I have seen the "real" Doorman - at least as portrayed by a handsome actor in the film "Before Night Falls", the story of Reinaldo Arenas. It was during the watching of this movie that I remembered I had in my library, unread, Arenas' last book and the only one set in the Unted States.

This fantastic, imaginative and metaphysical story is an immensely enjoyable adventure of a Mariel Cuban who works as a doorman in a New York City apartment. Yes, he opens doors for a living, but he is also burdened by a compulsive search for The Door to True Happiness, and he shares his search with the motley collection of tenants with whom he interacts daily. The search, however, is impeded by the deep flaws of every tenant - each flaw is different and each hilarious in its telling.

We find out in the second half of the book that the animals kept by the tenants as pets (a zoo's worth, including a bear, an orangutan, a rattlesnake, as well as an assortment of birds, cats, dogs, rodents and fish) have sensed an affinity with the Doorman. They recognize his kindness, in contrast to the selfishness of their masters, and feel that his search for The Door could help them escape their physical confinement and roles as mere adjuncts to absurd human behavior. They are able to communicate flawlessly in English with the Doorman.

The adventure that ensues forces us to examine life, aspirations, relationships, social roles and the meaning of "happiness." As the author reminds us often, the Doorman's role as a human -animal intermediary and omniscient observer of New York life is aided by his being a tropical stranger in a foreign land.

Arenas died relatively young in 1990. ( )

Part of book project. This isn't a good book. Spoilers Abound. The second part was better than the first, by a scootch, which is why I gave it 1 start instead of 1/2 star. It is so banal. The stupid, greedy, selfish people, it is like a parody of a book about an immigrant in New York. Maybe that is on purpose, but maybe not. The ugliness, over and over, the incident and description piled on top of one another with no sense of balance, or believability. The guys who get sexual pleasure from being bitten by the dog...could you even do that more than once? The parents who lock their kid out of the house so they can enjoy a piece of pork. Anyway, when it gets to the animals at least they get to breathe some freedom, and they almost, sort of, carry out an act that at least has an altruistic component. But of course, back to banality, animals are better than people (which they are, they are, but that is hardly the making of quality fiction.) ( )