Customer Reviews

Skeleton of a Bridge

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This is a charming and refreshing look into the mind of a poet, dreamer, and musician. Robert Mirabal is man for all people and this book is an interesting insight into the early workings of a song writer's mind and how he came to write those songs that so many of us love. He relates stories of his childhood in the Pueblo and you come to know that boys will be boys no matter where they live and grow up. But more than that, you come to know a bit more about the intensely caring man that is Robert Mirabal and how he came to be that way.

This book is an interesting look at the memories and tales of a young man. Mirabal allows us to enter into his life and shares with us his triumphs, dissappointments, pride, laughter and fears while growing up.This account shows how the experiences of ones life as a child shapes a person and the way one looks at the world as an adult.Some parts of the book had me laughing days after reading it.

Robert Mirabal's storytelling is disarmingly simple and straightforward; because of this, his insights are often devastatingly profound. I found myself reading and re-reading lines and paragraphs.

Sweetness, joy, pain and truth. These stories alternately warmed my heart and chilled my bones. To me, heartbroken will now be the sound of a glass jar breaking and the look of loneliness on an old man's face.

Mirabal's stories of family, friends and community span cultures and times. I read the collection in one sitting, and it's the kind of book I know I will keep close at hand so I can dip into it in the future.

"Skeleton of a Bridge" is really a small treasure, beginning with the layout and design, and of course including the stories themselves. The stories are sparse, verging on poetry, and they embrace all "the pain, joys, and love of our hearts." (From the author's statement.) The first story, about Starchy and his orange customized chopper with a silver banana seat, many of us have heard read by Mirabal on Native Radio. I found the sound of his voice echoing through the other stories, with its rich deep resonance. I look forward to reading his new book "Running Alone in Photographs," and have added it to my eclectic reading list . . .