Stylized view of Monterrey with sunset, skyline and Cerro de la Silla

The Fine Young Men of Mexico

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Downtown Merida illustration

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About the Book

Gallo left México when he was twenty-five and never looked back. Pushing fifty, he now returns for a reunion with his old school friends in Mérida, and finds they've barely moved on from the dysfunctional no-hopers they were in the past.

In the course of an alcohol-fuelled weekend marked by insults and endearments, he's forced to confront exactly what it is about each of them that has held them back. Beset by boasts, challenges, and sentimental wallowing, he must also fit in as one of the boys while retaining his self-respect.

The Fine Young Men of Mexico is the literary equivalent of a buddy movie, with flash cars and drug drops, an ill-judged boat trip, the parading of juvenile excess, and the poorly timed arrival of a wife. Gallo also gets killed...or doesn't: it's hard to tell.

At the same time, the book is a disturbing but darkly humorous contemplation on the corrosive effects of crime and violence in a city once considered Mexico's last refuge from the corruption that has destroyed the rest of the country.

Stylized beekeeper and beehives illustration
Portrait of FX Contreras

About the Author

FX Contreras is a writer and playwright whose characters navigate worlds that nearly make sense—until they don't. In his fiction, order replaces meaning, identity is performed rather than lived, hope becomes a form of punishment, and friendship turns into a mirror. Blending dark humor with emotional precision, Contreras explores the fragility of belief, the theater of power, and what it means to be seen without ever being known.

Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Fernando now lives in Valencia by way of Boston. His stories have been featured on Hades United, a Substack dedicated to literature with a darkly comic edge. His debut novel, The Fine Young Men of Mexico, will be published by Envelope Books in 2025.