Alfredo Montenegro is a gambusino, or scavenger of mines. Following the pull-out of American mining interests from Mexico in the late 1920s, he roams the hills, eking out a bare existence by hauling promising samples into town and hoping to make deals with current land owners.Prospecting requires a grubstake, and from time to time Montenegro takes a steady job as a trucker or supervisor for a small Mexican mining company. The problems of his lifestyle are reflected in a growing estrangement from his wife, Irene, and by a ...
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Alfredo Montenegro is a gambusino, or scavenger of mines. Following the pull-out of American mining interests from Mexico in the late 1920s, he roams the hills, eking out a bare existence by hauling promising samples into town and hoping to make deals with current land owners.Prospecting requires a grubstake, and from time to time Montenegro takes a steady job as a trucker or supervisor for a small Mexican mining company. The problems of his lifestyle are reflected in a growing estrangement from his wife, Irene, and by a break with his foster father, the pastor Ramirez. Alfredo is tortured by his inability to find a major deposit and is resentful of the fact that Irene is attracted to his CPA son-in-law, who doesn't take risks.Eventually his obsession reaches the point where no professional miner will go out with him, and he has to settle for a farmer to assist him. It is then that he makes his big strike.
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Add this copy of Gambusino (Plover Contemporary Latin-American Classics to cart. $46.39, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Academy Chicago Publishers.