Crossing Borders: Personal Essays

by Sergio Troncoso

Best Books of 2011 by The Hispanic ReaderBronze Award for Essays in ForeWord Review's Book of the Year AwardsSecond Place for Best Biography in English in the International Latino Book Awards"On good days I feel I am a bridge. On bad days I just feel alone," Sergio Troncoso writes in this riveting collection of sixteen personal essays in which he seeks to connect the humanity of his Mexican family to those he meets on the East Coast, including his wife's Jewish kin. Raised in a home steps from the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, Troncoso crossed what seemed an even more imposing border when he left home to attend Harvard College.Initially, "outsider status" was thrust upon him; later, he adopted it willingly, writing about the Southwest and Chicanos in an effort to communicate who he was and where he came from to those unfamiliar with his childhood world. He wrote to maintain his ties to his parents and his abuelita, and to fight against the elitism he experienced in the Ivy League. "I was torn," he writes, "between the people I loved at home and the ideas I devoured away fromhome."Troncoso writes to examine his life and to create meaning from the disparate worlds he inhabits and the borders he crosses. In his three-part essay entitled "Letter to My Young Sons," he documents the terror of his wife's breast cancer diagnosis and the ups and downs of her surgery and treatment. Other essays explore evolving gender roles and interfaith marriage as Troncoso becomes a father, he struggles with an uneasy relationship with his elderly father, and he understands the impact his wife's Jewish heritage and religion have on his Mexican-American identity.Crossing Personal Essays reveals a writer, father and husband who has crossed linguistic, cultural and intellectual borders to provoke debate about contemporary Mexican-American identity. Challenging assumptions about literature, the role of writers in America, fatherhood and family, these essays bridge the chasm between the poverty of the border region and the highest echelons of success in America. Troncoso writes with the deepest faith in humanity about sacrifice, commitment and honesty.Praise for CROSSING "Troncoso is a complicated man trying to understand a complicated world. In his quest for understanding, he eloquently shares lessons learned in 16 provocative essays. These very personal essays cross several cultural, historical and self-imposed. We owe it to ourselves to read, savor and read them again." ---El Paso Times

Genres: Essays

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2011

About the author

Sergio Troncoso is the author of Nobody's Pilgrims, A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son, The Last Tortilla and Other Stories, Crossing Borders: Personal Essays, The Nature of Truth and From This Wicked Patch of Dust; and as editor, Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds and Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence.

He often writes about the United States-Mexico border, working-class immigrants, families and fatherhood, crossing cultural, psychological, and philosophical borders, and the border beyond the border.

Troncoso teaches at the Yale Writers’ Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut. A past president of the Texas Institute of Letters, he has also served as a judge for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the New Letters Literary Awards in the Essay category. His work has appeared in CNN Opinion, Houston Chronicle, Michigan Quarterly Review, New Letters, Other Voices, Pleiades, Prairie Schooner, Texas Highways, Texas Monthly Magazine, and Yale Review.

The son of Mexican immigrants, Troncoso was born and grew up on the east side of El Paso, Texas in rural Ysleta. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received two graduate degrees in international relations and philosophy from Yale University.

A Fulbright scholar, Troncoso was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s Alumni Hall of Fame, Texas Institute of Letters, and Texas Literary Hall of Fame. He was named a Fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters, the first Mexican American writer to receive this distinction.

Among the numerous literary awards Troncoso has won are the Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story, Premio Aztlan Literary Prize, Gold Medal for Best Novel-Adventure or Drama from International Latino Book Awards, Bronze Award for Anthologies from Independent Publisher Book Awards, Gold Medal for Best Collection of Short Stories from International Latino Book Awards, Southwest Book Award, Bronze Award for Essays from ForeWord Reviews, and the Silver Award for Multicultural Adult Fiction from ForeWord Reviews.

The El Paso City Council voted unanimously to rename the public library branch in Ysleta as the Sergio Troncoso Branch Library.

