Gary Soto
Author of Too Many Tamales
About the Author
Gary Soto was born April 12, 1952, and raised in Fresno California. He graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended Fresno City College, graduating in 1974 with an English degree. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including The Nation, Plouqhshares, The Iowa Review, Ontario show more Review and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in Poets in Person. He is one of the youngest poets to appear in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Soto has received the Discovery-The Nation Prize, the U.S. Award of the International Poetry Forum, The California Library Association's John and Patricia Beatty Award twice, a Recogniton of Merit from the Claremont Graduate School for Baseball in April, the Silver Medal from The Commonwealth Club of California, and the Tomás Rivera Prize, in addition to fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts twice, and the California Arts Council. For ITVS, he produced the film The Pool Party, which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal. Soto wrote the libretto for an opera titled Nerd-landia for the The Los Angeles Opera. In 1999 he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He serves as Young People's Ambassador for the California Rural Legal Assistance and the United Farm Workers of America. Soto is the author of ten poetry collections for adults, with New and Selected Poems a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His recollections Living Up the Street received a Before Columbus Foundation 1985 American Book Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Gary Soto
The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy: Recollections and Short Essays (2000) 35 copies, 1 review
You Kiss by th' Book: New Poems from Shakespeare's Line (Gary Soto Poems, Poems for Shakespeare Fans) (2016) 8 copies
What the World Hears : California Poets in the Schools 2009 Statewide Anthology - 45th Anniversary Edition (2009) 4 copies
The Marble Champ 2 copies
Chatos Kitchen 1 copy
Marisol; American Girl Today 1 copy
To Many Tamales 1 copy
The Afterlife 1 copy
Too Many Tomales 1 copy
Seventh Grade 1 copy
Isolation Ward 1 copy
Como arbustos de niebla 1 copy
Big Bushy Mustache, Unit 1 1 copy
La Bamba 1 copy
Too Many Tamales 1 copy
Associated Works
Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach (2003) — Contributor — 224 copies, 1 review
Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction About Learning to Be American (1999) — Contributor — 120 copies
The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement (1997) — Foreword, some editions — 110 copies, 1 review
Coming of Age in America: A Multicultural Anthology (1994) — Foreword; Contributor — 106 copies, 1 review
Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience (2019) — Contributor — 89 copies, 1 review
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Concise Edition (2003) — Contributor — 73 copies, 1 review
Currents from the Dancing River: Contemporary Latino Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry (1994) — Contributor — 54 copies
Las Christmas: Favorite Latino Authors Share Their Holiday Memories (1998) — Contributor — 38 copies, 1 review
You're On!: Seven Plays in English and Spanish (Spanish and English Edition) (1999) — Contributor — 17 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Soto, Gary Anthony
- Birthdate
- 1952-04-12
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Fresno City College
University of California, Irvine (MFA)
California State University, Fresno (BA, English) - Occupations
- poet
Distinguished Professor, University of California
editor
author
novelist - Organizations
- University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Riverside
United Farm Workers of America - Short biography
- [from California State University, Fresno website]
Gary Soto is a native of Fresno. He began writing when he was 20 and discovered an array of contemporary American Poets. He majored in English and graduated from Fresno State in 1974.
Gary is the author of ten poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both The Los Angeles Times Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Iowa Review, Ontario Review and most frequently, Poetry.
In 1999, Gary was honored with Human and Civil Right Award from the American Education Association, the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and the PEN Center West Book Award from his young-adult short story collection Petty Crimes. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Fresno, California, USA
- Places of residence
- Fresno, California, USA
Berkeley, California, USA - Map Location
- California, USA
Members
Reviews
They say to "never judge a book by its cover," but this cover sold me. The cats look cool and suave, like they know how to have a good time. That's exactly what this book was- a good time. The illustrations perfectly matched the personalities of Chato and Novio boy. Chato likes to party, and when Novio tells him he's never had a birthday party before because he didn't know his birth date, Chato takes this is the perfect chance for him to through a grand, surprise party. I like the addition show more of Spanish words throughout the story as it made the story feel authentic, and the glossary of Spanish words in the front help to understand the context of the story. show less
I met Gary a long time ago (1990's) at an author gig where we were on the same panel. I'm sure he doesn't remember me, but I remember him as open, friendly, vulnerable. I liked him immediately. The poems in this early collection were written 20 years before that meeting. These are the poems of an angry young man, but also a man who is open and vulnerable and clearly talented at writing. Subjects include rape, field work, poverty, hard times. And occasionally, the wonder of the world:
Stars
At show more dusk the first stars appear.
