"An ambitious debut novel by an original young writer, We Eat Our Own blurs the lines between life and art with the story of a film director's unthinkable experiment in the Amazon. When a nameless, struggling actor in 1970s New York gets the call that an enigmatic director wants him for an art film set in the Amazon, he doesn't hesitate: he flies to South America, no questions asked. He quickly realizes he's made a mistake. He's replacing another actor who quit after seeing the script -- a script the director now claims doesn't exist. The movie is over budget. The production team seems headed for a breakdown. The air is so wet that the celluloid film disintegrates. But what the actor doesn't realize is that the greatest threat might be the town itself, and the mysterious shadow economy that powers this remote jungle outpost. Entrepreneurial Americans, international drug traffickers, and M-19 guerillas are all fighting for South America's future--and the groups aren't as distinct as you might think. The actor thought this would be a role that would change his life. Now he's worried if he'll survive it. Inspired by a true story from the annals of 1970s Italian horror film, and told in dazzlingly precise prose, We Eat Our Own is a resounding literary debut, a thrilling journey behind the scenes of a shocking film and a thoughtful commentary on violence and its repercussions"--
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I enjoyed this. It had potential that it didn't quite live up to.
Essentially inspired by Cannibal Holocaust and the events surrounding the existence of this movie, it follows the journey of a young American actor who gets hired to be in a giallo film by an Italian director in Colombia at a very dangerous time in that nation's history. Alternating chapters are told from the p.o.v. of different characters. No character really gets a second chance. The only character we hear from multiple times IS the American. So, as one can imagine, the story gets a little uneven when a dozen different characters take turns being the focus.
But it was enjoyable. It was a bit stressful. It reminded me of the horrible things in Cannibal Holocaust.
But I wanted more. For a horror fan, this book will not truly deliver on all the cannibal gore and exploitation one could want. But for a piece of lit-fic, it's surprisingly enjoyable, and I would read the next thing Ms Wilson writes.
