Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.52 (942 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0762779195 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 456 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-12-11 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Old-fashioned, high-quality storytelling makes Domingo Martinez's first book, The Boy Kings of Texas, completely captivating. Martinez delivers a lyrical and unblinking account of life in the border town of Brownsville, Texas."-- Caitlin Reid, NewPages“Domingo Martinez writes like an angel—an avenging angel who instead of bringing wrath to a fallen world redeems it by using beautiful prose to turn the most awful and gritty realities into transcendent gems. This is a
"Unapologetically Honest and Revealing" according to BA Santillan. Martinez's book is about a young family born into the unique clash of cultures in South Texas where the children must learn to consolidate their cultures. Their family gives them the understanding that being American/white/speaking English is superior to being Mexican/speaking Spanish and are callous and manipulative when the author does not adhere to the horrid machismo customs that they associate with being men, not with being Mexican. These themes are likely familiar to those growing up in South Texas, but the author was born in the exact circumstances that would exaggerate these pro. gosagego said Good read. Domingo Martinez is a fun writer to read. Some serious heart wrenching situations told with a sense of looking back humor. Everyone in America could benefit from understanding struggles in boarder towns and that we are all human underneath our skin color. I appreciated the NPR story on this book and it prompted me to buy it.. Started out great Personally I started out thinking it was awesome and by the time I was half way through I had to make myself finish it.
Partly a reflection on the culture of machismo and partly an exploration of the author’s boyhood spent in his sister’s hand-me-down clothes, this book delves into the enduring, complex bond between Martinez and his deeply flawed but fiercely protective older brother, Daniel. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTLyrical and gritty, this authentic coming-of-age story about a border-town family in Brownsville, Texas, insightfully illuminates a little-understood corner of America.Domingo Martinez lays bare his interior and exterior worlds as he struggles to make sense of the violent and the ugly, along with the beautiful and the loving, in a Texas border town in the 1980s. It features a cast of memorable characters, including his gun-hoarding former farmhand, Gramma, and “the Mimis”— two of his older sisters who for a short, glorious time manage to transform themselves from poor Latina adolescents into upper-class white girls. Martinez provides a glimpse into a society where children are traded like commerce, physical altercations routinely solve problems, drugs are rampant, sex is often crude, and people depend on the family witch doctor for advice. Charming, painful, and enlightening, this book examines the traumas and pleasures of growing up in South Texas and the often terrible consequences when different cultures collide on the banks of a dying river.