Written in the searing voice of its unnamed narrator, this is the story of a young man drifting through the badlands of California and Mexico after the death of his mother. He eventually settles in Canci#243;n, a sleepy Baja city on the verge of transformation. Lured by money and fame, he enters into an underground world where men fight against trained dogs before a raucous crowd of the town's elite businessmen and those who work for them. With an uncommon display of strength, skill, and sheer fearlessness, he becomes an overnight success.

Before long he catches the eye of a powerful businessman, whose grand vision is to turn Canci#243;n into a lucrative resort destination. But when the dog fighter finds friendship with a revolutionary old poet and is drawn toward a mysterious young woman, he becomes ensnared in an intricate web of promise and deceit. Caught between the ways of his past and the dreams of his future, he is forced to make a devastating choice that ignites a mixture of jealousy, greed, lust, and betrayal, culminating in a fight both for his life and the fate of the city.

Haunting, lyrical, imaginative, and immensely powerful, The Dog Fighter is a stunning novel of beauty and brutality that announces the arrival of an extraordinary new talent in American fiction.