El Paso Del Norte: Stories On The Border

by Richard Yañez, Richard Yáñez

The Chicano characters in Richard Yanez's debut story collection live in El Paso's Lower Valley but inhabit a number of borders - between two countries, two languages, and two cultures, between childhood and manhood, life and death. The teenaged narrator of "Desert Vista" copes with a new school and a first love while negotiating the boundaries between his family's tenuous middle-class status and the working-class community in which they have come to live. Tony Amoroza, the protagonist of "Amoroza Tires," wrestles with the overwhelming grief from his wife's death until an unexpected legacy prompts him with new faith. Maria del Valle, "La Loquita," the central character of "Lucero's Mkt.," crosses the border into madness while her neighbors watch, gossip, and try to offer - or refuse - aid.

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Richard Yañez was born and raised on the U.S.-México Border. He is the author of EL PASO DEL NORTE: STORIES ON THE BORDER. His novel, CROSS OVER WATER, was published in spring 2011, also by the University of Nevada Press. His work has appeared in LITERARY EL PASO, HECHO EN TEJAS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF TEXAS MEXICAN LITERATURE, and U.S. LATINO LITERATURE TODAY. A graduate of New Mexico State University and Arizona State University, he is an associate professor of English at El Paso Community College, where he also organizes community literary events. Currently, he is working on an autoethnography, "Beyond Italics: The Work and Witness of a Chicano Writer." He lives in his hometown with his wife, the Chicana writer Carolina Monsiváis, and their son, Pablo.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am impartial about this book. It certainly wasn't bad. Some of the stories were beautiful -- very human. Others, I felt, fell into the realm of stereotype -- some of those felt like "issue" stories as opposed to character stories. Overall, it wasn't a bad book, but I'd probably recommend An Island Like You to a student before I'd recommend this one.

[Josette · Rating 4 out of 5]

An influencial book for my writing--getting a sense of place and exploring adolescent voice.

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!!!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

found in the library