The House on Mango Street is one of the most cherished novels of the last fiftyyears. Readers from all walks of life have fallen for the voice of EsperanzaCordero, growing up in Chicago and inventing for herself who and what she willbecome. “In English my name means hope,” she says. “In Spanish it means toomany letters. It means sadness, it means waiting."Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heart breaking, sometimesjoyous—Cisneros’s masterpiece is a classic story of childhood andself-discovery. It is also one of the greatest neighbourhood novels of all time.Like Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street or Toni Morrison’s Sula, it makes a worldthrough people and their voices, and it does so in language that is poetic anddirect. Acclaimed by critics, a staple in schools, translated into dozens oflanguages, this gorgeous coming-of-age novel is a celebration of the power oftelling one’s story and of being proud of where you come from.

Finalist for the National Book Award!In this beautifully wrought memoir, award-winning writer John Philip Santos weaves together dream fragments, family remembrances, and Chicano mythology, reaching back into time and place to blend the story of one Mexican family with the soul of an entire people. The story unfolds through a pageant of unforgettable family figures: from Madrina--touched with epilepsy and prophecy ever since, as a girl, she saw a dying soul leave its body--to Teofilo, who was kidnapped as an infant and raised by the Kikapu Indians of Northern Mexico. At the heart of the book is Santos' search for the meaning of his grandfather's suicide in San Antonio, Texas, in 1939. Part treasury of the elders, part elegy, part personal odyssey, this is an immigration tale and a haunting family story that offers a rich, magical view of Mexican-American culture.

A family''s epic origins in the hinterlands of Mexico that became Texas-and earlier, in Iberia In his acclaimed 1999 memoir Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, John Phillip Santos told the story of one Mexican family- his father''s-set within the larger story of Mexico itself. In this beautifully written new book, he tells of how another family-this time, his mother''s-erased and forgot over time their ancient origins in Spain. Every family has a forgotten tale of where it came from. Who is driven to tell it and why? Weaving together a highly original mix of autobiography, conquest history, elegy, travel, family remembrance, and time travelling narration, Santos offers an unforgettable testimony to this calling and describes a lifelong quest to find the missing chronicle of his mother''s family, one that takes him to various locations in South Texas and Mexico, to New York City, to Spain, and ultimately to the Middle East. Blending genres brilliantly, Santos raises profound questions about whether we can ever find our true homeland and what we can learn from our treasured, shared cultural legacies.

The House on Mango Street is one of the most cherished novels of the last fiftyyears. Readers from all walks of life have fallen for the voice of EsperanzaCordero, growing up in Chicago and inventing for herself who and what she willbecome. “In English my name means hope,” she says. “In Spanish it means toomany letters. It means sadness, it means waiting."Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heart breaking, sometimesjoyous—Cisneros’s masterpiece is a classic story of childhood andself-discovery. It is also one of the greatest neighbourhood novels of all time.Like Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street or Toni Morrison’s Sula, it makes a worldthrough people and their voices, and it does so in language that is poetic anddirect. Acclaimed by critics, a staple in schools, translated into dozens oflanguages, this gorgeous coming-of-age novel is a celebration of the power oftelling one’s story and of being proud of where you come from.

Finalist for the National Book Award!In this beautifully wrought memoir, award-winning writer John Philip Santos weaves together dream fragments, family remembrances, and Chicano mythology, reaching back into time and place to blend the story of one Mexican family with the soul of an entire people. The story unfolds through a pageant of unforgettable family figures: from Madrina--touched with epilepsy and prophecy ever since, as a girl, she saw a dying soul leave its body--to Teofilo, who was kidnapped as an infant and raised by the Kikapu Indians of Northern Mexico. At the heart of the book is Santos' search for the meaning of his grandfather's suicide in San Antonio, Texas, in 1939. Part treasury of the elders, part elegy, part personal odyssey, this is an immigration tale and a haunting family story that offers a rich, magical view of Mexican-American culture.

A family''s epic origins in the hinterlands of Mexico that became Texas-and earlier, in Iberia In his acclaimed 1999 memoir Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, John Phillip Santos told the story of one Mexican family- his father''s-set within the larger story of Mexico itself. In this beautifully written new book, he tells of how another family-this time, his mother''s-erased and forgot over time their ancient origins in Spain. Every family has a forgotten tale of where it came from. Who is driven to tell it and why? Weaving together a highly original mix of autobiography, conquest history, elegy, travel, family remembrance, and time travelling narration, Santos offers an unforgettable testimony to this calling and describes a lifelong quest to find the missing chronicle of his mother''s family, one that takes him to various locations in South Texas and Mexico, to New York City, to Spain, and ultimately to the Middle East. Blending genres brilliantly, Santos raises profound questions about whether we can ever find our true homeland and what we can learn from our treasured, shared cultural legacies.