The Feast of the Goat

Urania continues recounting the story of Agustín’s rift with Trujillo, and the narrative again switches between past and present. She explains the identity of Manuel Alfonso, “the handsomest Dominican of his generation” (256), who was modeling in New York City when Trujillo discovered him and brought him back to the Dominican Republic. Manuel Alfonso served as Trujillo’s advisor on all matters of fashion and style and also picked women for Trujillo. While serving as an ambassador in Washington, he developed a cancerous tumor under his tongue which was subsequently removed. After Manuel Alfonso’s return from this surgery, Agustín sought his counsel.

Urania’s family does not have a high opinion of Manuel Alfonso. Although they consider him handsome, they view him as nothing more than a playboy and have no idea that Agustín had a relationship with him. They struggle to see the connection, so Urania explains that Manuel Alfonso tried to help Agustín by suggesting how he could return to Trujillo’s good graces.

Manuel Alfonso told Agustín that he had an audience with Trujillo and offered to see what he could do to assist. When he visited Agustín later that evening, he told him that Trujillo was very unhappy with him: “It’s not anything concrete but a number of things that have piled up over the past few months” (261).