Denise Chávez

A beautifully written though tedious book about a young woman's coming of age in Texas and New Mexico. I admire the writing and wish I had the talent to emulate Chavez's words. The book was tedious because it had no plot. That is the only complaint I seem to have nowadays with literary writing. Some of it is good, with a steady handle on story, but some of it lacks the glue that would otherwise make it memorable.

Haunting short stories by and about an Hispanic/Chicana woman.

Denise Chavez presents us with a cluster of stories about a girl moving into an adult world. The stories are not exactly about “coming of age,” but steps along the way to adulthood as a young woman grasps larger, often uncomfortable realities. The narrator is present in all the stories, but the places and issues vary. In the title story, Rocio works in a hospital as a “menu girl,” collecting menu preferences from patients, show more who expose her to their anger at sickness and death. Another story focuses on her changing models for the woman she wants to grow up to be. All the stories portray life of ordinary women in Chicana neighborhoods, women seldom depicted in mainstream fiction. Her writing is an example of how, in the USA, more and more authors are being published who reveal the deep diversity of our society.

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I enjoyed this book and found some similarities with the movie The Purple Rose of Cairo by Woody Allen. Life in a small town - with all the good and the bad - was depicted well in this book. I am going to rent a Pedro movie from NetFlix just to get a sense of the man who became such an icon. I wish I knew more Spanish so that the entire book was understandable but I think it is good to have the exeperience of being outside/in the dark as many do with English in their everyday lives.

From the descriptions I thought it would be quite humorous - it wasn't. There is a llot of Spanish interspersed throughout the book. I am comfortable with that, as I speak Spanish, but not all readers will appreciate it. All in all, I'd say it's an okay read.