Category Archives: Book Reviews

July 7, 2013 · 12:00 pm

Book review: Mario Alberto Zambrano’s “Lotería”

LoteriaIn Lotería: A Novel (Harper), Mario Alberto Zambrano uses a piece of Mexican culture to tell a story of human tragedy.

The book’s narrator, 11-year-old Luz Maria Castillo, remembers playing the popular Mexican folk game – similar to bingo – with her friends and family after Mass. After a lifetime of abuse that leads to one dramatic incident, her older sister ends up in the hospital and her father is arrested.

Luz writes in her journal from a youth detention center. For each chapter, Luz uses the image on the lotería card to tell a story from the past. That premise seems like a gimmick, but Zambrano makes it work with his simple prose and a compelling storyline that alternates between the present and the past.

The book is both easy and tough to read. I had to take breaks from it when the situation got too intense. But the writing is easy to understand and it’s written in short chapters, and Zambrano can express raw human emotions that make you ache for Luz.

For example, in the chapter called La Dama, Luz tells God about the mixed feelings she had about her mother, who suffered terrible abuse from her husband – and fought back.

“Sometimes I wondered if she were praying because of something she’d done to Papi. Or something he’d done to her. Or maybe she felt bad for calling him names for hitting him with something she grabbed from the kitchen drawer. I wanted to let her know that I was okay and that You’d understand. I pulled on her dress but she reached out and pinched me without even looking. I didn’t even know what happened, but I remember my skin burning and thinking how much I hated her. I called her names and stuck my tongue when she wasn’t looking even though You were right there between us. But I only hated her for a little while, for as long as I could feel the sting on my arm.”

In El Cantarito, Luz feels guilty when she sees her sister in the intensive care unit.

“Standing there, all of a sudden, I was like a jug of water trying to be taken from one place to another, and little by little, I was spilling.”

In that same chapter, a social worker tries to get Luz to talk:

“It’s like in Lotería, instead of playing the four corners we play the center squares. But midway through the game you find out that you have the corners and you’re missing the center squares. And if you would’ve played the corners you would’ve won already. But that’s how it is, isn’t it?”

Each chapter begins with a gorgeous, full color illustration, done by Jarrod Taylor. The drawings differ from the traditional lotería game, but carry the same spirit.

Lotería turns an ugly subject into a beautiful book.

ZambranoMore about Mario Alberto Zambrano:

Lotería is the first novel for Zambrano, who grew up in Texas and is a former professional ballet dancer. He currently attends the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher.

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May 17, 2013 · 7:00 am

Book review: Cristina García’s “King of Cuba”

king-of-cuba-coverCristina García’s King of Cuba (Scribner) is a wickedly awesome book.

The novel features two aging Cubans who went to college together and took two separate paths in life. El Comandante, based on Fidel Castro, became the country’s dictator, and Goyo Herrera ended up living in Florida and yearns to assassinate the man – or at least see “that son of a bitch in Havana to die first.”

After all, like many Cubans, Goyo has been through a lot.

“His brother had died in the Bay of Pigs, his father had shot himself from grief, his first love had hung herself over that tyrant. Goyo’s hatred was incontestable, lavish beyond measure.”

While Goyo also has to deal with an unruly son and health problems, El Comandante has to face political prisoners and other assassination attempts.

The book, at 235 pages, is easy to zip through because of Garcia’s great voice, which captures the bitterness of Goyo, the arrogance of El Comandante and the agony of old age. The book features generous amounts of profanity and sex and descriptions of their bathroom problems and penises. (Yes, you read that right.)

Aside from the foibles of the two main characters, the novel is a serious book – featuring anecdotes by everyday Cubans describing their struggles to make a living. King of Cuba makes a good companion to the recently released The Death of Fidel Pérez by Elizabeth Huergo, which also showed the effects of life under Castro’s regime.

Despite all he and his fellow Cubans have been through, Goyo still loves his homeland, as displayed in this beautifully written passage:

“ … the skies were embossed with the same moon and stars. The older he got, the more vividly his memories of Cuba returned – its dialects, its minerals, its underground caves, its guajiros, its hummingbirds, its fish, its chaos, its peanut vendors, its Chinese lotteries, its cacophonies, its myths, its terrors. Maybe this was what happened when a man approached death; senility and longing conspired to overtake reality. Perhaps Cuba had become nothing but an imaginary place, unrelated to any truth.”

