Chicana Falsa : And Other Stories of Death, Identity, & Oxnard [Mass Market Paperback]

Michele M. Serros (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

From the white boy who transforms himself into a full-fledged Chicano, to the self-assured woman who effortlessly terrorizes her Anglo boss, to the junior-high friend who berated her "sloppy Spanish" and accused her of being a "Chicana Falsa," the people and places that Michele Serros brings to vivid life in this collection of poems and stories introduce a unique new viewpoint to the American literary landscape. Witty, tender, irreverent, and emotionally honest, her words speak to the painful and hilarious identity crises particular to the coming of age of an adolescent caught between two cultures.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...[a] charming if rough-hewn collection ... pulsates with the exuberance of an unmistakably original poetic challenge. -- Entertainment Weekly, Margot Mifflin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573226858
• ISBN-13: 978-1573226851
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Chicana Poetry yet!, October 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chicana Falsa : And Other Stories of Death, Identity, & Oxnard (Mass Market Paperback)

I had the opportunity to hear Michelle Serros read her poetry years ago at a teacher conference in Ojai, CA. Not only is she a fabulous poet, but a wonderful speaker/reader too.

Nothing is better for a teacher than to be able to pair Ginsberg (Whitman in the Supermarket) with Serros' veggies in the frozen foods section.

For anyone with an awareness--tangential or full on--with the southwest, this poetry is not to be missed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterical, poignant, sublime, June 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Chicana Falsa : And Other Stories of Death, Identity, & Oxnard (Mass Market Paperback)

Serros writes lucidly, brilliantly, with great pathos, humor, and insight, of her unique Chicana experience. But with "famous bologna cheese rolls," a "Farrah hairdo" sister guessing the values of appliances on "The Price is Right," and a typical family silenced and paralyzed by old grudges at the funeral of a great-grandfather, one would be hard pressed to make the case that these poems and stories are only about Chicanos (or Americans for that matter). For this is, above all, a very human book, a book built on solid universal appeal, widely accessible and concerned first and foremost with that main objective of any good writer, regardless of ethnic background: creating good writing. And Serros accomplishes this with amazing success by presenting writing which never preaches or strives to throw politics in our faces, but rather, which simply focuses on telling a good story, on putting words together to explore emotional issues and experiences, and on trying to make some sense out of this thing of being human. Life as a "Chicana" is indeed changing--has changed--since the term was first appropriated more than thirty years ago by the first Chicano activists, but as mainstream America finally begins to absorb this, we find in Michele Serros the perfect balance of Chicano awareness and pop American culture, the right combination of grace, intelligence, and compassion, to push both cultures forward--together--to the next level.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serros is my heroine!, August 6, 1999

By 

Linda Rose (San Mateo, CA / Oxnard, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicana Falsa : And Other Stories of Death, Identity, & Oxnard (Mass Market Paperback)

Michelle is an incredible writer with great insight on how it is to be a not so perfect Mexicana in a place where your heritage is the most defining thing about you. I was also born and raised in Oxnard, California and it was like reading a running diary of a friend who has shared similar experiences. It made me proud to see another Latina coming out of Chiques who made something of herself, and a writer no less. She and her writing are an inspiration to me and to the many other Latinas out there who are trying to figure themselves out with our heritage as the jumping point. This is the type of book you'll want to flip through from time to time when the study or work load gets too mundane and you want to come back to who you remember yourself as.