In Winter Quarters two performers past their prime have come to the provincial town of Colonia Vela, the setting of A Funny Dirty Little War, to open a local festival. Strangers to each other, this worn-out boxer and has-been tango singer become loyal friends -- even unto death.

  The boxer has been selected to fight the local hero, the army''s champ who has national ambitions. It soon becomes clear that the town vigilantes and military toughs don''t mean for any trophies -- or the mayor''s daughter -- to go to these "losers".

  As the underdogs try to go the distance, Soriano''s gritty, Chandleresque prose builds a harrowing picture of a society in the grip of a bizarre and terrifying struggle.