The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems [Paperback]

Andres Montoya (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In his first collection, Montoya confronts the stark reality of poverty suffered in America by unskilled laborers, especially the Latino community of California. His poems reach out like prayers to those who have "regrets for quitting/ school at 16 for the job at PDM steel," for he knows that these are the people headed for violent realities, as when "the cops came/ and shot him/ 27 times." Yet while Montoya addresses these harsh realities, he brings a tenderness to his work that reflects the tone and style of Pablo Neruda. For example, "Letter to Sarah" ends with this line: "a memory resting in my gut like/ a tear already fallen from the face." Yet the poems constantly return to the graphic details of living in poverty and violent surrounds where "the night always scares you/ ever since they shot Efrain in the face." Through his poetry, Montoya lifts up the dead by giving them a voice; much like Philip Levine, he speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves.ATim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 79 pages
• Publisher: Bilingual Pr (Bilrp); 1st edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 092753486X
• ISBN-13: 978-0927534864
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,733,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a true wordsmith of haunting eloquence, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems (Paperback)

andres montoya offers us this gift of a book postumously. andres was my cousin, but first and formost he was a poet nearly without peer. these poems ring with truth and insights beyond the years of this young man taken from us way too soon. this book is an instant collectors item and a must for any serious lover of poetry.

viva andres montoya

richard montoya de culture clash

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My brother the Iceworker, December 12, 1999

By 

Malaquias Montoya (Yuba City, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems (Paperback)

This book strikes at the core of the authors life as a young man growing up in the central valley of Fresno. He speaks of heartaches, struggles as well as love and hope. I had the great pleasure of knowing this young man who was taken from us far to soon. His insights on life and the meanings of the everyday struggles that we all go through were prophetic. I would encourage all to read and study these rich poems. Andres, your voice is louder and more profound now then when you walked this earth.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Search of Aztlan, March 6, 2000

By 

Stephan Cano - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems (Paperback)

The Iceworker Sings is an amazing book that reached every sensation that is in my body. Recommended to me by my friend Eva in Fresno I was captivated by the pain, desperation, and corazon in Montoya's words; they spoke to me as if each one had been in the fire itself. Montoya speaks of the Chicano situation in ways that others may not understand. His words are words that describe everything we have been through. As Montoya writes - "i don't have time to be a gypsy or an aztec, i'm just chicano, an indian who sees life swallowed up in a dream and wants to explode."