If you enjoy Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories, or Sandra Cisneros' ability to portray ordinary Hispanic characters with engaging authenticity and universality, you'll enjoy Thelma Reyna's twelve stories in this thoughtful, moving, sensitive book. From the sheer poetry of the title story, to the complex depiction of a comatose woman and her guilt-ridden unfaithful husband, Reyna exposes the private griefs and losses we all experience in life and imbues her motley cast of characters with deep humanity, courage, and perseverance . Reyna's style is alternately quiet and intense, yet always insightful, poetic, and literary. Have a box of Kleenex and a dictionary by your side. She'll leave you thinking and discovering multiple layers of meanings in her stories long after you've read them. A Hispanic-American author, Reyna's stories speak to all of us, across ethnicities, age, gender, and social status.
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More About the Author
NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, Thelma T. Reyna, has been writing for over 30 years, with her short stories, poems, essays, book reviews, and other nonfiction published in literary journals, anthologies, textbooks and other books, as well as in regional media and various blogs over the years.
Her book, THE HEAVENS WEEP FOR US AND OTHER STORIES (Outskirts Press, 2009) has earned FOUR NATIONAL AWARDS, as follows:
--2011 Indie Award for Book Excellence, Finalist: Multicultural Fiction
--2011 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, Honorable Mention, Grand Prize Round: General Fiction
--2011 The Montaigne Medal, Finalist
--2010 National Best Books Awards/USA Book News, Finalist: Short Story Literature.
In addition, Reyna's first poetry chapbook, BREATH & BONE, was named a Semi-Finalist in Finishing Line Press' 2010 National Poetry Chapbook Competition. The book is available through Finishing Line Press and will be available soon through amazon.com.
Two of Reyna's poems were published in the anthology, VWA: VOICES OF HAITI, in 2010. In 2011, two poems appeared in the anthology POETRY & COOKIES, with another poem published in 2011 in the SAN GABRIEL VALLEY POETS QUARTERLY #50.
Dr. Reyna writes the blogs "American Latina/o Writers Today" (http://www.Latinowriterstoday.blogspot.com) and "The Literary Self" (http://www.TheLiterarySelf.blogspot.com). She is also a guest blogger on "Powerful Latinas" (http://www.PowerfulLatinas.com).
She received a Ph.D. from UCLA and is an adjunct professor at California State University, Los Angeles. In addition, she is an Editor/Writing Consultant/Ghost Writer in her company, The Writing Pros, based in Pasadena, CA. (http://www.TheWritingPros.com).
Dr. Reyna just completed her second book of short stories, and a new volume of poetry, both aimed for publication in 2011-2012. She was born in Kingsville, Texas, but has lived in Pasadena for most of her life. Visit her website at http://www.ThelmaReyna.com.
Her book, THE HEAVENS WEEP FOR US AND OTHER STORIES (Outskirts Press, 2009) has earned FOUR NATIONAL AWARDS, as follows:
--2011 Indie Award for Book Excellence, Finalist: Multicultural Fiction
--2011 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, Honorable Mention, Grand Prize Round: General Fiction
--2011 The Montaigne Medal, Finalist
--2010 National Best Books Awards/USA Book News, Finalist: Short Story Literature.
In addition, Reyna's first poetry chapbook, BREATH & BONE, was named a Semi-Finalist in Finishing Line Press' 2010 National Poetry Chapbook Competition. The book is available through Finishing Line Press and will be available soon through amazon.com.
Two of Reyna's poems were published in the anthology, VWA: VOICES OF HAITI, in 2010. In 2011, two poems appeared in the anthology POETRY & COOKIES, with another poem published in 2011 in the SAN GABRIEL VALLEY POETS QUARTERLY #50.
Dr. Reyna writes the blogs "American Latina/o Writers Today" (http://www.Latinowriterstoday.blogspot.com) and "The Literary Self" (http://www.TheLiterarySelf.blogspot.com). She is also a guest blogger on "Powerful Latinas" (http://www.PowerfulLatinas.com).
She received a Ph.D. from UCLA and is an adjunct professor at California State University, Los Angeles. In addition, she is an Editor/Writing Consultant/Ghost Writer in her company, The Writing Pros, based in Pasadena, CA. (http://www.TheWritingPros.com).
Dr. Reyna just completed her second book of short stories, and a new volume of poetry, both aimed for publication in 2011-2012. She was born in Kingsville, Texas, but has lived in Pasadena for most of her life. Visit her website at http://www.ThelmaReyna.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful collection,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Heavens Weep for Us: And Other Stories (Paperback)
I thoroughly enjoyed this little gem of a book. I had so many favorite lines that I underlined, like in the title story: "...plain boxes hobbled together with moans and prayers and whys."Or "The greatest redeemer is a new day" in the story, Little Box. How often do we all wake up and feel that, or at least hope for it? I loved the passion and poignancy of the story, Saving Up, particularly the line, "But tumbleweeds gather so many little and big things." They do indeed, just like life. "Woman are my solace. My only solace" in Juana Macho is another memorable phrase from that tale of want and torment. Memorable too is the poetic-like line,"Better to step away, to remember that nothing keeps" in the story, Faithless. Thelma writes with a smooth and engaging simplicity that's at the same time layered and deep. The kind of book you can read in one nice gulp, or as little appetizers to feed your day. Muy bueno!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simple timeless classic,
By Michael H. Haussler "Author of "Results M... (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Heavens Weep for Us: And Other Stories (Paperback)
The clear simple prose is a marvel and the stories are timeless and universal. This is a delightful read. I am reminded of listening to stories as a child; the way my mind entered a space outside of space and time and became entranced. Yet these are also hard reads; hard not in the sense of difficult, but in the sense they do not shy away from the fact that life is hard on all of us. But life is filled with surprises too. Thelma Reyna captures " all that" in her stories.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Writing, Not so Great Stories,
By
This review is from: The Heavens Weep for Us: And Other Stories (Paperback)
The stories in this book don't have a solid beginning, middle, and end. They just sort've plop you in the middle of it and it just goes nowhere from there.Most of the time after I've finished a story, I was like, "Yeah....and?" What happens next? They just left me unfulfilled and kept me wondering. However, the author does make up for it with good writing. The best story in this collection was "Little Box."
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