Gritos

A wide-ranging collection of essays that cuts to the heart of the Mexican-American experience by an important voice in contemporary writing.
 
When he first started writing, Dagoberto Gilb was struggling to survive as a journeyman carpenter. Years later, he has won widespread acclaim as a crucial and compelling voice in contemporary American letters. Readers will find 36 essays divided into four sections titled “Culture Crossing,” “Cortes and Malinche,” “The Writing Life,” and “Working Life and La Family.” Tackling everything from cockfighting to Cormac McCarthy, Gritos collects Gilb’s essays and his popular commentaries for NPR’s Fresh Air, offering a startling portrait of an artist—and a Mexican-American—working to find his place in both the cloistered literary world and the world at large, to say nothing of his strange and beloved borderland of Texas. While “Dagoberto Gilb might be speaking for himself . . . he speaks so well that what he says becomes universal.” (Houston Chronicle).
 
“An arresting essayist seductive storytelling skills infuse his astute observations, reminiscences, and critiques with compelling energy and momentum.” —Kirkus Reviews