Mañana (PDF)

<DIV>William Hjortsberg (1941&ndash;2017) was an acclaimed author of novels and screenplays. Born in New York City, Hjortsberg&rsquo;s first success came with <I>Alp</I> (1969), an offbeat story of an Alpine skiing village, which Hjortsberg&rsquo;s friend Thomas McGuane called, &ldquo;quite possibly the finest comic novel written in America.&rdquo; In the 1970s, Hjortsberg wrote two science fiction novels, <I>Gray Matters </I>(1971) and <I>Symbiography</I> (1973), as well as <I>Toro! Toro! Toro!</I> (1974), a comic jab at the macho world of bullfighting. His best-known work is <I>Falling Angel</I> (1978), a hard-boiled occult mystery. In 1987 the book was adapted into a film titled <I>Angel Heart</I>, which starred Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke. Hjortsberg&rsquo;s work also includes <I>Jubilee Hitchhiker</I> (2012), a biography of Richard Brautigan, American writer and voice of 1960s counterculture.<BR /> &#160;</DIV>

“While fun might not be the word normally used to describe a story with blood, smoking guns, knives, drugs, death, and heartbreak, you’re going to have to trust me on this one. A trip. William Hjortsberg does it again.” —Michael Keaton, Golden Globe Award–winning actor
 
“A kick-ass thriller that moves through Mexico like a scalded sidewinder. As always, Hjortsberg delivers wild surprises, cool chatter, and raw, unforgettable scenes.” —Carl Hiaasen
 
“Hjortsberg gives us a deft, deadly no-let-up narrative in edged prose, sharp as a stropped razor. This one cuts deep so brace yourself.” —William F. Nolan, coauthor of Logan’s Run
 
“William Hjortsberg’s Mañana is a trip—one filled with suspense, blood, and laughs.” —Jeff Bridges, Academy Award–winning actor
 
“Terrific writing. Wild characters. Dark humor. Can’t-stop reading. Brilliant . . . Bang-bang.” —Peter Fonda, cowriter and star of Easy Rider
 
“Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Jack Kerouac, maybe a little Pynchon—that’s the lineage leading to William Hjortsberg and Mañana, his nifty tale of murder and young love amid the dark and wilted days of flower power. If you remember the sixties, some say, it means you weren’t there. Hjortsberg was, and he does, and often it wasn’t pretty.” —David Quammen
 
“Alternately hilarious and plain scary . . . [Hjortsberg’s] prose is finely wrought, his drama perfect.” —Peter Bowen
 
“A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this book. . . . Mañana shows that this writer is still at the height of his powers.” —Peter Blauner, author of Slipping into Darkness and Slow Motion Riot
 
“Terrific . . .