I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this one the plot kept me interested until the end which is not easy, and the characters were engaging and believable. I highly recommend this book.

This book was not for me unfortunately. It was hard to connect with most of the characters and difficult to follow the story at times. It could be due to the translation, but I felt I had to interpret meaning so much on my own.

Book publishers, attempting to attract readers by comparing their newest offerings to earlier works, can do a real disservice -- not only to the readers, but to the books themselves.

The marketing shorthand for The Guardian of Amsterdam Street is "Roma meets A Gentleman in Moscow." Here's how that comparison holds up: The 2018 film Roma indeed depicted the lives of humble Mexicans against a fraught political backdrop. The 2016 book A Gentleman in Moscow depicts a man confined for most of his lifetime to the premises of a single hotel, as history unfolds beyond its walls.

While this book is sweet and engaging, and features a homebound Mexican boy watching the fervor of 20th century war and revolution from his self-imposed hermitage, The Guardian of Amsterdam Street doesn't carry the weight of either the film or the earlier book it's likened to.

The book is part roman a clef, part Latin American magical realism, and part mystery: Is Galo, the main character, a savant? Is there mental illness, or --as his mother and priest believe -- some cognitive impairment?

In any case, this odd and winning child grows up and grows old in the space of a few hours of readers' time. He refuses to approach the world, but the world comes to him, via his mother's tenants and tradespeople and the refugees of war and revolt who have found their way to this corner of Mexico City.

Thanks to NetGalley and the House of Anansi Press for an advance readers copy.

Sergio Schmucler, author of The Guardian of Amsterdam Street, was born in Argentina but went into exile in Mexico during the early days of Argentina’s “Dirty War” (1976-1983), which targeted dissidents, students, writers, journalists, artists, and other suspected enemies of the government. Although The Guardian of Amsterdam Street begins before Schmucler’s birth, his experience clearly influenced the story he tells.

This unusual, thought-provoking novel recounts the story of Galo, a Mexican boy determined to change the world without leaving home. Following a 1938 domestic tragedy that drove his carpenter father from home and ended Galo’s intended career years before it could begin, the boy goes into self-exile on Mexico City’s Amsterdam Street, a huge ellipse. Only once after age five does Galo leave home, and when he does, he discovers that walking as far as he can on Amsterdam Street only brings him back to his own front door. With this realization, the child concludes that anyone who leaves is destined to return.

Although Galo stays home, he is not isolated. When his mother begins renting rooms to make ends meet, the world and 20th-century history come to Galo. A succession of varied refugees, exiles, and revolutionaries take up residence, introducing Galo to colorful characters, human tragedies, and individual efforts to better the world.

Pondering questions about life and devising his own plan to eliminate human suffering without leaving home, Galo gradually transforms from a five-year-old boy to a middle-aged man, sometimes reassessing his plan but remaining ever hopeful.

Exactly who are all these people who have influenced Galo’s life? What are their plans? How does each influence Galo’s thinking? Will he ever again leave his home on Amsterdam Street?

Novelist, screenwriter, and human rights activist, Sergio Schmucler died in 2019, approximately five years after the publication of El Guardián de la Calle Ámsterdam. Only now in 2021 has this touching, humane novel been translated into English, making it possible for English-speaking readers to join Galo in pondering how life’s events connect to each other and whether or not mankind can change the world for the better.

Thanks to NetGalley and House of Anansi Press for the opportunity to review this unforgettable book.

The Guardian of Amsterdam Street was an interesting way to learn more about the disparate groups that fled repressive regimes and ended up in Mexico. I enjoyed learning about the La Condesa neighborhood and its place in the history of Mexico City.

At times the writing was powerful, especially so during interactions between minor characters. Too often the main character, Galo, felt one-dimensional. All the characters were passive, occasionally flaring up into anger/violence, and this was especially true with Galo. At times he erupted in ways which seemed very out of character while at other times he didn’t react at all in situations where strong emotion would have been an appropriate response.

Unfortunately there is too much foreshadowing; the “it will come around again” theme could have been more effective had it been more subtle. Several extraneous themes didn’t seem to lead anywhere, e.g. men with mustaches.

The novel is described as the story of a boy’s “self-imposed refuge”, but Galo’s inability to leave his home is no more self-imposed than Count Rostov’s is in A Gentleman in Moscow.


Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to review the ARC via Netgalley.

After witnessing a traumatic incident that rips his family apart, a boy resolves to never leave home and spends the rest of his life guarding an ever-changing street.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I found this book to be SO incredibly difficult to get through. The story was basically nonexistent, the characters were flat, and there was a random scene in which a girl who escapes the Holocaust with her family calls Jews the 'murderers of Christ.' This sat horribly with me. To perpetuate stereotypes through your characters or have them repeat lies, is unfair to the audience; this leads to readers believing these lies themselves. I do not recommend this book one bit. There were countless incidents of stereotypes and disingenuous characters just doing something because that's what they 'should' be doing. Such a bad read and not worth the time wasted.