His literary papers are archived at The Wittliff Collections in San Marcos, Texas.

Nobody's Pilgrims
"Eloquent, bold, and terrifying."
-Elizabeth Crook, author of The Which Way Tree
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Nepantla Familias: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature on Families in between Worlds:
"A deeply meaningful collection that navigates important nuances of identity."
-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son:
“It's his most powerful work yet, and an essential addition to the Latinx canon."
-The Texas Observer
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From This Wicked Patch of Dust:
“Troncoso’s novel is an engaging literary achievement.”
-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
----------
Crossing Borders: Personal Essays:
“We owe it to ourselves to read, savor and read them again.”
-The El Paso Times
----------
The Nature of Truth:
“Impressively lucid.”
-The Chicago Tribune
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The Last Tortilla and Other Stories:
“Enthusiastically recommended.”
-Booklist
----------
Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence
“An eye-opening collection of essays.”
-Publishers Weekly

Reviews

[Book-reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Either a bracingly honest series of essays by one of our greatest living authors, or an ingenious literary experiment, a novel in disguise. Where does "Sergio Trocoso" the character diverge from Sergio Troncoso the author? At times the character, "Sergio," verges towards the unsympathetic, almost villainous, but his essential decency and humanity wins out in the end. The stories are compelling, the writing as beautiful as one has come to expect from this great writer, and, what's more, he comes off finally as someone we are lucky to know on the printed page and would be lucky to know as a person, with all his honestly portrayed human failings. Just as Troncoso the writer is a great literary author and stylist, "Sergio" the character is one of the great creations of the written word.

[Sonja Hennessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crossing Borders is a captivating collection of essays on the inner-struggles of a strong-willed ivy-league educated Mexican-American writer living in Manhattan’s Upper West side. From the essays, the reader learns of the many cultural, economic, religious, and ethnic borders Sergio had crossed to arrive at where he is today; a successful author and Harvard graduate. From this book, we know Sergio is always striving to be the best version of himself, always wrestling with moral questions the everyday poses. Life has thrown many challenges at him, but time again we see Sergio rise from the ashes and chaos like a Phoenix and grow into an even better person. In his three part Letter to his sons, he writes about his fear of losing his beloved wife to breast cancer. Having lost someone close to me to cancer, I found these letters almost difficult to read. In Apostate of My Literary Family, Sergio is brutally honest about how awful working conditions can be with idiotic, moneyed elite from Westchester telling him how to behave and what to do at the Hudson Valley Writing Center. Anyone who has worked for non-profits will read, turn page, nod in agreeance and get more fired up. Lastly, I found the essay From this Wicked Patch of Dust striking a cord as well. Feeling afraid of and having to stand up to an asshole father is something I believe many people secretly face behind closed doors. In general, the book was brilliant from the first page and keep me engaged throughout. Mucho gusto, Muy Bien, Excellente! Sergio.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sergio's personal essays grip the reader through simple yet eloquent prose and philosophical issues resulting from everyday circumstances. I was engaged throughout, finishing it in a mere two days. Sergio addresses issues of education, Mexican-Americans, and the purpose of story-telling with passion and grace. I recommend it for anyone attempting to find meaning in the everyday, teaching students, or looking to find a book that will break your heart simply because you have finished it.

Side-note: Letters to My Young Sons made me cry.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of short essays is perfect for when you want a story you can connect with but only have a few minutes to yourself. In each essay the author reflects on the borders in his own life, which could stand for the borders in any of our lives: friends and family; work and school; sickness, love, and loss. They are essays you can return to again and again, in any of life's circumstances.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Troncoso has done it again! These personal essays not only allow the reader into Mr. Troncoso's mind but also his soul. We get a glimpse of the man behind the books: the husband, the father, the son, and the writer. This book is amazing!

[Jesus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am from the border too, so wanted to read this book. Troncoso is good at telling stories, no so much at lecturing or preaching. Some of the stories are solid and he sounds authentic. In other, he sounds like a Laura Bush.