King of Cuba is a book that will leave you thinking and laughing at the same time.

CristinaGarciaMore about Cristina García:

García, who grew up in New York City, also is the author of Dreaming in Cuban and The Lady Matador’s Hotel, as well as children’s books and poetry. She lives in Texas and New Mexico.

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher.

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May 6, 2013 · 7:00 am

Classic book review: Junot Díaz’s “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”

OscarWaoI first read Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead) when it came out in 2007 for a selfish reason – I was excited the main character, Oscar de León, had the same last name as me.

I reread it again this year and rediscovered the awesomeness of the book.

Oscar Wao became an instant classic when it was released. It won the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award and Pulitzer Prize and propelled Díaz into literary stardom.

Most of the book is narrated by smart-ass Yunior de las Casas, who also appears in Díaz’s other books, Drown and This Is How You Lose Her. As with those books, Oscar Wao’s big strength is Díaz’s voice, in which the characters tell their stories as though they are talking to you over a beer.

The focus is on Oscar, the youngest son of a single mother who has immigrated from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey. He loves science fiction and hasn’t kissed a girl. His nerdiness may stem a family curse – or fukú – his family has been under since Oscar’s grandfather offended Rafael Trujillo, their homeland’s dictator.

“It seemed to Oscar that from the moment (his classmate) Maritza dumped him – Shazam! – his life started going down the tubes. Over the next couple of years he grew fatter and fatter. Early adolescence hit him especially hard, scrambling his face into nothing you could call cute, splotching his skin with zits, making him self-conscious; and his interest – in Genres! – which nobody has said boo about before, suddenly became synonymous with being a loser with a capital L. Couldn’t make friends for the life of him, too dorky, too shy, and (if the kids from his neighborhood are to be believed) too weird.”

Yunior goes on to describe Oscar’s further exploits as they room together in college. Just when Oscar may have found love, the curse comes back to haunt him.

The book put me through many emotions. I laughed out loud many times, especially during the opening pages. I nearly cried as I read the portion narrated by Lola, Oscar’s sister, as she recounts the struggles with her verbally abusive mother, Beli – although this passage, when she runs away from home, made me laugh:

“I kept waiting to run into my family posting up flyers of me on the boardwalk … but the closest I came to any of that was someone had put up for a cat they lost. That’s white people for you. They lost a cat and it’s an all-points bulletin, but we Dominicans, we lost a daughter and we might not even cancel our appointment at the salon.”

I also was fascinated by the sections about the lives of Beli and her parents in their native country – stuff I didn’t learn, as the book says, during “your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history.” Díaz weaves in other bits of Dominican history seamlessly – a minor character always seems to have a connection with someone in the Trujillo regime.

Some caveats: Some readers may be offended by the vulgar language and frequent use of the “N” word. Non-Spanish speakers may need a dictionary to keep up with the Spanish phrases. And many readers, such as myself, may not get the references to The Lord of the Rings (a series I’ve successfully avoided all my life).

But don’t let those things deter you from reading the book. Even if you don’t get the Gollum reference or a Spanish phrase, Oscar Wao is a brilliant book that successfully combines history, tragedy and humor.

JunotDiazMore about Junot Díaz:

Díaz was recently awarded a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. He is active in Freedom University, a college for undocumented immigrants.

Source: I check this book out of the library.

This book is part of my series of classic Latino novels. Up next: Carlos Fuentes’ The Death of Artemio Cruz.

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April 23, 2013 · 7:00 am

Book review: Isabel Allende’s “Maya’s Notebook”

MayasNotebookNineteen-year-old Maya Vidal is in danger. She is sent to live to what seems like the end of the earth – Chilóe, a small island off the coast of Chile. And it’s there that she begins to find herself – a journey depicted in Isabel Allende’s newest novel Maya’s Notebook (Harper).

Maya, originally from Berkeley, Calif., has had a tough time since her beloved grandfather died from cancer. She turns to drugs and rapidly descends into a life of homelessness and crime – tangled in a web that involves the FBI, Interpol and a Las Vegas gang.

Her grandmother sends Maya to her native Chile to live in a town (population: 2,000) that seems disconnected from the world – the villagers can’t rent DVDs or video games and only see movies once a week at the school. Maya learns to like the villagers and adapts to their customs, such as the women’s gathering in a ruca on the nights of a full moon.

