Sleeping With Pancho Villa: A Novel

by Rick Skwiot

When the gringo Jake Hart meets the seductive Marta Martinez in a dark cantina, she tells him of discovering her fiance's body decomposing in his own bath. While some in the Mexican pueblito believe it was she who did him in, suspicion soon falls on Jake - and even on his mad artist friend, Jordan, and a host of others who might have wanted to see the handsome sculptor dead. But few - not even Marta - mourn his passing nor ultimately care who murdered him. With this indifferently received homicide as a backdrop, Skwiot brings his fictional Mexican pueblito and all of its colorful inhabitants to life. Along with Jake, Marta, and Jordan, this cast includes local Revolutionary Party leader Don Pablo Martinez, who desperately needs his dentures repaired for politics to continue as usual; the ghost-rousing curandera Amelia; the gigolo Marcos, who preys on American tourists; and the philandering chief of police Munoz, who impregnates a bar maid and is turned out by his wife to sleep in his office under a portrait of Pancho Villa.

Genres: Travel

234 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1998

About the author

Rick Skwiot's critically acclaimed novel "Fail: A Carlo Gabriel Mystery" was re-released by Antaeus Books in fall 2020 in both paperback and Kindle versions. Skwiot is the author of three previous novels--the Hemingway First Novel Award winner "Death in Mexico," the Willa Cather Fiction Prize finalist "Sleeping With Pancho Villa," and "Key West Story"--and two memoirs: the highly praised childhood memoir "Christmas at Long Lake," and "San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: Memoir of a Sensual Quest for Spiritual Healing." His new novel "The Bootlegger's Bride" is slated for July 2025 release by Amphorae Publishing Group.

He's taught creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis and served as the 2004 Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. A veteran journalist, he also works as a feature writer and editor.

Reviews

[Jayne Navarre · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are thinking about going to one of Mexico's amazing colonial towns/cities in the near future, read this book. It is funny, fanciful, and above all captures the essence of the Mexican town where it is set. Great characters.

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful series of vignettes, full of wonderful characters and a sleepy setting. Not quite a novel, not quite a short story... Just a captivating read!

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, which is more a series of vignettes than a traditional novel, is brilliant. I love the stories and the characters, and the setting, which is the thing that truly unites them all, is so real I felt like I could feel the dust on my skin and taste the cerveza and tequila they were drinking. Highly recommended.

[Karen Gail Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a series of vignettes about both Americans and Mexicans living in a small Mexican town. There is Jake, we know little of him except he is American, and the lover of Marta, a Mexican whose lover has been murdered. Jordan is a black American artist whose paintings will not sell until he changes his style to painting large black penis'. One of my favorites is the sheriff, Hector Munoz Pineda, who has a wife in Mexico and another in Texas. Mostly funny, sometimes sad and with a touch of supernatural...this is a great book.

[Lüüli Suuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. Well written. "There are three things a man must do before he dies: plant a tree, father a child, and write a book."

[Brad Peuster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't often write reviews, because I don't often come across books worthy of them. Meaning I read books I enjoy and that is wonderful. But Mr. Skwiot has created a wonderful world that will draw you in and make your sense of time disappear. If you love engrossing books that defi categories but are just plan good. Pick this up and enjoy, I know I did

[Jennifer]

I got 80% through it on inertia, before I realized how uninteresting it is. Do not intend to finish it.

[Michael Hillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful look at the soul of Mexico.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful glimpse into the soul of a Mexican peublito. Often humourous, sometimes sad, these are great stories and characters; villagers, campesinos and gringos alike.

[Jeannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit disappointing. Although I liked the Spanish mixed with the English, I found that the book had too many characters and story lines.