In these spectacular vignettes, the internationally acclaimed author
Carlos Fuentes explores Tolstoy's classic observation that "happy
families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
In "A Family Like Any Other," each member of the Pagán family lives in
isolation, despite sharing a tiny house. In "The Mariachi's Mother," the
limitless devotion of a woman is revealed as she secretly tends to her
estranged son's wounds. "Sweethearts" reunites old lovers unexpectedly
and opens up the possibilities for other lives and other loves. These
are just a few of the remarkable stories in Happy Families, but they all
inhabit Fuentes's trademark Mexico, where modern obsessions bump up
against those of the mythic past-and the result is a triumphant display
of the many ways we reach out to one another and find salvation through
irrepressible acts of love.