Edmundo Paz Soldán, a young Bolivian-born, American-based, award-winning novelist, has become a leading spokesperson for the McOndo literary movement. Recently featured in major articles in the New York Times, Newsweek, and Criticas, these writers stand in opposition to the rural-flavored magic realism of such writers as Gabriel Garc'a Márquez; instead they embrace an urban vision that incorporates the pervasive influence of American pop culture in today's Latin America. Paz Soldán's exemplary novel The Matter of Desire shows off his mastery of popular literary forms and brilliantly elucidates the complex relationship between Latin America and the United States. The Matter of Desire is the story of Pedro, a Bolivian-American political scientist who teaches at an upstate New York university. Having become entangled in an erotically charged romance with Ashley, a beautiful red-headed graduate student, he returns to Bolivia to seek answers to his own life by investigating the mystery of his father's past. Trapped between two cultures, Pedro ultimately finds himself in an existential dilemma of tragic dimensions. The Matter of Desire combines elements of the political thriller and the family mystery with a torrid illicit love affair; its publication in the United States will generate attention, critical accolades, and a wide readership.