Maya’s Notebook requires some patience. The first 100 pages spend more time describing life in Chilóe and her family when I wanted to know how Maya got into such a mess. But my patience paid off, because when Maya finally revealed the secrets of her past, the story was a fast, fascinating read.

The book also draws it strength from Allende’s elegant writing, with inventive descriptions and metaphors, such as this:

“… Addiction is an astute and patient beast, with infinite resources, always lying in wait, whose strongest argument is persuading you to tell yourself you’re not really not an addict.”

Another great passage describes Manuel, a family friend who faces his own demons and secrets:

“On this blessed island nothing feeds my bad memories, but I make to an effort to write them down in this notebook so I won’t have to go through what happens to Manuel. He keeps his memories buried in a cave, and if he’s not careful, they attack him at night like rabid dogs.”

Beautiful writing – although, at times, I wondered if a 19-year-old brat would sound that sophisticated.

But those passages prove Allende’s excellence. She can make Maya a sympathetic character and take readers from the dangerous streets of Las Vegas to the humble town of Chilóe. Maya’s Notebook is an absorbing book that shows how one woman overcomes a life of terror.

AllendeMore about Isabel Allende:

Allende, who was born in Peru and raised in Chile, is best known for her 1982 novel The House of the Spirits. She also has written 11 novels, including 1985’s Eva Luna and 1999’s Daugher of Fortune, and four memoirs, including 1995’s Paula. She currently lives in the United States.

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher.

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April 19, 2013 · 7:00 am

Book review: Rudolfo Anaya’s “The Old Man’s Love Story”

OldMan'sLoveStoryRudolfo Anaya’s newest novel, The Old Man’s Love Story (The University of Oklahoma Press) is a book that will touch your heart because it feels so real – after all, it’s based on Anaya’s own experiences as a widower.

The book begins as the old man (no name is given) sees his wife dying after an illness. The grief is profound as he thinks about her everywhere he goes – including the grocery store.

“A flickering memory suddenly burned bright. His wife’s lovely breasts. Other memories came piling on him. Whenever he passed won the cereal aisle, tears filled his eyes. He would never again buy her favorite cereal.”

He tries to be active – going to a water aerobics class, eating dinner with friends and family, and even dating a high school friend who lost her husband. But the memories keep coming up as he deals with growing older. (“Old people know bathrooms are dangerous places.”) He thinks about their travels and the rooms she carved in his heart. At one point he tries to conjure up her spirit by placing her pictures in a circle.

“He couldn’t say the magic word and have her appear. He would never again hold her in his arms.”

The book, at 170 pages, is easy to read thanks to Anaya’s simple prose. I thought the book would be depressing, but it’s not. Anaya writes in a matter-of-fact tone that doesn’t sound self-pitying and many readers will be able to relate to his struggles.

I have one minor complaint about the book. The old man seems to idealize his wife – which is natural, but I would like to know if they had any arguments or is she did anything that annoyed him.

Still, The Old Man’s Love Story is a beautiful love story. Your heart aches for the old man, as he tries to live each day without his soulmate. You may wish you had a love like they did.

Rudulfo AnayaMore about Rudolfo Anaya:

The New Mexico-based Anaya is best known for his 1972 classic, Bless Me Ultima, which was released as a movie earlier this year. He has written numerous children’s books and novels, including the Sonny Baca detective series and Randy Lopez Goes Home.

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher.

Another excellent book about a man dealing with the death of his wife, although in different circumstances, is Francisco Goldman’s 2011 novel Say Her Name.

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April 8, 2013 · 7:00 am

Classic book review: Paulo Coehlo’s “The Alchemist”

TheAlchemistThe Alchemist (HarperOne), the 1988 novel by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, is such a popular book that The New York Times called it a “regular fixture in paperback on the front tables of bookstores.” It’s also been a regular on The New York Times best-seller list for 249 weeks. Celebrities such as Julia Roberts and Bill Clinton have praised the book.

It’s easy to see why it’s a classic. The book tells the story of a boy (no name is given) from Andalusia, Spain, who works as a shepherd and has a dream that he will find treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man calling himself the King of Salem tells the boy that he knows his Personal Legend – his purpose in life – but most times a mysterious force tells people that the legend won’t happen and they give up.

But the old man says, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Along the way, the boy encounters obstacles that he manages to turn around. He eventually gets to travel in the desert – where he falls in love with a young lady and he meets The Alchemist, who may be able to help him find his treasure. Just when he’s near his treasure, the boy faces one more obstacle.

