Reading Recommendations: 4 Latino Writers Everyone Should Know

Poetry: Pablo Neruda - translated in English

No list could possibly be complete without including this remarkable Chilean writer. His poetry speaks for itself. He has a collection of a hundred love poems which are wonderful. In addition to his talented poetry, he's also well known for his political activism. You can read more about that here.

Short Story: A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of One Hundred Years of Solitude, probably needs no introduction. He's hailed as one of the great modern masters of Magical Realism, a genre closely tied to Latin American literature. He takes a more literary approach which feels like it was meant to be read slowly (at least, the English translations do). If you don't mind long sentences with lots of commas, you might like his style.

Vignettes: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

I'll admit, I didn't care for this book the first time I read it. It was assigned reading in high school, and I would have rather been reading basically anything but American Lit. It's not that I hated the book, or anything, I was able to relate to a few points, but for the unaccustomed, vignettes are weird. I recently decided to give it another chance and it left me utterly amazed. I see now what all the fuss was about. It's beautiful and brilliant in a way I could only hope to aspire to.

The chapters are delicious bite size pieces. Most are no more than three or four pages, which makes it perfect for either reading straight through or taking it all in over the course of a week or two.

Of every piece of Latino Literature I've ever read, this is the one that best captures the essence of what it means to grow up as a Latina. And it manages to do so without becoming overly political or whiny. Open, honest, and vulnerable. Can't recommend it enough.

Novel: Like Water for Chocolate by Lauara Esquivel

This Magical Realism novel is great in English, even better in Spanish. It centers around Tita, a Mexican woman whose ability to marry is complicated by tradition. Rather than spending his life away from her, the love of her life agrees to marry her sister. Tensions rise when he moves in under the same roof as Tita. She soon discovers that her cooking was magical, everything she felt while constructing the dish (depression, passion, contentment, etc.) would be felt by anyone who ate it.

The book is wonderfully emotional (though not over the top in a Telemundo sort of way). It's the first piece of Magical Realism I'd ever read, and before I reached the last page, I already knew it wouldn't be the last.

If you're bilingual, I highly recommend the Spanish version (there's a lyrical quality to that English can't match). If not, the English translation is still pretty great.

Book Review : Does This Mean You'll See Me Naked by Robert Webster

With Halloween just around the corner, there's no better time to dive into something a little dark. 

I just finished Does This Mean You'll See Me Naked?: Field Notes from a Funeral Director by Robert Webster. I found it to be an interesting read. Quick and easy. I can't say I would recommend it for everyone but if you don't recoil at the thought of reading a number of random anecdotes about dead bodies and a bit about the history of the Death Industry, you just might like it. 

My only qualm with the book would be the use of private information concerning his prior "cases" and either issues he faced (such as the conundrum posed by transporting, embalming, and burying a 660lb woman) or unusual requests (like being buried in the front seat of a truck), the fact of the matter is that these were actual people. Though they're (obviously) dead and gone, their family and friends almost certainly are not, so I found myself conflicted throughout the early chapters of the book. Though it has a generally appropriate mood, the book occasionally veers off into dark humor. Given the sensitive subject matter, some of it was actually funny, but some of it fell flat which meant it came off as being a bit tacky. It was mostly a matter of detail and word choice, such as including the fact that he held the obese woman's corpse open with duct tape and, while locating the femoral artery, was "nearly up to (his) elbow in fatty tissue". This paints quite a vivid picture for the reader. Unfortunately, it paints the same crude image for the deceased's family who chose to use his funeral home.

On the flip side, it offered a bit of insight into everyday problems and solutions those in the Death Industry face (in both the past and present). I suppose when processing dead bodies is your day job, a sense of reverence for the dead probably fades through the years. This may account for the handful of crass comments sprinkled throughout the earlier chapters (which I should note, were mildly annoying but not enough to make me put it down). 

The middle of the book took a weird turn into the history of the Death Industry which I felt was a bit awkwardly placed. Some of it, such as the history of embalming, I already knew (don't ask me why) but a fair amount was new to me. Also, I appreciated that there was a decent amount of material addressing the practical application of insiders' knowledge concerning planning funerals as well as the unnecessary bells and whistles they'll inevitably try to sell you on. Let's be honest ... all you really need is a big wooden box. Unless you plan on being cremated, in which case, all you need is a little wooden box. 

   

Overall, I'm glad I read it. I feel like I learned a thing or two. It moved along at a surprisingly quick pace so I found it to be generally enjoyable, and what I would consider some light reading material before bed. Definitely not for squeamish readers but if you've ever found yourself wondering about death, or mortuary science, it might be worth a read.   

Reading Recommendations: 3 Awesome Need to Read Short Stories

I've never done a post like this before, but I've been considering it for a while. A few months ago I ran across a blog that was literally just excerpts from books. I'm not sure that's entirely legal but I found the concept to be fascinating. The curator compiled hundreds of posts with just pieces of stories that resonated with him.

It's very late on a Sunday night and as I type this, I'm sitting in the dark staring at my screen, feeling awkwardly meta as I contemplate how deeply the "this resonated with me" blog actually resonated with me. I really wish that I had taken down the name or bookmarked it or followed it, but alas, I'm an idiot.

Since I've been working on short stories and flash fiction lately, I've been reading more of them than I ever have before. I debated on writing a review for them but it just feels silly for something so short. Instead, I thought I might keep a running list with links to stories that resonate with me. Short Fiction and Microfiction that I find interesting, inspiring, thought provoking or, in some small way, worth reading.

Here's a few that not only caught my eye, but stayed with me all week -

Immersion by Daniella Levy

Published in The Jewish Literary Journal 
I'm not Jewish but I've always taken the advice to "read wide and deep" to heart. A basic understanding of the Jewish faith and culture would help put this piece into context but I think this story stands well enough on its own. At least, I found it to be very approachable. The story follows a young woman and her soul searching as she undergoes a Mikveh (a religious ritual reserved for married women).

No Vacancies: Reality TV Dumpster Fires and Haunted DVDs by Max Booth III 

Published with Gamut - (For the record, I LOVE the artwork on this site.)
I think the voice is what captured my attention the most. It's a bit cynical, maybe even existential. This piece uses some more advanced structural techniques that I wouldn't recommend to beginners but it's clear that Booth knows what he's doing. I liked it. I believe it's a CNF  piece (Creative Non-Fiction). If you're a fan of Chuck Palahniuk, take a moment to read this.

The Masque of Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Poe needs no introduction. The Masque of Red Death is certainly one of his best known pieces. It's not exactly a hidden gem, but I couldn't resist adding it to the list. Contemporary American culture places such a taboo on death, I always appreciate artists that push it back into the public eye. The fact is, we're all mortal and at some point we're all going to die. Chances are, you've heard of the story before (it's even the costume Erik wears to the masquerade in Phantom of the Opera) so I'm probably not ruining much when I say it can summed up in five words -- Death comes for us all. Definitely worth a read if you've never taken the time before.