Viva Santiago English 2008

Grampa always used to say “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a well-preserved body—rather to slide in sideways mojito in one hand Mary Jane in the other screaming whoo hoo what a ride”’ Replete with the sights sounds and flavors of Goa and a good dose of sex drugs and rock music Viva Santiago is the story of Alonso Gonzalez and his colorful dysfunctional family. Growing up on the picturesque island of Divar Alonso first meets his grandfather as a ten-year-old—unaware that one day he would decipher the method behind the eccentric chillum-clutching Dylan-loving eighteen-till-I-die old man’s madness. Years later he finds himself on an intriguing quest in his seductively beautiful homeland the ghost of his grandfather egging him on. The shifting sands of Goa and the delightful randomness of a Delhi University student’s life come together in this kaleidoscope of a novel in which there’s always one more variable in the picture one more cryptic clue and one more twist in the tale.