From Publishers Weekly
Intimate and sweetly slangy, this collection of 10 interconnected stories set in the hardscrabble, blue-collar town of El Monte captures the essence of Latino life in Southern California. Many of the characters and story lines revolve around the up-and-down fortunes of the Cruz family, starting with "The Corrido of Hector Cruz," which involves the efforts of an auto shop owner to balance the concerns of his newly pregnant wife with those of his troubled nephew Lencho, who comes to live with the couple after getting out of prison. Five years later, in "Riding with Lencho," Lencho must battle his girlfriend, who doesn't appreciate his attempts to educate himself by taking college night classes while working full-time as a mechanic. Jaime-Becerra adds some nice local color in "Georgie and Wanda," in which a stock car racer tries to quell his driving fears after a near-deadly wreck, while striving to win the heart of a Mexican trophy queen. The tour de force story in the collection is "Media Vuelta," which describes the journey of an older mariachi musician to Southern California to find his first wife. Instead, he runs into Lencho, who demands a musical performance in exchange for his help in the search. Jaime-Becerra's characters are notable for their innocence and good intentions. When they get into troubleâ"which is oftenâ"it's because of their surroundings. The author's ability to get inside the hearts and minds of his characters helps the collection rise above the general run of Spanglish-flavored fiction, as does his evocative, superreal scene-setting ("Mom's Tercel stalls at the signal on Durfee") and the immediacy of his present-tense prose, despite some awkward phrasings. The result is a collection that succeeds at several levels while establishing Jaime-Becerra as a writer to watch.
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A realistic, humorous, and poignant story collection by a strong new voice in fiction, a writer who observes with great skill, leading him to portray ordinary scenes in the ongoing human drama thoroughly and realistically. Jamie-Becerra follows some incredibly likable characters that are linked by acquaintance or simply by living in the El Monte area in California. His stories depict brief moments in their daily lives and explore individual characters' thoughts, regrets, and wishes. Most of the stories deal with family life behind closed doors as influenced by cultural background and social status. Jaime-Becerra uses first-person narrators to help the reader really get inside the mind of the chosen character and see life from his or her vantage point. Characters reappear in various stories, offering shifting perspectives, creating a larger picture, and deepening the reader's understanding of their lives. Jaime-Becerra is a wonderful storyteller, and this collection is quite simply a joy to read. Janet St. John
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About the Author
Michael Jaime-Becerra was raised in El Monte, California. He still lives in the area and is at work on a novel.
