Author Description

In "The War of the Fatties," a campy, tongue-in-cheek retelling of an episode from the Mexican "Trojan War," naked fat women from Tlatelolco discombobulate Tenochtitlan's invading army by squirting them with breast milk. Told with satiric allusions to the policies and tactics used by Mexico's current ruling party, PRI, to consolidate its power, the play unfolds a history of vain rivalry and decadence, intricate political maneuvers, corruption, and unchecked ambition that determined the course of Mexican history for two centuries before the Spanish conquest. Novo's other works in this collection - "A Few Aspects of Sex among the Nahuas," "Ahuitozotl and the Magic Water," "Cuauhtemoc: Play in One Act," "Cuauhtemoc and Eulalia: A Dialogue," "Malinche and Carlota: A Dialogue," and "In Ticitezcatl or The Enchanted Mirror: Opera in Two Acts" - represent nearly all of his Aztec-related writings. Taken together, they provide a delightful introduction to Novo's later works and a lighthearted, historically accurate introduction to Aztec culture. Often unjustly overlooked, these works have never been available in English. The text is supplemented by a glossary of Nahuatl terms, notes on the historical characters, and an introduction that provides historical background and places Novo's works within their cultural context.