What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fever of Being
The Fever of Being is a series of poems, some written entirely or partly in Spanish, ranging in mood from comic to tragic and dealing with Urrea's life within the Hispanic-Anglo border culture.
- GenresPoetry
92 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1994
164 people want to read
About the author
Luis Alberto Urrea
62 books2,954 followersLuis Alberto Urrea is the award-winning author of 13 books, including The Hummingbird's Daughter, The Devil's Highway and Into the Beautiful North (May 2009). Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Luis has used the theme of borders, immigration and search for love and belonging throughout his work. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005 (nonfiction), he's won the Kiriyama Prize (2006), the Lannan Award (2002), an American Book Award (1999) and was named to the Latino Literary Hall of Fame. He is a creative writing professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago and lives with his family in the 'burbs (dreaming of returning West soon!).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 13, 2026
This was my introduction to Luis Alberto Urrea’s work, and it was almost funny, after reading several poetry collections by women in a row, to stumble upon lines like these:
I was born in flame.
The Mexicans wheeled my mother, belly-up,
belly aimed at a fingernail moon,
into a room upstairs five miles from the racetrack
on the escape route east of Tijuana. And there,
set scalpels afire.
They cut me out with smoking knives.
My father boasted I was born
with an erection.
Oh, yes, we explore some masculine feelings here.
Mr. Urrea was born in Tijuana, Mexico, to a Mexican father and an Anglo-American mother. He speaks (and writes) Spanish and English beautifully, and I would have been happier if he’d have presented all of his poetry here, in both languages, as Pablo Neruda once so famously did.
But, alas, about 85% is in English, 15% in Spanish.
This collection starts strong, and two poems, in particular, are powerful offerings: “The Sunday Drive,” and “I Tried to Write a Poem About This Once a Year for Thirteen Years.” Both are incredibly visceral and visual and I could see how Mr. Urrea went on to be better known as a writer of fiction. I haven’t read any of his novels yet, but I sense he is good at creating believable action scenes.
The second half of this collection just sort of. . . falls apart. Voice becomes hard to understand. Who’s speaking? About what? Inside jokes are also made, to colleagues and friends. He lost me.
I preferred the parts when his poetry was personal. It was much easier to relate to, particularly when he shares what it feels like to be a product of two different places and two very different people.
He has a love for Mexico and the American West that I share and understand, and I leave you with this little passage that I liked. (This one is dedicated to Mark P, friend to so many of us on here, and new resident of Mexico):
O Chihuahua. Villa slings
his rifle on his back and rides
black motorcycle up your spine,
strides hollow, dark with pride
to drink your sun like cactus wine.
Sidewinders swirl the tideless beach: scorpions
trail cold tails down talus slopes
to plow thin furrow-rows as fine
as lines across my palm--
a field of dust that devils
tall in wind to dance, tornado-hipped
and pale: it slips across your lava, sand, your shale:
it thrusts itself up canyons out of reach
I was born in flame.
The Mexicans wheeled my mother, belly-up,
belly aimed at a fingernail moon,
into a room upstairs five miles from the racetrack
on the escape route east of Tijuana. And there,
set scalpels afire.
They cut me out with smoking knives.
My father boasted I was born
with an erection.
Oh, yes, we explore some masculine feelings here.
Mr. Urrea was born in Tijuana, Mexico, to a Mexican father and an Anglo-American mother. He speaks (and writes) Spanish and English beautifully, and I would have been happier if he’d have presented all of his poetry here, in both languages, as Pablo Neruda once so famously did.
But, alas, about 85% is in English, 15% in Spanish.
This collection starts strong, and two poems, in particular, are powerful offerings: “The Sunday Drive,” and “I Tried to Write a Poem About This Once a Year for Thirteen Years.” Both are incredibly visceral and visual and I could see how Mr. Urrea went on to be better known as a writer of fiction. I haven’t read any of his novels yet, but I sense he is good at creating believable action scenes.
The second half of this collection just sort of. . . falls apart. Voice becomes hard to understand. Who’s speaking? About what? Inside jokes are also made, to colleagues and friends. He lost me.
I preferred the parts when his poetry was personal. It was much easier to relate to, particularly when he shares what it feels like to be a product of two different places and two very different people.
He has a love for Mexico and the American West that I share and understand, and I leave you with this little passage that I liked. (This one is dedicated to Mark P, friend to so many of us on here, and new resident of Mexico):
O Chihuahua. Villa slings
his rifle on his back and rides
black motorcycle up your spine,
strides hollow, dark with pride
to drink your sun like cactus wine.
Sidewinders swirl the tideless beach: scorpions
trail cold tails down talus slopes
to plow thin furrow-rows as fine
as lines across my palm--
a field of dust that devils
tall in wind to dance, tornado-hipped
and pale: it slips across your lava, sand, your shale:
it thrusts itself up canyons out of reach
July 28, 2009
I love everything Luis writes! this did not disappoint me even though it is one of his earlier books and not his main genre.
beautifully written and he does have a couple poems in spanish I wish he would of translated on the opposite page otherwise a five star book! read it if u can find it
beautifully written and he does have a couple poems in spanish I wish he would of translated on the opposite page otherwise a five star book! read it if u can find it
Read
September 12, 2022This isn't a normal book, it's a bunch of poems so I'll probably start another book and that will be my reading time book...
October 25, 2012
Oh my gosh! Before I read this, I thought I didn't like poetry!~ Turns out I just dislike iambic pentameter. This is raw, powerful stuff that hits you where you live. And where Luis Urrea lived. I lived all of it! The tragedy and yet nobility and hope of living.
December 6, 2008
One of my favorite books of poetry.
March 12, 2009
The first time we met Luis he read from this book. Don't tell me you don't like poetry until you've read this one. It is accessible, beautiful, touching, funny, sad...need I go on. READ IT!
Want to read
July 10, 2010The first part of the poem "Horses" gave me shivers - how can this man write so well and speak so directly and personally to my soul?!?! dang!!
July 21, 2012
Damn, he's good.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews