Mrs. Perez

by Oscar Cásares, LeVar Burton (Narrator)

At the country's edge, on the Mexican border, Brownsville, Texas, is a town like many others. It is a place where people work hard to create better lives for their children, where people bear grudges against their neighbors, where love blossoms only to fade, and where the only real certainty is that life holds surprises.

Specifically this edition is for the story "Mrs. Perez", narrated by LeVar Burton for LeVar Burton Reads Podcast.

Genres: Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction

1 pages, Audiobook

First published January 29, 2019

About the author

Oscar Cásares is the author of Brownsville, a collection of stories that was an American Library Association Notable Book of 2004, and is now included in the curriculum at several American universities, and the novel Amigoland. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Copernicus Society of America, and the Texas Institute of Letters. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he teaches creative writing at the University of Texas in Austin, where he lives.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone else said, this should have been called How Mrs. Perez Got Her Groove Back.

It was quite enjoyable.

The machismo (misogyny) of Mr. Perez infuriated me, because his ego was too fragile to allow his wife to pursue something that genuinely made her happy, simply because he didn't like the idea of her literally carrying a urine sample if it belonged to another man. Such fragility.

I was so happy to see her find something else to that brought her joy when her husband kicked the bucket. I'm just sad it took so long for her to find joy again.

A very stark reminder that we need to retain ourselves, and things that fulfill our lives without loosing ourselves to our partners.

It did end a little abruptly, but all in all I was not disappointed.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sympathetic heroine coming into her own late in life.

[Penny Bernhisel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful short story read by an incredible narrator- who wouldn’t enjoy listening to their childhood superhero read out loud?

The metaphor of finding your light and special gifts within to share with the world is universal, regardless of age.

I will likely think of this story the next time I go bowling. A special thanks to my dad who taught me to bowl and took me to lessons as a kid- this read had a special kind of nostalgia because of that.

AND Thank you to my buddy Ally who led me to this podcast!

[Frieda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her new friendships made her strong, built her up, which she really needed after the many years her husband brought her down.

[Yadira Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our consensus is she definitely killed him or maimed him significantly!

Still I liked her and I'm glad she got to become the person she was all along

[Amy Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another slice-of-life one, but one that I enjoyed much more than most of them so far on the podcast. It still only gets 3 stars because of one specific detail that utterly enraged me, which I will mention below.

This is the tale of an elderly female bowler, who took up bowling late, and had her best bowling ball stolen out of her house (with other items, but that was the one she cared about). We get flashbacks to her life with her husband and other events leading to her becoming a bowler. Very engagingly written, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly, except...

Except for how the MC is treated by her husband. That is emotional abuse, pure and simple. (Rant in spoiler tags) I do not care that such attitudes were common in that era. That doesn't make them okay. At all. Goddam controlling bastard. If your wife has a job she enjoys and it offends you? Go to hell and take your controlling misogyny with you.

The other issue is the ending. I think it's intended to be cute and funny and, "You go, Grandma!" But. It's also an assault charge waiting to happen. OTOH, if the guy presses charges, he will also be questioned about the robbery, so probably she's in the clear? I don't know. Maybe I'm just overthinking what was intended as a cute, silly ending.

[Simran Bodhak · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old woman who finds herself and her passions after the death of her husband who did not approve of anything other that honest work and church but only for men. One who had lost her identity in becoming the perfect wife and mother. In the end she was strong enough to find herself in bowling and a cherry red bowling ball.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with reviewer Jen that this should have been titled “How Mrs. Perez Got Her Groove Back” lol. That said, the title works especially since there's a part in the story about how she felt weird being called Lola instead of Mrs. Perez.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

LeVar Burton Reads podcast - “Mrs. Perez”

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

An elderly woman finds her self after a long marriage to a decent man.