The Republic of East L.A.

by Luis J. Rodríguez

From the award-winning author of Always Running comes a brilliant collection of short stories about life in East Los Angeles. Whether hilariously capturing the voice of a philosophizing limo driver whose dream is to make the most of his rap-metal garage band in "My Ride, My Revolution," or the monologue-styled rant of a tes-ti-fy-ing! tent revivalist named Ysela in "Oiga," Rodriguez squeezes humor from the lives of people who are not ready to sacrifice their dreams due to circumstance. In these stories, Luis J. Rodriguez gives eloquent voice to the neighborhood where he spent many years as a resident, a father, an organizer, and, finally, a a neighborhood that offers more to the world than its appearance allows.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Young Adult, Latinx, Realistic Fiction, School, Historical

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Luis J. Rodríguez (b. 1954) is a poet, journalist, memoirist, and author of children’s books, short stories, and novels. His documentation of urban and Mexican immigrant life has made him one of the most prominent Chicano literary voices in the United States. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican immigrant parents, Rodríguez grew up in Los Angeles, where in his teen years he joined a gang, lived on the streets, and became addicted to heroin. In his twenties, after turning his back on gang violence and drugs, Rodríguez began his career as a journalist and then award-winning poet, writing such books as the memoir Always Running (1993), and the poetry collections The Concrete River (1991), Poems Across the Pavement (1989), and Trochemoche (1998). He has also written the short story collection The Republic of East L.A. (2002). Rodríguez maintains an arts center, bookstore, and poetry press in L.A., where he continues writing and working to mediate gang violence.

Reviews

[Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always nice to find a new author on a whim! I picked this collection up at a local bookstore that had a lot of Latinx/Chicano literature. The collection, as the title suggests, also takes place in LA and as a lifelong Californian I’m always interested in reading stories set here, especially ones focused on everyday life (rather than ‘Hollywood’/fame stories).

This collection really captures the diverse experiences of the residents of East LA. You can tell the author closely identifies with this area of the city and brings to vivid life many different stories within it.

Many of these stories are plotless. They’re more slice of life stories that capture the feeling and experiences of these characters lives on any given day. It’s not the typical type of short story I enjoy because I do want some sort of conflict or event to kickstart the story, even if it’s left unresolved at the end, but once I got into these and really soaked in the stories, I came to appreciate them a lot.

Small moments of family life, around the dinner table, on a busy street of vendors, in a fiery steel mill amongst coworkers, or at a birthday party in the park. These are the simple yet profound events that shape these stories and the ones that will stick with you after your done.

[Meghan Fidler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just become a Rodriguez fan. This book contains twelve of his short stories. The descriptions in these stories are fresh- I'll demonstrate a couple of examples of his technique:

From "Finger Dance," page 76:
“Although they had long stopped being intimate, she was connected to him like a canary to a song.”

From the intro to "Boom Boom Bot," page 91:
“There was nothing around for miles but buildings rife with graffiti, sun-starched streets, and bone-gray cement walkways—an exasperating sameness that sometimes drives people who live in L.A. nuts.”

And later in the same story, on page 104:
"He had her story down—a single mother, on welfare, most of the time horny, tired, perfumed to make up for the lack of perfume in her life.”

The grit of the city, of life documented and undocumented(i.e. government paper) in the Barrios shines brilliantly through in Rodriguez's stories. In "Miss East L.A." is an example of this exquisitely captured way of life. Pardon my extensive quote, but I would like more readers for this book, so I'm trying to tantalize...

"My place is too small and cramped to even light up a cigarette. It’s a single room on the first floor of a two story house in a place called th Gully, on Bernal Street just below the Fourth Street bridge. This is the White Fence neighborhood, one of the original barrios of East L.A. There are a lot of longtime residents here—I’m talking four or five generations. I’ve seen grandmothers with old pachuco tattoos up and down their arms, screaming after their grandkids to come home on time.
A lot of the men here work construction. They’ve built skyscrapers, freeways, roads, and houses all over Los Angeles—with not much to show for it. So, with all the skill they’ve gathered over time, they stucco their wood-fram homes or dry wall an extra room or whatever—most of the time without permits or inpectors.
That’s how parts of East L.A. got built in the first place. The Mexicans moved into the most undesirable areas like the ravines and hills and set up their own housing, sometimes without plumbing or sewage. Eventually, the city and county provided basic services. So its not unusual for small, dilapidated homes to be torn down, added on to, undergo a metamorphosis—like butterflies. If ther’s anything Mexicans are known for, it’s hard work and creativeness.
I’ve lived here all my life. Not far from downtown is General Hospital—now it’s the University of Southern California—Los Angeles County Medical Center. A lot of Chicanos inhaled their very first breath there—and exhaled their last. It’s the cheapest and most overworked hospital in the city. Our hospital. East L.A.’s.
I was born there.”

