Crocodilopolis
"A darkly intoxicating novel, at once mythic and wickedly contemporary...Here is a writer in full command of his world, delivering a ferocious meditation on masculinity, legacy, and national myth through an audacious, unforgettable book." --Ocean Vuong, the New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of Gladness and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
From the author of national bestseller Where There Was Fire comes a gripping tale of sibling rivalry, family secrets, and the fate of a nation.
Once a powerful, cold-blooded politician in Costa Rica, Seth Oreamundo is now living in exile in Washington, DC – and his younger brother Osario is to blame. Born into a corrupt political dynasty and raised on a seemingly idyllic coffee estate, the Oreamundo brothers were destined for greatness. But a dark family secret and a scandalous double crossing sent their lives into a tailspin, changing the country forever.
Osario must pay, and Seth decides the only way to do so is to return home to Costa Rica and feed his brother to the infamous river of crocodiles from their childhood. What follows is a spellbinding story of revenge alternating between Seth's murderous plans and memories of the brothers' upbringing. With the wisdom of biblical myth and the soapy wit of a telenovela, Crocodilopolis is a masterful interrogation of power, masculinity, destiny, and legacy from a literary star on the rise.
Discussion questions provided by the publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing.
Book club questions for Crocodilopolis by John Manuel Arias
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
Consider the two epigraphs. How do you think they relate to the themes of the novel?
As the novel opens, what are your first impressions of Seth? How are these reinforced—or challenged—over the course of the book?
The novel jumps back and forth through several different timelines. How does this structure aff ect your reading experience?
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Create My Club“Love is an idea that exists only in the present moment. In the past: not anymore; in the future, undecided. But in the present, love is as sincere and transparent as possible” (43). Discuss this quote from the novel. Do you agree? Why or why not? How might it relate to other ideas of the past, the present, and the future in the book?
The novel’s climax—Seth’s murder of Osario—is revealed early on, rather than being delivered later as a shocking surprise. Why do you think the author made this decision, and how does it aff ect your reading
experience? Discuss with your book club.
How are the book’s two key settings—Washington, D.C. and Costa Rica—represented? What roles do they play in the novel’s overall plot and how do they contrast or complement each other?
In the chapter, “Maat—1980,” Otilio reads a section from Beowulf, referencing Cain and Abel. In what
ways does the story of Seth and Osario run parallel to these biblical brothers?
“They were at an impressionable age. If the masculinity they witnessed was violent, they would surely
mimic that malice for the rest of their lives” (93). How is masculinity represented in the novel? Does that
representation diff er across generations or remain consistent?
What role do thewomen in the novel—María Cielos, Nieves,Isa, Ola—play in astory that primarily focuses
on a pair of brothers, and later on, their sons? How might the women counteract—or complement—the
actions and character of the men?
Consider therepresentations of fatherhood versus motherhood in the novel. In what ways do they differ—
from each other, and across generations? How are they similar?
Ideas of “fate” and “destiny” arefrequently referenced throughoutthe book. Do you considerwhat happens
to Seth and Osario—and subsequently, Horacio and Andrés—to be a true act of fate? Why or why not?
What exactly does it mean to be “king” in the novel? How might being king mean something different to
different characters? Discuss with your book club.
“This day had left them bloodthirsty. Carnivorous, cannibalistic. In place of their bodies stood beasts
of prey—winged, fanged, taloned, barbed, cloaked in desperation” (310). Consider this quote from the
novel—where else in the novel are humans represented as animalistic? What does it mean to be a man versus an animal?
Various erasure poems, created from an overview of Costa Rica and its beastly crocodiles that appears before the first chapter, are interspersed throughout the novel. What effect do these interstitials have on the novel as a whole? How do they complement the reading experience? In what ways might each rearrangement of the original text correspond to various plot points in the novel?
Crocodilopolis Book Club Questions PDF
Download a printable PDF of these discussion questions to bring to your meeting.