Daniel Chacon

This is not your ordinary short story collection. In his newest work, Daniel Chacón subverts expectation and bends the rules of reality to create stories that are intriguing, hilarious, and deeply rooted in Chicano culture. These stories explore the concept of a wall that reaches beyond our immediate thoughts of a towering physical structure. While Chacón aims to address the partition along the U. S.-Mexico border, he also uses these stories to work through the intangible walls that divide communities and individuals-particularly those who straddle multiple cultures in their daily lives. Set in El Paso and other Latinx-dominant urban spaces, Kafka in a Skirt is an immersive look into the myriad lives of the characters who inhabit these culturally diverse areas. Chacón masterfully weaves elements of the surreal and fantastic through a shining tapestry of fiction, creating moments of touching realism in contrast with scenes that are fascinatingly unfamiliar. Occasionally teasing the ghosts of Jorge Luis Borges and the Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik, this collection disregards boundaries and transports readers into a world merely parallel to our own. Kafka in a Skirt unravels the intricacies of culture, sexuality, love, and loneliness in a collection that shows the personal implications of barriers while remaining hopeful and bright.

Widely considered one of the most important voices in the Chicano literary canon, Jose Antonio Burciaga was a pioneer who exposed inequities and cultural difficulties through humor, art, and deceptively simple prose. In this anthology and tribute, Mimi Gladstein and Daniel Chacon bring together dozens of remarkable examples of Burciaga's work. His work never demonstrates machismo or sexism, as he believed strongly that all Chicano voices are equally valuable. Best known for his books Weedee Peepo, Drink Cultura, and Undocumented Love, Burciaga was also a poet, cartoonist, founding member of the comedy troupe Cultura Clash, and a talented muralist whose well-known work The Last Supper of Chicano Heroes? became almost more famous than the man. This first and only collection of Burciaga's work features thirty-eight illustrations and incorporates previously unpublished essays and drawings, including selections from his manuscript The Temple Gang, a memoir he was writing at the time of his death. In addition, Gladstein and Chacon address Burciaga's importance to Chicano letters. A joy to read, this rich compendium is an important contribution not only to Chicano literature but also to the preservation of the creative, spiritual, and political voice of a talented and passionate man.

In the barrio of Fresno, California, the Molina family is living out the Chicano version of the American Dream. Father William works on an assembly line while his wife, the well-bred beauty Rachel, stays at home to care for their three children--and to keep them off the streets. But when William is offered an opportunity to enter the ranks of the middle class, he quits his job, packs up the Ford Maverick, and transports the Molinas to a brand-new world: the small town of Medford, Oregon. So begins the dramatic transformation of youngest son and aspiring actor Joey, who assumes the role of a vato loco gang member in order to win the respect and fear of his gringo classmates. While Joey tries to make himself popular with tall tales of guns and glory, his father embarks on a bitter struggle to develop his career and combat age-old cultural stereotypes. How William's extraordinary efforts and deepening despair affect the lives of his loved ones is at the heart of this haunting and incandescent novel--one destined to become a classic in Chicano-American literature.