Not one eager finger points toward them.
A little later the stars spread with the night
And an orange moon rises
To lead them, like a shepherd, toward dawn.
In another poem he writes:
One hundred years from now
There should be no reason to believe
I lived.
Not so, Gary, not so... show less
Stars
At show more dusk the first stars appear.
Not one eager finger points toward them.
A little later the stars spread with the night
And an orange moon rises
To lead them, like a shepherd, toward dawn.
In another poem he writes:
One hundred years from now
There should be no reason to believe
I lived.
Not so, Gary, not so... show less
The children's book Too Many Tamales, written by Gary Soto, displays the theme of responsibility and guilt through the main character Maria, as she struggles with the emotion of guilt after losing her mother's wedding ring while making tamales with her mother. However, as Maria faces her accident, she grows from an anxious child to someone who learns the importance of taking responsibility. Soto's use of symbolism can be displayed through the family tradition of making tamales and how losing show more the ring reflects how she fears disappointing her family. This story highlights that mistakes are a part of every child's life and that honesty is key to healthy relationships. Overall, I was able to connect to this book because it gave me a sense of nostalgia, thinking back to the winter months of making tamales with my own grandmother and sharing those traditions with my family. I feel that this book can offer children a look into a different culture and share the common feeling of being scared to face the consequences of our mistakes. show less
I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer's program.
This re-release of this book of poetry, first published in 1977, is an absolute treasure. I'm a poet born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley, not far from where Soto was raised. While I don't share his experience in a Hispanic upbringing, I related strongly to most every poem because he was talking about my home. My land, my neighbors, the smell of the place, the fog, the joy and the toil of the soil. The Sun-Maid show more Factory that he lived next to was is where I went for a 3rd grade field trip!
Even if I didn't share a home region with the author, I would admire the way he wields language. I can't even count how many times I read a line in this book and thought, 'Wow.' A few of my favorite snippets:
from Piedra:
"The dark water wrinkling
Like the mouth of an old auntie whispering Lord"
from Remedies:
"It won't be long before the pain
Napping inside you
Yawns and blinks awake
And Grandma hums prays hums"
I will be holding on to this book for insight and inspiration, and I now want to read more of Soto's poetry. Quite frankly, I'm in awe of him. He wrote most of these poems when he was quite young, too. I would very much like to see how his voice matured. show less
This re-release of this book of poetry, first published in 1977, is an absolute treasure. I'm a poet born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley, not far from where Soto was raised. While I don't share his experience in a Hispanic upbringing, I related strongly to most every poem because he was talking about my home. My land, my neighbors, the smell of the place, the fog, the joy and the toil of the soil. The Sun-Maid show more Factory that he lived next to was is where I went for a 3rd grade field trip!
Even if I didn't share a home region with the author, I would admire the way he wields language. I can't even count how many times I read a line in this book and thought, 'Wow.' A few of my favorite snippets:
from Piedra:
"The dark water wrinkling
Like the mouth of an old auntie whispering Lord"
from Remedies:
"It won't be long before the pain
Napping inside you
Yawns and blinks awake
And Grandma hums prays hums"
I will be holding on to this book for insight and inspiration, and I now want to read more of Soto's poetry. Quite frankly, I'm in awe of him. He wrote most of these poems when he was quite young, too. I would very much like to see how his voice matured. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 103
- Also by
- 34
- Members
- 14,505
- Popularity
- #1,581
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 481
- ISBNs
- 591
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- Favorited
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