El Paso del Norte by Richard Yanez
El Paso del Norte: Stories on the Border (Western Literature Series) by Richard Yañez
Paperback: 152 pages; Univ of Nevada Pr; (March 2003) ISBN: 087417533X
A Poignant, Powerful Debut Collection February 14, 2003
A few years ago, I read the short story, “Lucero’s Mkt.,” in Bilingual Review. I didn’t know the author but the story moved me with its powerful, poignant portrait of two lost souls: a woman who had lost her mind (known in the neighborhood as, “La Loquita”) and Rafael, the lonely, owner of the tiendita. When I started to read Richard Yañez’s debut collection, “El Paso del Norte: Stories on the Border,” I was delighted when I came upon “Lucero’s Mkt.” It sat happily nestled among the other borderland stories in this slim, eloquent and vibrant collection. Yañez has a gift: he can bring to life one region in Texas (near the Mexican border) but he doesn’t write the same story over and over again. The characters range across the map of Latino experiences: undocumented immigrants, pochos, young, old, male, female, middle-class, indigent. Yañez never falls in the trap known as bathos. He paints an honest picture of life on the border without pulling punches. But he also shows respect for the people he writes about even those who are riddled with imperfections. This is a very fine, accomplished book. I highly recommend it.
By Daniel Olivas
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