Caramelo
Page 47
Warner Bros. Publications and Zomba Golden Sands: Excerpt from the song lyric “Júrame,” Spanish words and music by María Grever. English version by Frederick H. Martens. Copyright © 1926, 1928 (Renewed) by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP), and Zomba Golden Sands (ASCAP). International Copyright secured. Reprinted by permission of Warner Bros. Publications, Miami, FL 33014, and Zomba Golden Sands.
ALSO BY SANDRA CISNEROS
CARAMELO
Every year, Ceyala “Lala” Reyes’ family—aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, and Lala’s six older brothers—packs up three cars and, in a wild ride, drives from Chicago to the Little Grandfather and Awful Grandmother’s house in Mexico City for the summer. Struggling to find a voice above the boom of her brothers and to understand her place on this side of the border and that, Lala is a shrewd observer of family life. But when she starts telling the Awful Grandmother’s life story, seeking clues to how she got to be so awful, grandmother accuses Lala of exaggerating. Soon, a multigenerational family narrative turns into a whirlwind exploration of storytelling, lies, and life. Like the cherished rebozo, or shawl, that has been passed down through generations of Reyes women, Caramelo is alive with the vibrations of history, family, and love.
Fiction
LOOSE WOMEN
With her novel, The House on Mango Street, Cisneros introduced one of the most lyrically inventive voices ever to emerge from the barrio. Now she gives us a book of poems with the lilt of Norteño music and the romantic abandon of a hot Saturday night. Celebrating the cataclysms of love and mapping the faultlines in the Mexican-American psyche, Loose Woman is by turns bawdy and introspective, flagrantly erotic and unabashedly funny, a work that is both a tour de force and a triumphant outpouring of pure soul.
Poetry
WOMAN HOLLERING CREEK
Woman Hollering Creek is a story collection of breathtaking range and authority, whose characters give voice to the vibrant and varied life on both sides of the Mexican border. From a young girl revealing secrets only an eleven-year-old can know to a witch woman circling above the village on a predawn flight, the women in these stories offer tales of pure discovery, filled with moments of infinite and intimate wisdom. Woman Hollering Creek confirms Sandra Cisneros’s stature as a writer of electrifying talent.
Fiction
ALSO AVAILABLE
The House on Mango Street
VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES
Available at your local bookstore, or visit www.randomhouse.com
SANDRA CISNEROS
Caramelo
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954. Internationally acclaimed for her poetry and fiction, she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lannan Literary Award and the American Book Award, and of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacArthur Foundation. Cisneros is the author of numerous books, including a children’s book, Hairs/Pelitos. She lives in the Southwest.
ALSO BY SANDRA CISNEROS
Woman Hollering Creek
The House on Mango Street
Loose Woman (poetry)
My Wicked Wicked Ways (poetry)
Hairs/Pelitos
Have You Seen Marie?