I teach Anthropology, and I can't wait to pair some of Rodriguez's work with articles on trans-nationalism, diaspora, and nationalism. It will be a great way for students to put faces and people into the circumstances so oft discussed in academic circles.

[Osvaldo · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. I am always interested in reading things by Latino-American writers and with Latino-American characters, and while my usual focus is the Hispanophone Caribbean, Mexican and Chicano identity and experience interest me because I think the long-time transnational relationship between Mexico and the U.S. helps to shape the contours of the broader Latino-American imaginary. Unfortunately, however, these stories fail to engage at any level and they are hampered by clunky prose and maudlin content leading to unsophisticated simplistic endings. I appreciate the use of Spanish in English-language stories, but I am not sure they added much to the stories - at the very least I think the use of Spanish should de-familiarize the context and setting for Anglos and invite and enrich the experience for bilingual Spanish-speakers/readers. . .

I only read the first three or four stories, after that I could not bring myself to go any further, so maybe they get better, but unless someone makes a direct recommendation I will probably never know.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young boy name Cruz that is in his teen area he lives in Boyle Heights. Cruz is mixed with Mexican and Indian. Cruz is in a rap-and-rock band called LA Cruz Negra. In the band, he has long hair not because of his culture he has it long because of his band. There are 4 people in his group they practice every day in his garage. He stopped the band because they all started to go there different ways. Cruz started to work as of being a limo driver. He was doing that for awhile. They fired him from the job because when he started to go back to school his friends found out where he was working, his friends turned their backs on him and trashed his limo. He then left the job and just put his main focus on school. He was doing good in all of his classes and met this girl in one of his classes. They both started to talk and get close. Her name was Bernarda. She was tall for her age 5'8 and he was 5'6. The whole book is just about a couple kids going through drama and living the teen life and also experiencing new things in East La. The book has agency because of what Cruz is going through with his friends and family. My advice I would give is that the book is really good can probably relate to you or other people reading this.

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few passages in "The Republic of East L.A." that really made me sit back and reflect. However, most of these stories did not grip me. My favorites were "My Ride, My Revolution" and "Las Chicas Chuecas".

[susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It's a bunch of short stories that all take place in East LA. It opened my eyes alot to immigrant communitites and hispanic communitites- people just trying to get by in unincorporated East LA in the barros.

[Diana Jou · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love short stories. vivid, touching, and funny. because it is set it LA, i recognized street names and places, and got a tiny taste of LA's cultural richness.

[Kenneth Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess one of the reasons i enjoyed this book more than i should have is because of the settings the author uses... It's all over the neighborhood i grew up around!... Loved it!

[monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

although fiction, it features many stories that one would find having grown up in east la

[Micah Velazquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Republic of East L.A." At face value this is a book covering multiple stories about ordinary people living the life of the immigrant in L.A. The child of the immigrant 'el chicano' is a large part of this story as their two worlds of 'los Mexicanos' versus 'the Americans.' This is a central aspect of the stories as well as this is often a reason for the conflicts of the stories. The themes of the book; Poverty, endurance, Self-Determination, all of these shine through in the characters and the settings of the various stories. All of which show the plight of the contemporary immigrant.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luis Rodriguez, novelist, poet, essayist, community and urban peace activist found his voice as a writer by transforming personal trauma into art and storytelling. Rodriguez was inspired by the works of social activists like Malcom X, James Baldwin, Eldridge Cleaver and George Jackson. Rodriguez give readers a snapshot of what life is like, through twelve short stories, for those that have experienced hardships with social and personal development, community violence, generational poverty, and through Chicanx and Latinx identities in East L.A and how these individuals overcome these personal challenges.

