from Caracas to the Corps: an Alien's Odyssey into America
Barry, William James
Synopsis "from Caracas to the Corps: an Alien's Odyssey into America"
In the spring of 1940 a young pugilist in Caracas, Venezuela wins his tenth straight fight against a popular seasoned opponent. While bicycling back to his barrio he comes upon the screams of a woman in distress. He enters a dark ally in the sordid side of the city and confronts a man attempting to rape and possibly kill the young woman. The woman is a former Miss Venezuela and daughter of a prominent physician. The attacker is a high government official in a corrupt regime. A fight to the death ensues and the pugilist kills the official in self defense. The young woman's father helps the pugilist escape execution for the killing and flee Venezuela. Before living his family and homeland, the young woman signals that she will see him again, which she does. He is put on a fishing trawler and begins a long arduous odyssey that takes him to Cuba and then Miami and then up the east coast. Along the way he holds several menial jobs and meets a host of colorful characters. His goal is to hook up with a cousin, a boxing trainer in Brooklyn. On the way he meets and befriends a colorful New York truck driver named Caesar Grande, who takes him to Brooklyn. There he boxes under a fictitious name and moves up in the rankings in and around New York. Our story unfolds under the ominous clouds of a coming world war. The INS gets wind that our protagonist is an illegal alien, and tries to deport him. The former Miss Venezuela comes to New York and her beauty and talent as a pianist is propitiously woven into the story. The Venezuelan Consulate sends people to New York to try and kill him. As his career as a boxer expands, the New York Underworld, led by Frank Costello and Frankie Carbo try to control him and make him take a dive in a major fight. Frank Sinatra performs at the Copa and advises him on how to deal with mob guys like Cabo. He and Miss Venezuela fall in love and marry. New York serves as a back drop for their love affair. An Admiral from Floyd Bennett field take him under his wing and saves him from deportation. The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and everything in their lives change. Near the end we discover the real reason Miss Venezuela was attacked in the first place. The conclusion to the story is a heart wrenching look at reality and and the conclusion will have you applauding.
