From Booklist
Gay young Latinos are at the center of this quiet, passionate collection in the Latino Voices series. Some of the best stories are about family secrets, but it's not the usual shame-about-coming-out stuff. In "Good as Yesterday," a young woman drives her teenage brother to the detention center to visit the man who has had sex with them both, and it's her nurturing of her brother that's the strongest bond. In "By the Time You Get There, by the Time You Get Back," a man in L.A. must beg money from his successful gay son to travel back home to Mexico to visit a dying relative: Will the father repeat the lies he always tells in Mexico about his son's beautiful Anglo wife? Several stories are sharp vignettes about class: "Hombres" contrasts a desperate young waiter with the privileged diners who flirt with him. Sometimes the meditative detail goes on too long, but Munoz brings you very close to border crossings in family and community. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"Sweet, moody, sexy, cruel. Stories told with such tenderness, they leave
you with your heart aching." -Sandra Cisneros, author of Caramelo and The House on Mango Street
you with your heart aching." -Sandra Cisneros, author of Caramelo and The House on Mango Street
Book Description
Set mainly in California's Central Valley, Manuel Muñoz's first collection of stories goes beyond the traditional family myths and narratives of Chicano literature and explores, instead, the constant struggle of characters against their physical and personal surroundings. Usually depicted as the lush and green world of rural quiet and tranquility, the Valley becomes the backdrop for the difficulties these characters confront as they try to maintain hope and independence in the face of isolation.
In the title story, a teenage boy learns the consequences of succumbing to the lure of a town outsider; in "Campo," a young farm worker frantically attempts to hide his supervision of a huddle of children from the town police, only to have another young man come to his unexpected rescue; in "The Unimportant Lila Parr," a father must expose his own secrets after his son is found murdered in a highway motel. From conflicts of family and sexuality to the pain of loss and memory, the characters in Zigzagger seek to reconcile themselves with the rural towns of their upbringing--a place that, by nature, is bordered by loneliness.
In the title story, a teenage boy learns the consequences of succumbing to the lure of a town outsider; in "Campo," a young farm worker frantically attempts to hide his supervision of a huddle of children from the town police, only to have another young man come to his unexpected rescue; in "The Unimportant Lila Parr," a father must expose his own secrets after his son is found murdered in a highway motel. From conflicts of family and sexuality to the pain of loss and memory, the characters in Zigzagger seek to reconcile themselves with the rural towns of their upbringing--a place that, by nature, is bordered by loneliness.
About the Author
Manuel Muñoz attended Harvard University and Cornell University, and is the recipient of an Individual Artist's Grant in Fiction from the Constance Saltonstall Foundation. His stories have been published in Glimmer Train, Boston Review, Epoch, Colorado Review, and many other journals. He lives in New York City.