The Alchemist a simple, fast read at 189 pages. But whether the reader likes it depends on a person’s tastes. For Oprah-loving types who believe life is about the journey, not the destination, this book will speak to them. More cynical types will find this a bunch of New Age hooey. I appreciated the message of the story, but it didn’t touch me in a way that other readers have raved about.

Still, I would recommend this book, especially to young people who seeking their way in life.

paulo_coelhoMore about Paulo Coelho:

Coelho, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was a law student, songwriter and political prisoner before his first book, The Pilgrimage, was published in 1980. His other books include Aleph and the just released Manuscript Found in Accra.

Source: I checked the book out of the library.

Note: This review is part of my series of classic Latino novels. Up next: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz.

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April 4, 2013 · 7:00 am

Book review: Elizabeth Huergo’s “The Death of Fidel Pérez”

FidelPerezIn the novel The Death of Fidel Pérez (Unbridled Books), Elizabeth Huergo weaves in the recent history of Cuba with the tormented lives of its residents – all in a story that takes place in one day and begins with the shenanigans of two misfits.

One morning, an intoxicated Fidel Pérez is bereft that his girlfriend has run off with another man. He and his brother Rafael fall down the balcony to their deaths. Their neighbors cry out “Fidel has fallen” – and townspeople believe they’re talking about Cuba’s dictator Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul.

From this quirky start, Huergo focuses on three characters –  Saturnina, a viejta who is still grieving the death of her son Tómas, a student who was killed while working for the Revolutionary Directorate against Fulgencio Batista in the 1950s; Pedro, an aging college professor who is haunted by the ghost of his best friend, Mario, who died in jail defending his cause; and Camilo, a student who is observing the action as the townspeople head toward La Plaza de la Revolucíon.

The commotion happens to take place on July 26, the anniversary of the Castros’ attacks on the Moncada Army Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, leading to their imprisonment, social unrest and their eventual power of Cuba.

The book shows how the Castros’ dictatorship affected the lives of Cubans – especially emotionally. The character of Pedro is particularly touching, as he deals with his guilt and the effects of living “in the belly of the monster.”

As one character tells him:

“There is no history written of those who quietly endure, Pedro. … There are monsters everywhere. They represent some necessary confrontation with ourselves. Their chaos, inflicted upon us, renders us to ourselves, reminding us of something integral that we need to remember.”

My only complaint about the book is that Huergo’s use of description – some of it is beautiful; other times, it drags the action. Still, the books moves swiftly and The Death of Fidel Pérez serves as an excellent history lesson and intriguing story.

LizHuergoMore about Elizabeth Huergo:

Huergo, who was born in Havana, Cuba, and immigrated to the United States as a child, based the character of Saturnina on a woman her mother knew. Huergo also is a poet.

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher.

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March 26, 2013 · 7:00 am

Book review: Meg Medina’s “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass”

YaquiDelgadoYaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass (Candlewick) has one of the best titles of the year so far. And the young adult novel by Meg Medina boasts a story as compelling as its title.

Piddy Sanchez is a half-Cuban, half-Dominican teenager living in Queens who has started attending a new high school. One day, she is told that Yaqui Delgado, a classmate she doesn’t know, is after her. As another student tells her:

“‘You’re stuck-up for somebody who just showed up out of nowhere. Oh! And she wants to know who the hell you think you are, shaking your ass the way you do.’ … Interesting, I’ve only has an ass for about six months, and now it seems to have a mind of its own.”

Piddy is on the lookout for Yaqui. And her fear leads her to skip classes and neglect her studies. To add to her stress, she becomes involved with a boy from a troubled family, and she starts questioning her mother about the whereabouts of her father, whom she’s never met.

Delgado is a fast-paced, easy to read novel that accurately conveys the fear of bullying and the angst of being an adolescent, that awful time in life when nothing you do is right.

Take this scene where Piddy is hanging out with her mother’s best friend:

“I don’t say anything else as the sputtering radio fills the room. Lila wouldn’t understand what it’s like to be hated. Everyone loves her; everyone wants to talk to her at a party. … I don’t know that secret charm – at least not at (school), where I’ve become a loser just like that.”

While YouTube is mentioned, I would have liked to have seen the presence of more cyberbullying since it’s so rampant today – although I understand that the characters come from low-income families whose parents don’t own computers or smartphones.

