Article: Pajaros de la playa.

Severo Sarduy's latest short novel is the story of an island populated by the aged and infirm. The plot quickly resolves itself into a struggle between two would-be healers. One is, in an allusion to Arevalo Martinez's story, "El hombre que parecia un caballo." His rival, known as Caiman, is a Cuban curandero. (Cuba's resemblance to a caiman is well known, as is the fact that "El Caballo" has made many attempts to suppress the practice of traditional Afro-Cuban religious rites.)

In the process of telling his tale, the narrator weaves in fragments of several previous works of Spanish American fiction. There are evident allusions to Carlos Fuentes's Aura ("Los cuerpos ...

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