A coming-of-age novel of literary fiction with a thriller twist, from preeminent Mexican American author Sergio Troncoso.

In her long career, Ugresic has published several novels (e.g., The Ministry of Pain), but she made her name with her essay collections, which have caused controversy and earned her the admiration of writers and critics abroad. In these latest musings, written over the course of several years, Ugresic leaves no stone unturned and no thought contained, doing what she does best: writing about the human condition through her own experience. Refusing to establish a central theme, she touches upon a wide range of topics: the paradox of multiculturalism, metaphors as our "defense against nightmares," the eerie similarities between capitalism and communism, and ways in which we try to rise hopelessly above our less-than-perfect existence. Along the way, she pays homage to the works of literature that have influenced her own creative process, in an effort to pay "a symbolic literary tax on narcissim" because "writing is not the humblest of vocations." Perhaps not, but Ugresic certainly knows how to balance being a critic with being criticized. Recommended for all libraries collecting cultural criticism.--Mirela Roncevic, Library Journal Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Twelve Stories In This New Collection By The Nobel Prize Winner Chronicle The Surreal, Haunting Journeys Of Latin Americans In Europe. Linked By Themes Of Displacement And Exile, These Vivid, Magical Stories Of Love, Loneliness, Death And The Memories Of Past Life Conjure Images Of Beauty And Horror At Once Ethereal And Exquisitely Sensual.

Nobody's Home is a bold view of the American novel from its beginnings to the contemporary scene. Focusing on some of the deepest instincts of American life and culture--individual liberty, freedom of speech, constructing a life--Arnold Weinstein brilliantly sketches the remarkable career of the American self in some of the major works of the past one hundred fifty years. Weinstein contends that American writers are haunted by the twin specters of the self as a mirage, as Nobody, and by the brutal forces of culture and ideology that deny selfhood to people on the basis of money, sex, and color of skin. His central thesis is that language makes possible freedoms and accomplishments that are achievable in no other realm, and that American fiction is a fascinating record of the human fight against coercion, of the kinds of maneuvering room that we may find in life and in art. This study is unique in several respects: it offers some of the keenest readings of major American texts that have ever been written, including some of the most significant works of the past decades, and it fashions a rich and supple view of the American novel as a writerly form of freedom, in sharp contrast to today's critical emphasis on blindness and co-option.

"A deeply meaningful collection that navigates important nuances of identity."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review 2021 Texas Book Festival Featured Book Nepantla Familias brings together Mexican American narratives that explore and negotiate the many permutations of living in between different worlds—how the authors or their characters create, or fail to create, a cohesive identity amid the contradictions in their lives. Nepantla—or living in the in-between space of the borderland—is the focus of this anthology. The essays, poems, and short stories explore the in-between moments in Mexican American life—the family dynamics of living between traditional and contemporary worlds, between Spanish and English, between cultures with traditional and shifting identities. In times of change, family values are either adapted or discarded in the quest for self-discovery, part of the process of selecting and composing elements of a changing identity. Edited by award-winning writer and scholar Sergio Troncoso, this anthology includes works from familiar and acclaimed voices such as David Dorado Romo, Sandra Cisneros, Alex Espinoza, Reyna Grande, and Francisco Cantú, as well as from important new voices, such as Stephanie Li, David Dominguez, and ire’ne lara silva. These are writers who open and expose the in-between places: through or at borders; among the past, present, and future; from tradition to innovation; between languages; in gender; about the wounds of the past and the victories of the present; of life and death. Nepantla Familias shows the quintessential American experience that revives important foundational values through immigrants and the children of immigrants. Here readers will find a glimpse of contemporary Mexican American experience; here, also, readers will experience complexities of the geographic, linguistic, and cultural borders common to us all. Includes the work of David Dorado Romo Reyna Grande Francisco Cantú Rigoberto González Alex Espinoza Domingo Martinez Oscar Cásares Lorraine M. López David Dominguez Stephanie Li Sheryl Luna José Antonio Rodríguez Deborah Paredez Diana Marie Delgado Diana López Severo Perez Octavio Solis ire'ne lara silva Rubén Degollado Helena María Viramontes Daniel Chacón Matt Mendez

This book is an unveiling of the egregious behavior of white America perpetrated against people of color, particularly the black man that they so commonly named Negro—a name that primarily denotes “a piece of commodity-usable property.” This is an exposé on love and forgiveness or how else can we, as a nation, or even the world, move on. This book reveals how the black man accepted being a Negro, a piece of commodity, and, even now, refuses to detach himself from that subservient consciousness of the Negro. I Ain’t Nobody’s Negro is the beginning of a quest to change people’s consciousness of who they are. The black man was systematically taught, for over two hundred years, that black is bad and white is good; thus is the reason why he fries his hair straight, colors his eyes, and bleaches his skin—all to be as close to white as he can. He was trained to subconsciously hate himself. This book shows the black man how to become self-fulfilled and self-reliant and how to love himself as well as those that committed the hate-filled atrocities against him over the years.

The Border Between Us is a poignant coming-of-age novel from one of the most exciting voices in fiction. Ramón López was born along the US–Mexico border but is determined to get out and embrace the American dream—and he’s not sure whether his complicated family is a help or a hindrance. As the son of immigrants, as Ramón grows, his admiration for his entrepreneurial father sours as he watches his dad’s dreams of success wither on the vine. Ramón’s mother is constantly preoccupied with his younger brother, who struggles with intellectual disabilities. And the outside world is rife with danger and temptations threatening to distract Ramón from his dreams of making it to New York and succeeding as an artist. As dreams clash with reality and values conflict with desires, Ramón finds the American dream within his reach—but will it demand too big a sacrifice? Award-winning author Rudy Ruiz brilliantly captures the beauty and the danger of border life as Ramón struggles to understand his home and his place in the world. The Border Between Us is a stunning, compassionate story about a son’s fraught relationship with his father, the challenges of pursuing a creative life when you come from humble beginnings, and the power of embracing the whole of who you are.