Product Description

Manuel is a single man. He lives in a big house in one of Miami s neighboring islands. He stands there, absorbed in his thoughts, watching as lizards fall in a pool and hoping for the phone to ring; but it won t ring. Manuel has lost those friends whom he wishes would call. He lost them because of his selfishness, because they were his inspiration for the novels that made him famous and at the same time, condemned him to the indifference and the silence of those he now misses. This is a collection of letters to the friends he betrayed by divulging their innermost secrets, dreams and sexual orientations. These are the letters Manuel writes to those friends he regains only in his imagination: Melanie, with whom he had more than a friendship; Daniel, who thought him to dance and visit brothels; Sebastián, the handsome actor with whom he maintained a secret affair; his friend Manuel, who also dreamt of being a writer; and Dr. Guerra, an aristocrat who thought him the love for books, journalism and strolls through the Parque del Retiro in Madrid.

Description in Spanish: Cuando no merecemos la oportunidad de pedir disculpas, las cartas nos hacen creer que podemos recuperar a los amigos que perdimos. Manuel es un hombre solo, ha perdido a sus amigos porque fue egoísta, porque se inspiró en ellos para escribir unas novelas que lo hicieron famoso pero que lo condenaron a la indiferen¬cia y al silencio de aquellos a quienes ahora echa de menos. Estas son las cartas que escribe a los amigos que recupera en la fantasía: Melanie, con quien vivió algo más que una amistad; Daniel, que le enseñó a bailar, peinarse y visitar prostíbulos; Sebastián, el guapo actor con quien mantuvo una aventura secre¬ta; su tocayo Manuel, quien también soñaba con ser escritor; y el doctor Guerra, personaje aristocrático que lo inició en el amor a los libros, el periodismo y los paseos sosegados por el parque del Retiro en Madrid.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #220212 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: Spanish
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781598208771
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
Peruvian journalist now in U.S. has written his ultimate confession in his latest novel. Los Amigos que Perdí is a collection of letters to the friends he betrayed because he divulged their innermost secrets and dreams and sexual orientation in his earlier novels.

Customer Reviews

Is it fiction - or is it an autobiography?
I bought Jaime Bayly's latest book to be entertained, to be reminded of what it was like to live in Lima in the 80's (Mr. Bayly and I are from Lima, the same age, and move to the U.S. about the same time)through his anecdotical humor and his risque style. Even though he keeps the same writing style of his past novels, I encountered a more mature, more serious, main character "Manuel." But that is what makes the novel very intriguing. Is it Mr. Bayly's coming of age and feelings of remorse a tool to apologize in real life to his former friends he based his past novels on? Or is it simply the fictional character, Manuel, apologizing to the protagonists of Mr. Bayly's past novels. Or does Mr. Bayly simply consider those friends really lost, and divulges more intimacies and secrets about them? I couldn't help, while reading, trying to figure out who those "lost friends" are. Is the main character's namesake "Manuel", really columnist Jaime Bedoya from the Peruvian weekly "Caretas,"? Is his former male lover Sebastian really Diego Bertie (Peruvian soap star seen in the US in Univision and Telemundo)?. Most Limenos will probably know, or at least speculate, on who the characters are. Is this a way for Mr. Bayly to find closure on his past novels? Or is it a way to get readers to buy his next novel, after any havoc it may cause in Lima's society, or after Manuel hears back from the five friends he writes to? Mr. Bayly, in a very clever way, let's the readers decide.

Definitely not one of Jaime Bayly's bests.
This is an interesting book by Jaime Bayly in the sense that it's just a serious of confessions in the form of letters that were written to various people who were a part of his life at one point of time and in the letters he expresses repent, sorrow, sentimental feelings etc. The book comes across as one in which Jaime Bayly once again reveals the intimacies and at this point complexities of his life. However, what are consistent in this book and others of his that I have read are his language skills and his unique way of expressing himself, which I think, is his strongest attribute. In a nutshell, this is a book with no real plot and the letters written to various friends he once had do not necessarily relate to each other. If you like Jaime Bayly it may be a worthwhile read otherwise you may want to read his other more credible works such as: Yo amo a mi mami and No se lo digas a nadie.

¿Autoretrato de Jaime Bayly?
Es una novela, con una estructura muy original, en la que Manuel, un escritor y periodista arrepentido, les escribe a esos amigos que ha perdido. Aunque se trata de una novela, se ve muchas veces una extrema similitur a la realidad, constantemente nos preguntamos si Bayly simplemente esta jugando con nosotros o si muchas de las anecdotas realmente sucedieron en la vida real (en su propia vida). Desde el momento en que comence a leer este libro me impresiono la franqueza con que se trata cada relacion, de amigos, amantes y amigos-amantes. Hiba conociendo poco a poco a Manuel y a los malentendidos que lo llevaron a perder a sus mejores amigos. La historia a veces puede ser muy chistosa, otras muy triste, llena de sabiduria. Durante toda la novela se siente la desesperacion del personaje principal por llenar un poco ese vacio que le dejaron, dandose la oportunidad de hablar con ellos por ultima vez, aunque solo sea por medio de la escritura, lo cual la hace un huracan de sentimientos encontrados y sobre todo de gran ternura. Excelente lectura para quienes estan familiarizados con sus novelas anteriores o con su pelicula "No se lo digas a nadie"