The author reviews Daniel Alarcón's first novel, "Lost City Radio" and states: "Alarcón may share with Allende and García Márquez a desire to make sense of his native country's past, but like Iñarritu and Cuarón, his use of saturated imagery and unconventional narratives reflects the paradoxes of 21st century Latin America - a place where deep, traditional cultures collide with desperate poverty and the tremors of globalism to produce stories that are violent, unsettling and vividly graphic."