The Man Who Could Fly and Other Stories (Volume 5)

Chicana & Chicano Visions of the Américas

by Rudolfo Anaya

"I am continually thinking stories," writes Rudolfo Anaya. "Even when I am working on a novel, the images for stories keep coming." Considered by many to be the founder of modern Chicano literature, Rudolfo Anaya, best known for Bless Me, Ultima and other novels, has also authored a number of remarkable short stories. Now for the first time, these stories, representing thirty years of Anaya’s writing, have been collected into a single volume. They constitute the best and most essential collection of Anaya’s short story work. Unlike his novels, which range broadly over the American tapestry, Anaya’s short stories focus on character and ethical questions in a regional setting—from the harsh deserts of the American Southwest and northern Mexico to the lush tropical forests of Uxmal in the Yucatán. These tales demonstrate Anaya’s singular attitude toward that stories create myths to live and love by. "In the end the story has to speak for itself," Anaya writes. "Its purpose can be studied, but never fully known." With The Man Who Could Fly and Other Stories , the reader ventures deeply into the world of Rudolfo Anaya, a world of magic, mystery, harsh realities, and redemption.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

216 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2006

About the author

Rudolfo Anaya lives and breathes the landscape of the Southwest. It is a powerful force, full of magic and myth, integral to his writings. Anaya, however, is a native Hispanic fascinated by cultural crossings unique to the Southwest, a combination of oldSpain and New Spain, of Mexico with Mesoamerica and the anglicizing forces of the twentieth century. Rudolfo Anaya is widely acclaimed as the founder of modern Chicano literature. According to the New York Times, he is the most widely read author in Hispanic communities, and sales of his classic Bless Me, Ultima (1972) have surpassed 360,000, despite the fact that none of his books have been published originally by New York publishing houses. His works are standard texts in Chicano studies and literature courses around the world, and he has done more than perhaps any other single person to promote publication of books by Hispanic authors in this country. With the publication of his novel, Albuquerque (1992),Newsweek has proclaimed him a front-runner in "what is better called not the new multicultural writing, but the new American writing." His most recent volume, published in 1995, is Zia Summer.

"I've always used the technique of the cuento. I am an oral storyteller, but now I do it on the printed page. I think if we were very wise we would use that same tradition in video cassettes, in movies, and on radio."

from
http://www.unm.edu/~wrtgsw/anaya.html
and
http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_reso...

Reviews

[Hank Olivas · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Rudolfo Anaya's touching and phenomenal Bless Me, Ultima, I was expecting a lot when I picked up this collection of his short stories. The first two ("The Road to Platero" and "Children of the Desert"), while well-written, tragic and heavy, didn't really grab me. The third one ("The Village That The Gods Painted Yellow") left me a bit puzzled after its strange trek through the land of the Maya. By the time I finished the oddball fourth offering ("A Story") I began to wonder if this collection was worth the while. That immediately changed, however, with the next tale, "The Silence of the Llano", about a man who loses his true love and spends years living in silence with his daughter. And so it went with the rest of the book, with one excellent story after another. To prevent giving spoilers, I'll just list a few standouts. "Jerónimo's Journey" spins a ghostly narrative against the backdrop of el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). I love how "Message from the Inca" seems to ignore linear time as it transports us to the era of the Conquistadors' destruction of Inca civilization. "Devil Deer" is practically a horror story and the weird, tragic "The Captain" takes place in a Nazi Germany officers' camp and even includes "the führer" as a character. My favorite would probably be "The Apple Orchard", a coming-of-age story with a brave, potentially controversial twist. So even after a slow start, this diverse collection of short stories eventually left me eager to read more of Mr. Anaya's works.

[Theleem · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting set of short stories told in Anaya’s classic style, though with a little more breadth than his novels. The stories here are told with his sense of understated magical realism, and at their best create some interesting meditations on magic, writing, and passion. However, I think the settings and messages of the stories get more vague the further they travel from the llano of the Southwest, and because of that a few stories feel a bit out of place. Still, there are some classics here, and at its best the passion in Anaya’s writing is hard to beat.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

all of the women are suffering under matrianismo; they are either silent and sensuous or old-fashioned and bland, yet the entire backbone of the house. they are never to be satisfied yet provide almost mythical satisfaction to everyone around them.
SO, DIDNT LIKE THAT.
but yeah cute short stories, definitely young adult lit, kind of vapid. the man likes the word "tenuous."
it's all old man talk in a bar.

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure how Rudolfo does it but he does! He's always adding more angles withing the same paragraph, and with the information he keeps adding, I should get lost or, at least, get sidetracked as a reader. Yet, he does it subtlety and with so much finesse that it keeps reeling you in.
I really enjoy how he adds the tones of magic, spiritual worlds, and Hispanic traditions.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed-bag collection of stories, some I liked and others not so much, but he is a decent writer and a few stories were quite interesting. There were a few times when i thought he was a bit lazy in the storytelling. I especially liked the ones about trips to Mexico.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are A Mestizo person struggling to find an authentic connection with your indigenous roots, “A Message from the Inca” will be very inspiring. All stories however, are worth the read to those of any given background.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love anaya!! this book of short stories was incredible, not sure if all of them are a re read but i love his writing style and the way he crafts his characters!! he truly is amazing & always reminds me just why i love chicano lit!

[Rem · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Anaya--godfather and guru of Chicano Literature."- Tony Hillerman.

"Characters insist their story be told. They each have a purpose for being. I am the medium through which they come alive. Each character lives in a particular landscape and in a unique and critical time. "-preface (xii).

"La Siriaca esta pegada con chicle y con caca..." pg. ?

"A writer has to follow a story if it leads him to hell itself. That's our curse. Ay, and each one ou us knows his own private hell". pg. 101?

"...the erotic and sensitive Mexican time that is so different from the clean-packaged, well-kept time of the Americanos. It permeates everything, it changes reality....the past seems to infuse the present, and in the brown, wrinkled faces of the old people, one sees the presence of the past." -pg. 88

"The Mexican people guard a secret. But in the end, one is never really lost in Mexico. All streets lead to a good cantina. All good stories start in a cantina." pg. 88





"You seek fame and notoriety and you're dead as a writer". pg. 101

[María Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I had liked this book more. This is the first time I read Anaya because a professor recommended him to me. Unfortunately, I did not like him as I expected. With some exceptions, the stories seem plain and with a homogeneous tone that becomes dull for the reader. He manages to catch the attention in some moments of suspense, but the development of the situations seems very loose and without power. There is no playfulness with language, specially considering that this is Chicano literature. If you want to have a taste of this author, I recommend the ones that I think are worth the reading: "The Village that the Gods Painted Yellow", "The Silence of the Llano", "Message from the Inca" and "The Man Who Could Fly".

[Sean Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is something I don't like about books about the afterlife. A good writer, didactic even. A bit too predictable, but i don't want to kill any swallows and beware of silence.
-Did not finish, just read some stories.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay