A Book Savor Chat with CARTEL RISING Author Guillermo Paxton

The Book Savor series grew out of my love for good books, great friends, and interesting conversations about books.

This week the author of THE PLAZA and CARTEL RISING, Guillermo Paxton, talks about the books he savors.

1.Carmen Amato: What was the first book you read that marked the transition from reading kids’ books to grown-up fare?

Guillermo Paxton: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Had nightmares for a week.

2. CA: You are shipwrecked with a crate labeled “Books.” What 3 books do you hope are in it?

GP: The Bible. Infinite Jest. Ga-Jin.

3. CA: What book would you give as a housewarming gift and why?

GP: I’d want to give them one of mine since I always have a stockpile of them at the house and I’d only have to buy a bow.

4. CA: You can invite any author, living or dead, to dinner at your home. What are you serving and what will the conversation be about?

GP: Cormac McCarthy, because I’m so damned impressed with his writing. My wife cooks the best Mexican food, so if it was winter I’d serve posole and if it was summer I’d grill flank steak (arrachera) and baked potatoes.

5. CA: Can you leave us with a quote, a place, or a concept from a book that inspired you?

GP: Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion. Jack Kerouac

Tell us about yourself in 3 sentences or less.

When I was seven, my father warned me not to go to the abandoned house on our street. That same day, I went to the abandoned house on the street and explored it inside and out. I’m still that same kid.

More about this week’s guest: Guillermo’s books are tough novels of suspense that go inside Mexico’s drug war with a style I dubbed “narco noir” in this review of his latest, CARTEL RISING, which I devoured in about 2 days.