These stories are pulled from a working-class life. The reader tumbles into a Southwest world of bills and debts being paid off, of old trucks, paychecks that bounce, greedy landladies, fights, cheap girls, drug and a hunger for work.
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From Publishers Weekly
Acclaimed Chicano writer Gilb's collection of short stories set in the American Southwest won the PEN Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award. $35,000 ad/promo. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From Library Journal
These plain-spoken stories take readers to construction sites and cheap rentals where chronically underemployed, necessarily mobile, struggling yet optimistic Texas Mexicans survive in an ungenerous world. Skilled laborers and tenuous families come alive in the undramatic settings and seethe with the blood and passion that transform ordinary events into the stuff of stories. In "Nancy Flores," a breathtaking depiction of first love flows into the enigmatically sordid fall of a youthful hero. "Winners on the Pass Line" pairs the fates of two restless visitors to Las Vegas who connect briefly and profoundly. Gilb's lesser stories meander into facile or abrupt endings, but the best are as unexpectedly beguiling and unforgettable as the arid stretches between their settings in El Paso and Los Angeles. Recommended for public libraries and area collections.
- Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
- Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
The way I see it, a man can have all the money in the world but if he can't keep his self-respect, he don't have shit. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The way I see it, a man can have all the money in the world but if he can't keep his self-respect, he don't have shit. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Mark Seeba
Format:Paperback
Not unlike many Chicano, Latino or Mexican-American writers, Gilb is culturally illiterate, in both English and Spanish. The drab stories of humble people from Mexico who fumble in the U.S. results in a series of stories of compelling pathos: drunks, women knocked up, discrimination, economic failure. In other words, this books champions the idiotic idea that Hispanics should embrace the Cult of Victimology. Well, they shouldn't. Why Hispanics should portray themselves and their lives as those of losers defies belief. Better any book by Julia Alvarez, Isabel Allende any day of the week.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I'm the sort of person that reads a lot of books. (I read 8 books over this christmas vacation) When we got an assignment in english class to read a book by a latino author with a book group, we chose this one randomly from a list of 30 or 40 books. First of all it was almost impossible to get the book. (there are only two in the library system in the Seattle Area) I had to order the book, and it was the biggest waste of 10 bucks i have ever spent. The stories were boring and extremely difficult to get through. None of the stories had any themes i could relate to (being a female high school student who lives in the suburbs) and many of the stories seemed to have no point whatsoever. "The Death Mask of Pancho Villa" was about three guys who decided to smoke pot outside of one of the man's homes and discuss what to do with the death mask one of the men had 'acquired.' "Nancy Flores" was, in my opinion, one of the worst stories in the book. Do i really want to read about an 8th grader who felt his girlfriend up, only to find out years later she married the man that she dumped him for? NOOOOOOO!!!! This book is utterly useless and i will donate it to the library system after i am done with it at school. (although it will probably be of greater use if i burned it on a cold rainy day)
In short, it was an utterly useless book that had no message or value that i gained from reading the book. If it was possible, i would have given the book 0 stars.
In short, it was an utterly useless book that had no message or value that i gained from reading the book. If it was possible, i would have given the book 0 stars.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Gilb's collection of short stories detail the lives of working class people (not heroes, per se) in a very true to life fashion. I can almost picture Mr. Gilb working with his hands on a high rise or on some odd job, observing what was going on around him and in his own life, preparing to write about what he saw and felt. His stories read that way, and I very much enjoyed this book each time I read it. For the record, the working class Mexican-American friends I have given this book to tell me it is authentic. A corporate suit wouldn't have been able to write it, and thank God Mr. Gilb is not a corporate suit. Hooray for the common man who thinks!
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Stories
i read "The Magic of Blood" because my mom told me to read an article the author wrote in the new yorker magazine a week ago. Read more
Published on Mar 23 2000 by Maria Gonzalez
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even your Pops Will Love These Stories
i'm reading gilb's book and i think it's incredible how good it is to read. "nancy flores" man i just loved her!! Read more
Published on Sep 21 1999
3.0 out of 5 stars
Average Stories by Rude Writer
The stories in this collection are okay -- glimpes into the lives of working-class Mexican-Americans -- but are nothing more than okay. I have met Mr. Read more
Published on Sep 9 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical Work
Sometimes you come across a book that can change the way you see things. I am not a Latino or from the Southwest, but I come from a family of construction workers. Read more
Published on May 13 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
great book!
If I could give this more stars I would. The best book of stories about working people I've read ever. And Mexican American. I can't wait to read more by this guy. Read more
Published on Mar 30 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Book by a Chicano Author
I have recently been reading the books from people in my heritage and sometimes I have been disappointed by what teachers have told me what is good in our literature. Read more
Published on Jan 23 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magic in the mundane
Tales of the working man. Waiting for your car to be repaired. Drinking in a bar. Losing your favorite sweater. Read more
Published on Dec 29 1998 by "mambodog"
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