Chicano sketches

"A key figure in the foundation of Chicano literature, Mario Suarez (1923-1998) was among the first writers to focus not only on Chicano characters but also on the multicultural space in which they live, whether a Tucson barbershop or a Manhattan boxing ring. Many of his stories have received wide acclaim through publication in periodicals and anthologies; this book presents those eleven previously published stories along with eight others from the archive of his unpublished work." "In most of his stories, Suarez sought to portray people he knew from Tucson's El Hoyo barrio, a place usually thought of as urban wasteland when it was thought of at all. Suarez set out to fictionalize this place of ignored men and women because he believed their human stories were worth telling, and he hoped that through his depictions American literature would recognize their existence. By focusing on these barrio characters - the deviant and the virtuous, the mischievous and the mysterious - he also crafted a unique, mild-mannered realism overflowing with humor and pathos."--BOOK JACKET.