[Rowan Sully Sully · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect book to read if you’re interested in reading novels about the Latinx population that makes up over 40% of the people in LA. This book contains about 10 short stories from a range of people. It’s also written similar to the style of Paul Beatty or Viet Than Nguyen so it’s an entertaining read.

I’ve only given it 3 star rather than 4 or 5 as I felt the characters were a bit extreme or dramatic and I’m always disappointed with short stories as I always want to spend more time with the characters!

[Ervin Vice · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Republic of East L.A., those with spirit survive while those with no heart are crushed, but of course there is much more going on here. There’s humor (My Ride, My Revolution; Pigeons: Chain-Link Lover), tragedy (Shadows; Boom, Bot, Boom) and a bit of both (Miss East L.A.). There’s also desperation (Mechanics), hope (Oiga) and a crushing sense of loss (La Operacion). But at the very least the symbolism in the finale of the final story will bring a smile to your face.

[Alonzo Rangel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shallow and hackneyed. On the nose about it’s political issues to the point of infuriation. Utilizes Spanish in all the ways I DON’T want to, and brings absolutely nothing special that hasn’t been done better by Dagoberto Gilb, Manuel Muñoz, or other Mexican-American/Latino writers. Rodriguez should’ve just written another nonfiction book. There was one story I kind of enjoyed (“Shadows”) but the rest is boring as hell.

[Jeff Hackney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories in here, especially the first three. Some are less gripping, but the writing is consistently good and I enjoyed being immersed in this world. Characters on the fringes of society are frequently represented, and their plights made deeply human.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

aunque escrito en ingles, lo he leido este libro en español y me encanta.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some enjoyable and insightful stories ("The Mechanics" especially), but more than a few repetitive themes.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

abandoned pg 91

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review soon forthcomin' on jimbotimes.com

[Fatima · Rating 4 out of 5]

moving short stories; xters' inner monologues come off a bit expository sometimes.

[Mickey Bits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stories set in and around East L. A. Realistic characters, thoughtful vignettes of "real" folks.

[Robert Morgan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable to understanding LA and Latino culture everywhere.

[Michelle]

solid sunday read

[emily farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of the stories were good but others fell flat for me. Would’ve definitely appreciated this more if I knew more Spanish though and that’s on me

[Heather Colon · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.) This book has 12 short stories, all of them take place in east L.A. They all are from different people and their stories.

2.) I gave the book 4 stars because it was really good except for a couple of the stories. A couple just did not interest me.

3.) "Although they had long stopped being intimate, she was connected to him like a canary to song." (76, Rodriguez) I chose this quote because it was from one of the stories that i liked and the lady was still in love with the man even though he was not actally there. And i liked that, i thought it was adorable.

4.) In a few of the stories there was a little humor whih connected to something we did in class

5.) I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys short stories and life in l.A.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading these stories. There may have been a few towards the end I could have done without, but overall, Luis Rodriguez does an incredible job of crafting these many characters and developing their relationship with their East L.A environment (and sometimes Mexico as well). I just like how much you get a feel for the protagonists and the settings in so few pages.

[Jeff Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories about the Mexican immigrants in East L.A.. The stories are interesting but for the most part not too happy. They're about poverty, hunger, unemployment, despair and violence. I finished the book just feeling sorry for all the poor people that have to live under these terrible circumstances.

[Denisse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected much more. Yes East L.A. has poverty and crime etc. etc. but there are also people going to college people with good jobs and just plain people making it even though they live in the ghetto. Unfortunately all of these stories but one are typical ( as in already written/ similarly written) ghetto stories. I expected much more from Luis Rodriguez. Like the rating says: it was ok.

[Alessandra Santamaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in reading about the life of mexican americans or just mexicans in the USA, this is a great start. Some of the storys are truly fascinating and very well written. I enjoyed them and it was refreshing to see the sacrifices and problems that my fellow mexicans have to endure while fighting for a better life in a different country.

[Maribel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome it's an inside look into live in East L.A. and what people there go through and how they live and how some of them can overcome poverty and gangs and actually make a positive future for themselves.