Caring for a House

by Victor Martinez

Chicano poet

Genres: Poetry

65 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Victor Martinez was born and raised in Fresno, California, the fourth in a family of twelve children. He attended California State University at Fresno and Stanford University, and has worked as a field laborer, welder, truck driver, firefighter, teacher, and office clerk.

His poems, short stories, and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies. Mr. Martinez was awarded the 1996 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for Parrot in the Oven, his first novel. He now makes his home in San Francisco, California.

Reviews

[Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I've taught Victor Martinez' young adult novel Parrot in the Ovento my high school students in the past. After looking up some background info on Martinez, I discovered that he started his writing career as a poet. I bought his first (and only) collection of poetry with hopes that I could incorporate some of Martinez' other writings into my unit on Parrot.

The book consists of 40 free verse poems, divided into three untitled sections. The poems explore themes of death, family, meaning, cancer, and change. Some of them seem rather autobiographical in nature with references to what appears to be Martinez' family members.

I enjoyed these poems although I think they would be a little too esoteric for my students (especially the ones in the third section). I still might use some of the more concrete ones like "Shoes" and "Family Album" that are little more close-ended in their interpretation.

Also, the cover for this collection of poetry may be one of the worst covers I've ever seen.