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The Silver Cloud Cafe
Fans of the deadpan darkness of Raymond Chandler who are also interested in the magic realism of Gabriel García M´rquez should enjoy this unusual but highly effective mixture of both styles by the author of La Maravilla . Born into a family of migrant workers in Arizona, Alfredo Véa Jr. was a soldier in Vietnam and put himself through law school by working at a series of grueling jobs. That background plays a part in this intriguing story set in the Hispanic underworld of San Francisco's Mission District, where two killings 40 years apart are linked by chains of blood and history.
- GenresFiction
Hardcover
First published October 1, 1996
7 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Alfredo Véa
6 books35 followersAlfredo Véa was born in Arizona and worked as a migrant farm worker as a child and a young man. He served in Vietnam and after his discharge worked a series of jobs, ranging from truck driver to carnival mechanic, as he put himself through law school. Now a practicing criminal defense attorney, Vea is also the author of two previous novels, La Maravilla and The Silver Cloud Cafe. He lives in San Francisco, California.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 20, 2025
Woah. Did not expect this to turn out the way it did. A very beautiful and also bleak look on life, death, love, grief, revenge and so much more. It took me a little time to get into it but once I got into the rhythm I couldn't put it down. The last chapter of this book is something that I want engrained into my brain. Multiple times this book has put me through a tiny existential crisis! But so worth it every time because of how beautiful the writing is.. Highly recommend!!
My favorite passages:
"For memories, you need words.... You need to tell a thing to have it heard."
"Both men had stopped walking and were in the middle of the sidewalk. 'What is the gender of the flame? What is the weight of the fire? The answer to the question that you ask cannot be given to a soul that still lives. Mortal words are too small. My own poetry is too small. Life that clings to the clay can never understand the answer."
My favorite passages:
"For memories, you need words.... You need to tell a thing to have it heard."
"Both men had stopped walking and were in the middle of the sidewalk. 'What is the gender of the flame? What is the weight of the fire? The answer to the question that you ask cannot be given to a soul that still lives. Mortal words are too small. My own poetry is too small. Life that clings to the clay can never understand the answer."
December 22, 2012
The Irish comedian Dave Alan told a joke about a priest telling a girl that in order to be married in white the bride needed to be a virgin. The girl replied that her wedding dress would be white, but with wee spots of blue. I feel very much the same about this novel. Quite simply it is a masterpiece which will stay with me forever, but it is a flawed masterpiece, but not so much as to mar the book for me.
It is perhaps easiest to start with the flaws, as, I'm afraid, does the book. The opening chapter focuses on the detective inspecting the body of a murder victim and undertaking an unsatisfactory interrogation of a witness to the killing. I enjoy American crime fiction and like its sparseness and wit. But then I was then hit in the second chapter by a very different style. Vea seemed to be setting another scene - a picture of San Francisco taking from street level, reminding me at times of Helprin's Winter's Tale and as in that novel I found the style too rich for my liking - too many adjectives, too much political soapboxing, the way some of the speech of the characters disappears into philosophical mumbo jumbo (personally I prefer my magic realism in actions rather than speech) and too many lists (you see what I did then, clever eh!) .
But then the real story kicks in - that of the young boy who would grow up to become the lawyer and the itinerant Mexican and Filipino farm workers who were his stand-in family. As the Goodreads description makes clear the cast is a wonderful one, very believable and at the same time somehow magical. At times with these larger-than-life characters I found myself thinking of Carter's Nights at the Circus. The story is a dark one in some ways, these are men overworked, despised, victims of violence without a chance of justice, with no future and yet there is a camaraderie and gentle love between them that is quite wonderful - such as the scene where all the men take a day off to go to the boy's school to be fathers to him.
The magic realism flows naturally in this tale. These people live in an alien world to ours and in which magic is real. It is a world that the lawyer has forgotten, and with it the terrible event of 1959 which sets his friends fleeing across America. But that terrible deed is the reason behind the strange murder of the priest and the lawyer must remember his past and in so doing remember too why he became a defense lawyer in the first place. The magic and the diverse crowd of dispossessed come together in the Silver Cloud Cafe in 1993, a place guarded by two neon angels. The scene is set for a marriage and two deaths.
I loved this book, despite its faults. I loved its characters, the way the narrative (once it got going) built across time, the poetry, and its humanity. And I loved the way the way the author wasn't afraid of dealing with love and faith. Maybe a book can't be this wonderful without flaws.
This review first appeared on the Magic Realism blog: http://magic-realism-books.blogspot.com It is part of my Magic Realism Challenge in which I read and review 50 magic realism books in one year.
It is perhaps easiest to start with the flaws, as, I'm afraid, does the book. The opening chapter focuses on the detective inspecting the body of a murder victim and undertaking an unsatisfactory interrogation of a witness to the killing. I enjoy American crime fiction and like its sparseness and wit. But then I was then hit in the second chapter by a very different style. Vea seemed to be setting another scene - a picture of San Francisco taking from street level, reminding me at times of Helprin's Winter's Tale and as in that novel I found the style too rich for my liking - too many adjectives, too much political soapboxing, the way some of the speech of the characters disappears into philosophical mumbo jumbo (personally I prefer my magic realism in actions rather than speech) and too many lists (you see what I did then, clever eh!) .