But that’s a minor complaint. Overall, Yaqui Delgado is a excellent novel for teens, who will relate to the main character and her troubles. The book kicks ass.

Meg_MedinaMore about Meg Medina:

Virginia-based Medina is the author of the 2012 young adult novel The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind and the 2011 picture book Tía Isa Wants a Car, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award.

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher.

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March 21, 2013 · 7:00 am

Classic book review: Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”

HouseonMangoStreetSandra Cisneros’ 1984 novel The House on Mango Street (Vintage) is just 110 pages long. It doesn’t have a sweeping plot. It’s a collection of interlinking stories about a young girl, Esperanza, her family and her neighbors. It’s the little details about everyday life that have made the book the classic that it is today.

I first read Mango Street more than 15 years ago, and I distinctly remember one line from the book, from the chapter called “My Name”: “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters.”

I’ve missed Cisneros’ work. It has been 10 years since her last novel, Caramelo, was released. Last year, I read Women Hollering Creek, a collection of short stories from 1992, and just as I reread Mango Street, I remembered why Cisneros is such a beautiful writer. The conversations sound like she has been eavesdropping on your family and she makes commonplace objects sound extraordinary, almost poetic. Take this passage from the chapter “Hairs”:

“Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papa’s hair is like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands. … But my mother’s hair, my mother’s hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she make room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring.”

Or this line from “Hips”:

“One day your wake up and they are there. Ready and waiting like a new Buick with the keys in the ignition. Ready to take you where?”

Many of the stories deal with universal adolescence angst. But several of the stories – including a thread about Sally, a beautiful girl who ends up married before eighth grade – show a gritty reality that is part of Esperanza’s tough Chicago neighborhood.

Mango Street is easy to read and relate to – there’s little wonder that it’s now part of the high school literary canon. It’s the only Latino book on the PBS’ The American Novel series and NPR’s 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels.

Cisneros released a book Have You Seen Marie? last year, but it was much too brief. Here’s hoping that a new Cisneros book will be published soon.

scisnerosMore about Sandra Cisneros:

Sandra Cisneros grew up in Chicago. She has won fellowships from the National Endowment of Arts and the MacArthur Foundation. She also founded The Macondo Foundation writer’s group.

Source: I purchased this book.

This book is the latest in my series of classic Latino novels. Up next: The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo.

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March 12, 2013 · 7:00 am

Book review: Alex Espinoza’s “The Five Acts of Diego León”

Diego LeonHollywood is made of illusions. But real life can be the greatest illusion of all. And that’s the premise of Alex Espinoza’s The Five Acts of Diego León (Random House).

León begins with Diego as a child, when his father is gone from their small village to fight in the Mexican Revolutionary Ward. Diego eventually moves to a larger town to live with his wealthier maternal grandparents. Now an adult, he would have a well-off, if dull, life if he stayed there. But Diego – who found joy in performing folk dances and theater in his youth – yearns for something more.

While the war rages on in Mexico, Diego moves to Hollywood. And, of course, nothing is what it seems. Diego has to struggle to find work as the Great Depression hits, and he begins to struggle with who he is, both personally – when he has to betray some friendships – and romantically – when he falls in love with someone unexpectedly.

Little wonder he feels most comfortable on the movie set.

 “Diego wanted to stay there, in that magnificent studio lot where French cancan dancers walked alongside nurses, where police officers mingled with criminals, where barons in fancy top hats and tuxedos shared cigarettes with homeless men in rags. It was all absurb and funny and dizzying. And yet he felt at home there, among the costumes and extravagance, among the chaos and commotion. This was where he wanted to be, where he needed to be.”

Espinoza writes in simple language, with a fast-moving plot and frequent dialogue, so the book is easy to zip through. He smoothly weaves in historical details with the plot, and the book never feels like a textbook.

But Diego still seems a mystery to the readers – I enjoyed the book, but I never seemed to make an emotional connection with him – and maybe to himself. A twist at the end didn’t hit me as much I thought it would, but it may surprise others.

Deigo León shows how Hollywood and humans are such a mystery.

AlexEspinozaMore about Alex Espinoza:

Espinoza’s first novel was the 2007 Still Water Saints. He was born in Tijerina, Mexico, grew up near Los Angeles and now teaches creative writing and literature at California State University, Fresno.

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher.

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