I recently finished The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis by Humberto Costantini, an Argentinian writer. It is at least the third time I have read this book - first in 1989, again in 2000, and now in 2009. I first found out about this book when my wife had to read it for a college course (I'm not sure which class). Years later I decided I wanted to read it again, but I couldn't find her copy, so I spent awhile searching second-hand bookstores in Seattle before I finally found a copy for $4.50. (Later we found my wife's copy, so now we have two...)
The book is about one night in the life of an Argentinian man named Francisco Sanctis. The night is November 11-12, 1977, at the height of the military junta and the accompanying arrests, murders, disappearances, etc. Sanctis was once involved in politics, but he is no longer. However, he is given the names of two men who are scheduled to be arrested (and presumably tortured and murdered) later that night. The book concerns his efforts to try to decide what to do.
I won't give away the ending. I will tell you this, though: the favorite automobile of many Argentinians at that time (including the police and the Air Force Intelligence death squads) was the Ford Falcon.
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