But then the real story kicks in - that of the young boy who would grow up to become the lawyer and the itinerant Mexican and Filipino farm workers who were his stand-in family. As the Goodreads description makes clear the cast is a wonderful one, very believable and at the same time somehow magical. At times with these larger-than-life characters I found myself thinking of Carter's Nights at the Circus. The story is a dark one in some ways, these are men overworked, despised, victims of violence without a chance of justice, with no future and yet there is a camaraderie and gentle love between them that is quite wonderful - such as the scene where all the men take a day off to go to the boy's school to be fathers to him.
The magic realism flows naturally in this tale. These people live in an alien world to ours and in which magic is real. It is a world that the lawyer has forgotten, and with it the terrible event of 1959 which sets his friends fleeing across America. But that terrible deed is the reason behind the strange murder of the priest and the lawyer must remember his past and in so doing remember too why he became a defense lawyer in the first place. The magic and the diverse crowd of dispossessed come together in the Silver Cloud Cafe in 1993, a place guarded by two neon angels. The scene is set for a marriage and two deaths.
I loved this book, despite its faults. I loved its characters, the way the narrative (once it got going) built across time, the poetry, and its humanity. And I loved the way the way the author wasn't afraid of dealing with love and faith. Maybe a book can't be this wonderful without flaws.
This review first appeared on the Magic Realism blog: http://magic-realism-books.blogspot.com It is part of my Magic Realism Challenge in which I read and review 50 magic realism books in one year.
did-not-finish
November 8, 2011Goodreads needs another category besides just "Read,""To-Read" and "Currently Reading." Perhaps something like: "Partially Read." I got to about 75 pages of Silver Cloud Cafe and finally decided to throw in the towel. At least for now.
After our friend Jim introduced us to Alfredo Vea, I read "Gods Go Begging," which I thought was an extraordinary, beautifully-written masterpiece and one of the best books I've ever read. I also read and adored Vea's "La Maravilla." So, although Jim had warned me that Silver Cloud Cafe was the "least accessible" of the three, I was really looking forward to it.
Maybe the timing was just wrong -- maybe I have a touch of spring fever and just don't want a reading experience right now that's too much of a chore. Maybe I'll try it again some other time. But right now, anyway, I found myself thoroughly lost in the fog of the text, not connecting either with the people or the story.
Still, I really wish Vea would write another book. Three is just not enough.
After our friend Jim introduced us to Alfredo Vea, I read "Gods Go Begging," which I thought was an extraordinary, beautifully-written masterpiece and one of the best books I've ever read. I also read and adored Vea's "La Maravilla." So, although Jim had warned me that Silver Cloud Cafe was the "least accessible" of the three, I was really looking forward to it.
Maybe the timing was just wrong -- maybe I have a touch of spring fever and just don't want a reading experience right now that's too much of a chore. Maybe I'll try it again some other time. But right now, anyway, I found myself thoroughly lost in the fog of the text, not connecting either with the people or the story.
Still, I really wish Vea would write another book. Three is just not enough.
August 27, 2022
The Silver Cloud Cafe This book magically presented itself in a Little Free Library in my neighborhood like a silver dollar pulled from behind a child's ear. It is a feast, a performance under the Big Top, a jukebox that plays without electricity (which is one of its minor characters). "Not since Nelson Algren have the hellish depths of society been infused with so holy a light." Now and then among its fantastical and believable cast of characters, Cesar Chavez makes cameo appearances as a grace note. The author was a migrant worker, was sent to Viet Nam, worked odd jobs (including carnival mechanic) to put himself through law school and become a criminal defense attorney. And oh, incidentally, wrote this masterpiece.
July 31, 2007
A historical-fiction tale that has so many wonderful unforgettable characters. If pressed, I would probably define this book's genre as Latino/Magical Realism, but it is bigger than that. One of my all time top 10 favorite books.
October 20, 2016
A haunting surrealist novel, reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which follows the magical story of angels, migrant farm workers and misfits in 20th-century America. I love Gabriel Garcia Marquez too! http://amzn.to/2cpkO3D
December 15, 2024
got this for free from a ‘please take’ bin at work and i’m in awe at how magical and transcendent it was. this book charmed me so much and truly had it all. so many walks of life represented here, including trans people! and the fight for the rights of working class citizens. very much recommend. it had quite long chapters and took me quite some time to finish but was fully worth it.
March 6, 2019
Interesting story. I would have given more stars but there are too many sections that ramble on. Some of it is hard to read straight through. It took me much longer to finish this book than most. However, at the end I did like the overall story.
February 22, 2022
Insanely wonderful book and one of my favorites in the whole entire world!
Want to read
March 13, 2024Library-of-Congress PS3572 E2 R43 1996 Memorial Library
February 20, 2008
Although the reviews evoke Raymond Chandler and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Vea is his own man. Garcia Marquez might find a cousin among these pages, but Chandler belongs to another night, despite the detective story frame. A man falls in love with a ghost, angels offer commentary and a little boy grows to be a man among the ragged furrows of California's Central Valley and the pre-dot.com streets of San Francisco. I'd like to believe Vea could rub shoulders with Hammett's ghost as they peer into Tenderloin dives, but I'm a soft touch.
June 7, 2014
A tough read for me, but the last 50 pages or so made it all worth it.
July 27, 2011
It almost seems as if Vea is trying too hard to incorporate major issues into one book. That said, it was a good read as long as you can take the extensive magical realism involved.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews