio de mí
fui yo ya un precipicio

mordimos el metal
la ruleta, el azar
y salimos ilesos
aunque
empíricamente:

casi la cagamos

90026

chocita-raíz
la quietud amarilla y verde
nos inducía náuseas
tu carita aguijoneada
y una pelea callejera
que me cobró
sangre, neuronas
y tantito de autoestima

igual
aniquilamos el enjambre
retuve mi nariz
la amistad de un chileno suicida
y de su doble americano

así, para pasar
el aburrimiento
entre eventos
y festejos
con fashionistas
y homosexuales
me obligaste
a probar
un centenar
de platillos
exóticos
y yo
te obligué
a inyectarte
he***na

mentira, just kidding
(no soy un mal tipo)
te obligué a probar
guatita ecuatoriana
la cual desdeñaste
(cómo te atreves)

en eso estábamos:
montañas de platos sucios
malos negocios, carros perdidos
libros, amor y McDonald’s
los mendigos que casi éramos

yo seguía prometiendo travesías
ya que prometer es bailar es fe es alucinación

por lo cual
una mañana de verano
abarrotamos
el Nissan 1997 negro
y cruzamos
–mendigo, ratón de biblioteca;
maga, reina del orbe epicúreo–
Arizona, Nuevo México, Texas, Arkansas
Tennessee, Oklahoma, Virginia y Pensilvania

como dardos en la lluvia


13206

Syracuse para nosotros
es una especie de terreno baldío
con unos trenes, unos lagos
y una casita sin televisión
ni cortinas, ni sábanas
en la tormenta

hace un año que somos adultos
vivimos en la nieve de Onondaga
anonadados ante las estaciones
los truenos y la pobreza circundante

desesperada consultas
recetas de cocina
dudando si la vida es para flotar
mientras yo, quemo tiempo
fingiendo digerir
sendos tomos filosóficos

obviamente rehúsas trabajar
dado que el tiempo es viscoso
y nos va deformando las facciones

ciertamente aterrador, es verdad
pero permíteme aclarar algo
rubia criatura: créeme
tus ojos violetas en el hielo
son inmunes a la hecatombe

perdona la franqueza
pero yo, que tengo el temple
para erigir estas columnas
que nos sobrevivirán
que seguramente
ya nos sobreviven
te prometo
te sigo prometiendo, lindura:

Mongolia
Dhuvutai
Moldova
en alfombras
voladoras
sobre casas
valles, ríos
montañas
y tú y yo
abrazados
sobre el ardor
del infinito
—¡infinito!—
firmamento.

Patricio Maya
del libro 80 MPH

https://www.amazon.com/80-mph-Spanish-Patricio-Maya/dp/0986273457

80 mph (Spanish Edition)