The Guardian of Amsterdam Street tells the story of Galo, a boy who grows into a man without leaving his home on Amsterdam Street in Mexico City. It is written from Galo’s point of view, so the reader sees the world as he sees it, first as a boy, as a teen, and then as a man. Galo is a rather unusual character, the cause of which is presumed to be a violent act he witnessed in his youth. As he grows, his thoughts and assumptions become more and more unusual. But Galo is a uniquely observant character. He encounters a microcosm of the world within his mother’s rented rooms. The people he meets with teach him about the world outside Amsterdam Street. But Amsterdam Street is Galo’s entire world. He spends his life working to protect what he loves. Ultimately, he comes to realize that he is his most important thing.

This is a story of the things that keep us stuck in our lives. It’s also a story of growing up, changing the world, and discovering self. The writing is poetic and sometimes shocking. Overall, this was an interesting look at a time and place I was unfamiliar with.

Sensitive readers should know that this book contains some violence, attempted suicide, sexual content, and adult language.

A quick but satisfying read written in a very effective style. Some books loose something in translation, but not this one. Most historical fiction fans will like this one. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

*Many thanks to Sergio Schmucler, House of Anansi Press, and NetGalley for arc in exhchnage for my honest review.*
I admit the comparison to The Gentleman in Moscow was what prompted me to request this book. Unfortunately, apart from the idea of a character never leaving the house, the book has no other qualities of that superb novel.
Galo, the main character, is a boy who witnesses a terrible event and, having been left by his father, lives with his mother who rents rooms. This gives Galo the opportunity to 'meet' many different people without actually venturing outdoors.
The book is rather short and includes some interesting stories and cultural backround of the period and place but I was not engaged too much. Perhaps the characters come and go too often? Or perhaps Galo felt rather flat to me. which may have influenced my reading experience.

This book follows the peculiar life of Galo, in his childhood after a traumatic event he decides to never leave his house and later to become the guardian of Amsterdam Street.

His mother rents rooms in their house, it's by this that Galo will see the world, he will live through the tenants and their experiences.

It's a short story, the tenants and secondary characters come and go, they enter Galo's life quickly and even faster they leave. Set in the 40s, the world was changing, because of that, Amsterdam Street is a small world, Galo will coexist with Jews, Spaniards, revolutionaries, an endless number of characters.

Its feel very melancholic, Galo is always there, sitting in the chair that his father made. He is intelligent, imaginative and sensitive, he doesn't need to leave his house to see the world, just going up to the roof is enough for him, but even so the novel has an air of sadness around it.

It is a short but captivating story.

When I saw that this book was compared to “A Gentleman in Moscow,” I had to request it. While it was a short novel, so much was packed into its pages. My heart broke for Galo and the sad life he lived sitting in the chair made by his father, waiting for life to happen.

While the priest convinced Galo’s mother there was something wrong mentally with him, it was almost like he was backward in a way from the life-altering events of his childhood: his father leaving when he was six and his mother cutting off the hand of his father’s mistress right in front of him. It was almost like he felt if time stood still, his life would eventually go back to what it was.

My only criticism of the book was that in fact was very short. We were able to meet a lot of characters throughout, but many weren’t given the chance to have their plots develop enough before they were erased from the storyline. I wish we could have learned what happened to Leonardo and Isabella especially. As well as the hairdresser and his compadre of friends & clients.

Thank you to NetGalley & House of Anansi Press for the ARC!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb for this book starts with a comparison to one of my all-time favourite films, Roma (2018, dir. Alfonso Cuaron). So obviously that is a very lofty claim, and I was excited to see how I liked the book. Turns out, I really liked it, but there a few things that stopped this from being a 5-star read for me.

The story is of Galo, a child in Mexico City who, after a traumatic event, decides he will never leave his house again. This is the starting point, and his story is told across many decades, while never leaving his home. That being said, he is still able to experience the world via the people that pass through. There is a real sensitivity and imagination in this novel, which makes it feel so much bigger than it is. Conversations about God, memory, and revolution from the sheltered and simple perspective of a child confined to a few rooms was something I hadn't read before, and these chapters were the most interesting to me.

I read this in one sitting. I know it's a short novel, but I haven't done something like that in... years probably. So the plot stays interesting, and the short chapters make for a propulsive read. That being said, I actually think it moves too fast for its own good. Years went by in sentences sometimes, and while I understand the reasoning, I would have liked to get to know the people around Galo a little better. Transient characters come and go so fast, I felt like there wasn't enough time allocated to develop them. Their characters had the potential to be much more than they were, and that is my main issue with this book.

I was sad to learn at the end of the book that author died a few years ago. If that wasn't the case, I would have said that I was looking forward to seeing what he does next. While I don't think this novel lives up to Roma, I do recommend it. Thanks again to NetGalley for giving me an advanced reader's copy.

This was a peculiar read. It was equally heartbreaking and hopeful and a wonderful glimpse into a different life, in a different time. The writing style was beyond beautiful, it was poetic and whimsical but also raw and blunt. I almost wish it was longer, although the story felt like it was the perfect length. For such a short book, it's taken up a lot of space in my mind, in the best way.

This is a short and unusual book telling what I found to be a rather sad story which focuses on the politics of South America in the 1960s. The writing style is both rich and simple which sounds like an oxymoron but is very appropriate for the main character’s thought patterns. I’m genuinely left not quite knowing what I think of the story other than frustration and sadness. I certainly didn’t experience it in the same way that I did The Gentleman in Moscow despite possible similarities.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.