Thursday, July 31, 2008

Odelay, as Beck might say

1. Soto, G.(1998). Petty Crimes. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company. 157 pgs.
Short story collection

2. Gary Soto's short story collection takes on different voices and different scenes from California life outside of Fresno. Soto spices his stories of hispanic culture with a lot of Spanish slang and inventive language. The book's varied characters include a chola, a boy who wants to be a boxer, and a girl who's lost her mother and tries to collect all of her mother's clothes her father has given away.

3. Soto's fairly well known as a poet, and he tries to utilize his facility for language in these short stories. While he does focus mainly on his words, Soto tends to lose focus of his characters at times, to the detriment of the stories. It's nice to see some hispanic culture in literature, and topics of gangs, loss, and trying to discover who you are are very relevant to teenagers today.

4. As for classroom use, the book might be on the shelf as an independent choice. I might use the text in a multi-cultural lesson. I might also recommend the book to readers who enjoy his poetry (I do, a little more than this collection).

5. 6th grade on up. The book's an easy read and could be used as an early introduction to short fiction.

6. I'm going to say it: I was disappointed with this collection. I've enjoyed some of Soto's poems before, and was hoping that the collection would mirror some of his good stuff. Sadly, I think his ideas go underdeveloped. As a writer, he tends to be interested in his prose, while the story itself collapses. It's an easy read, and that might be Soto's aim. Ultimately, though, I'd have a difficult time recommending this one.

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