Overview

Eliud Martínez -- scholar, painter, novelist, professor, husband, father, brother, son, friend -- was a proponent of what he called ""multiple ancestries."" Inspired by Carlos Fuentes' novel The Death of Artemio Cruz, he conceived of Mexico as ""a thousand countries with a single name."" In Güero-Güero: The White Mexican and Other Published and Unpublished Stories, discover twenty tales inspired by Martínez's own upbringing in Pflugerville, Texas, on the outskirts of Austin. The complicated histories of his ancestors were passed down to him by family elders. A gifted and natural storyteller, frequent visits with his father to Pflugerville's segregated cemetery compelled him to write. Here, authentic autobiographical detail elevates these stories to a high art, melding personal and cultural histories, crossing the ocean and spanning continents to divine what it means to be who we are.

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9781734497755

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Reviews

In Güero-Güero: The White Mexican and Other Published and Unpublished Stories, Eliud Martínez returns to his native Texas as Miguel Velásquez, the fictional narrator who recalls in twenty tales the immensity of the Texas sky and his frequent strolls through segregated cemeteries, one for Confederates, another for Mexicans who, while among the living, had a family, knew of love and suffering, and now sleep underground with secrets and stories untold. In looking back to the history of Tejanos as if it were a time surpassed, Güero-Güero winks at the reader with tacit irony, seizing the day in our contemporary times with the optimism and trust that ideals of American democracy are grander and more encompassing than the Texas sky. -- Roberto Cantú, California State University, Los Angeles Springing from Eliud Martínez's roots in Pflugerville, Texas, where even the cemeteries were segregated (White, Black, and Mexican), Martínez projects a vision of La Raza Cosmica - the blending of Native American, Mediterranean, and Black - mixed with ""smells of cilantro"" to make a poignant salsa ranchera - a passionate, eclectic journey through the life of a scholar and artist. -- Carlos Morton, University of California, Santa Barbara Gathered here are short stories that tug at your heart. They are told in the authentic voices of Mexican family members about themselves, each other and their heritage to a boy who loved them for themselves. They are woven into a tapestry of elegant simplicity about growing up in a poor Texas enclave near Austin into a landscape of self-discovery to become a cherished college literature professor. How lucky his students must have felt to learn to tell stories - and trust the raw honesty in their lives - from such a compassionate man. Que e'l descansar en paz. -- Duncan Campbell Webb, Attorney at Law

In Guero-Guero: The White Mexican and Other Published and Unpublished Stories, Eliud Martinez returns to his native Texas as Miguel Velasquez, the fictional narrator who recalls in twenty tales the immensity of the Texas sky and his frequent strolls through segregated cemeteries, one for Confederates, another for Mexicans who, while among the living, had a family, knew of love and suffering, and now sleep underground with secrets and stories untold. In looking back to the history of Tejanos as if it were a time surpassed, Guero-Guero winks at the reader with tacit irony, seizing the day in our contemporary times with the optimism and trust that ideals of American democracy are grander and more encompassing than the Texas sky. Roberto Cantu California State University, Los Angeles Springing from Eliud Martinez's roots in Pflugerville, Texas, where even the cemeteries were segregated (White, Black, and Mexican), Martinez projects a vision of La Raza Cosmica - the blending of Native American, Mediterranean, and Black - mixed with smells of cilantro to make a poignant salsa ranchera - a passionate, eclectic journey through the life of a scholar and artist. Carlos Morton University of California, Santa Barbara Gathered here are short stories that tug at your heart. They are told in the authentic voices of Mexican family members about themselves, each other and their heritage to a boy who loved them for themselves. They are woven into a tapestry of elegant simplicity about growing up in a poor Texas enclave near Austin into a landscape of self-discovery to become a cherished college literature professor. How lucky his students must have felt to learn to tell stories - and trust the raw honesty in their lives - from such a compassionate man. Que e'l descansar en paz. Duncan Campbell Webb Attorney at Law

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