Mention Books In Pursuance Of The Madonnas of Echo Park
Original Title: | The Madonnas of Echo Park |
ISBN: | 1439170800 (ISBN13: 9781439170809) |
Edition Language: | English URL http://www.brandoskyhorse.com/ |
Literary Awards: | PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award (2011), Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction (2011) |
Brando Skyhorse
Hardcover | Pages: 199 pages Rating: 3.61 | 2314 Users | 384 Reviews
List Of Books The Madonnas of Echo Park
Title | : | The Madonnas of Echo Park |
Author | : | Brando Skyhorse |
Book Format | : | Hardcover |
Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 199 pages |
Published | : | June 1st 2010 by Free Press |
Categories | : | Fiction |
Description To Books The Madonnas of Echo Park
We slipped into this country like thieves, onto the land that once was ours.With these words, spoken by an illegal Mexican day laborer, The Madonnas of Echo Park takes us into the unseen world of Los Angeles, following the men and women who cook the meals, clean the homes, and struggle to lose their ethnic identity in the pursuit of the American dream.
When a dozen or so girls and mothers gather on an Echo Park street corner to act out a scene from a Madonna music video, they find themselves caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. In the aftermath, Aurora Esperanza grows distant from her mother, Felicia, who as a housekeeper in the Hollywood Hills establishes a unique relationship with a detached housewife.
The Esperanzas’ shifting lives connect with those of various members of their neighborhood. A day laborer trolls the streets for work with men half his age and witnesses a murder that pits his morality against his illegal status; a religious hypocrite gets her comeuppance when she meets the Virgin Mary at a bus stop on Sunset Boulevard; a typical bus route turns violent when cultures and egos collide in the night, with devastating results; and Aurora goes on a journey through her gentrified childhood neighborhood in a quest to discover her own history and her place in the land that all Mexican Americans dream of, "the land that belongs to us again."
Heralding a new young ethnic literary talent: Brando Skyhorse's first novel gives voice to the Mexican-American community in Echo Park, CA.
Rating Of Books The Madonnas of Echo Park
Ratings: 3.61 From 2314 Users | 384 ReviewsAssess Of Books The Madonnas of Echo Park
I have officially read a rejuvenated John Updike in The Madonnas of Echo Park. Ive long followed such fluency throughout my life and career, and now it protrudes its head again in an ethnically-bound novel. Though the book is divided in eight compartments (plus the pulse of the story which is Authors Note")or maybe theyre apartments where the windows are jacaranda blossom-colored through the eyes of the deeply smitten readerthe links between them are expressively cool, subtle. The language isThe Madonnas of Echo Park tells the stories of Mexicans who struggle through their daily lives in Echo Park, a section of Los Angeles. The book starts with "We slipped into this country like thieves, onto the land that once was ours," and ends with "This is the land that we dream of, the land that belongs to us again." A summary of the characters' attitudes toward the land they love and struggle to claim as their home. Echo Park (Photo by User2004 at Wikimedia Common)For a migrant worker, "I
This is a good book. Not sure if its really good or just good. Im not thrilled with the writing. Something about it just throws me. I think its the way he describes everything. It just feels disconnected or rough. I honestly dont know what it is. Theres also his frequent use of cuss words. I mean, I get it, thats how people talk. But I think this betrays one of the general guidlines of narrative: dont tell me, show me. He seems to make too much of an effort to make the reader understand that
This book was selected as the book for all incoming freshmen at my university to read for this coming fall. I tend to really enjoy these types of nested and inter-connected stories, and Skyhorse does a really fine job of connecting characters in unexpected and interesting ways. It was a bit challenging to follow these connections at points, but worth it to get the full flow of the story. For me, this was the most enjoyable book we've read in this series of books for incoming freshmen, and it
A rich panorama of Los Angeles and its history. I recommend multiple reads to unpack all the intricate connections between its eight chapters/ stories.
More like 3.5. Interconnected stories set in Los Angeles. The vivid descriptions of the world the characters live in held my attention but not always the stories. I heard this on audiobook so I feel that played a factor in my rating. I feel like this will be a re-read for me in print. However, Mr. Skyhorse is a storyteller. I look forward to his next novel.
The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse is a breathtaking novel, a connected set of short stories, which explores the predominately Mexican American neighborhood of Echo Park in East L.A. Each story relates the struggles of immigrants and first and second generation Mexican Americans and subtlety explores the themes of race, class, and assimilation. Skyhorse opens the world of gangs and drive-bys, day laborers and cleaning ladies, and in turn shows readers how the characters involved in
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