"La novela 'El valle de los gatos' es una obra de intriga y misterio que atrapa al lector desde las primeras páginas. La historia se desarrolla en un pintoresco y remoto valle.

El pájaro escritor es único en su especie: se trata de un hombre diminuto que vive encerrado en una pajarera y se pasa el día, muy a su pesar, escribiendo. El pájaro escritor se compone de trece relatos de sorprendente factura: la conducta insensata de dos ancianos japoneses ante el desastre de Fukushima; un hombre que a todas horas escucha caer una gota y cuya mujer incuba un feto de dos cabezas; un niño que desaparece durante el juego del escondite; un barrendero que vive en el interior de una baldosa por temor a cruzar líneas en el suelo; un padre fallecido que se le aparece a su hijo en la forma de una ridícula..., en fin, mejor que lo lean. Ejemplos de personajes cotidianos o risibles, a los que les sucede por un momento algo extraordinario o simplemente extraño: el arte de la literatura lo transforma en una metáfora de sus vidas. El humor, a veces negro, pero siempre compasivo, está entretejido de forma inevitable con la tragedia o el drama, como nos demuestran estos relatos ingeniosos y de fácil lectura, aunque no simples. Son, muy al contrario, cuentos cargados de profundidad emocional y humana.

Attorney Luis Montez and Felix “Gato” Guerrero, childhood friends who have survived numerous obstacles, are finally prospering. Luis is making more money in his chosen profession than he ever has and is excited about his work. Felix has gotten his life back in order after his time in Vietnam and the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. He has even found love again. But Felix has always had a knack for getting into trouble—and this time he’s dragging Luis along with him! Felix’s new beloved is a girl from their past who worked her way out of Denver’s Northside barrio by marrying into the city’s most notorious crime family. Her husband runs the business and people who mess with him—or his things—end up with their brains splattered all over the county. As Luis juggles his caseload, including one against the local police for beating up a Mexican-American woman, and helping her hoodlum son, he gets caught up in the lovebirds’ attempt to escape her dangerous husband. But he’s not the only one looking for El Gato, and all too soon bodies start piling up around them! Originally published in 1994 by St. Martin’s Press and reissued by Northwestern University Press in 2004, this riveting second installment in the Luis Montez Mystery series of five novels takes readers on a wild ride through Denver’s mean streets and deadly encounters with young gangbangers, established gangsters and even those tasked with protecting residents—cops who continue to harass brown people with impunity.

Hierarchies at Home traces the experiences of Cuban domestic workers from the abolition of slavery through the 1959 revolution. Domestic service – childcare, cleaning, chauffeuring for private homes – was both ubiquitous and ignored as formal labor in Cuba, a phenomenon made possible because of who supposedly performed it. In Cuban imagery, domestic workers were almost always black women and their supposed prevalence in domestic service perpetuated the myth of racial harmony. African-descended domestic workers were 'like one of the family', just as enslaved Cubans had supposedly been part of the families who owned them before slavery's abolition. This fascinating work challenges this myth, revealing how domestic workers consistently rejected their invisibility throughout the twentieth century. By following a group marginalized by racialized and gendered assumptions, Anasa Hicks destabilizes traditional analyses on Cuban history, instead offering a continuous narrative that connects pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba.

The Britannica Enciclopedia Moderna covers all fields of knowledge, including arts, geography, philosophy, science, sports, and much more. Users will enjoy a quick reference of 24,000 entries and 2.5 million words. More then 4,800 images, graphs, and tables further enlighten students and clarify subject matter. The simple A-Z organization and clear descriptions will appeal to both Spanish speakers and students of Spanish.