El Vendedor de Silencio / The Merchant of Silence [Spanish]

Ganador del Premio Xavier Villarrutia 2019.

«No ped?a mucho, carajo, s?lo que lo dejaran prostituirse a su modo.

A mediados del siglo XX, Carlos Denegri era el l?der de opini?n m?s influyente de M?xico. Reportero estrella del diario Exc?lsior, ten?a una red de contactos internacionales envidiada por todos los periodistas. Mimado por el poder, como columnista pol?tico sobresali? por su falta de escr?pulos, al grado de que Julio Scherer lo llam? "el mejor y el m?s vil de los reporteros". Industrializ? el "chayote" cuando esa palabra todav?a no se usaba en la jerga pol?tica. En su Fichero Pol?tico, donde fung?a como vocero extraoficial de la Presidencia y cobraba todas las menciones, pod?a difamar a cualquiera con impunidad absoluta.

Seg?n Carlos Monsiv?is, un coscorr?n en esa columna representaba "una temporada en el infierno" para cualquier aspirante a un cargo p?blico. Aunque ganaba millones por publicar alabanzas, se hizo m?s rico a?n por medio de la extorsi?n, call?ndose lo que sab?a de sus poderosos clientes. La personalidad p?blica de Carlos Denegri es indisociable de las atroces vejaciones mis?ginas que cometi? en su vida privada. Era tan prepotente y d?spota en el trato con las mujeres como en el periodismo, de modo que su patolog?a fue a la vez ?ntima y social.

Radiograf?a del machismo a la mexicana y epitafio de la dictadura perfecta, esta novela es un estudio de car?cter incisivo y mordaz, sustentado en un arduo trabajo de investigaci?n, que por momentos linda con la farsa tr?gica. Enrique Serna vuelve a una de sus vetas narrativas predilectas, la reconstrucci?n del pasado, para entregarnos un fresco hist?rico apasionante.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Winner of the Xavier Villaurrutia Award 2019.

"He wasn't asking much, damn it, just to be allowed to prostitute himself in his own way."

In the mid-20th century, Carlos Denegri was the most influential opinion leader in Mexico. Star reporter for the Excelsior, he had an international network of contacts envied by journalists everywhere. Spoiled by power, as a political columnist he stood out for his lack of scruples, to the extent that Julio Scherer called him "the best and most vile of reporters." He industrialized the "chayote" payoff when that word wasn't yet used in political slang. In his Political File, he acted as the unofficial spokesperson for the Presidency and could slander anyone with absolute impunity.

According to Carlos Monsiv?is, a wallop in that column represented "a season in hell" for any contender for public office. Although he earned millions for publishing praise, he became even richer through extortion, hiding what he knew about his powerful clients. Carlos Denegri's public persona is inseparable from the atrocious misogynistic harassment he committed in his private life. He was as tyrannical and despotic in his treatment toward women as he was in journalism; his pathology was both intimate and social.

An x-ray of Mexican machismo and an epitaph of the perfect dictatorship, this novel is a sharp, scathing character study supported by an arduous investigation, which at times borders on a tragic farce. Enrique Serna returns to one of his favorite narrative veins, the reconstruction of the past, to bring us a thrilling historical portrait.