The Barbarian Nurseries: A Novel [Hardcover]

Héctor Tobar (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 27, 2011

A New York Times Notable Book for 2011

A Boston Globe Best Fiction Book of 2011

 

The great panoramic social novel that Los Angeles deserves—a twenty-first century, West Coast Bonfire of the Vanities by the only writer qualified to capture the city in all its glory and complexity

With The Barbarian Nurseries, Héctor Tobar gives our most misunderstood metropolis its great contemporary novel, taking us beyond the glimmer of Hollywood and deeper than camera-ready crime stories to reveal Southern California life as it really is, across its vast, sunshiny sprawl of classes, languages, dreams, and ambitions.

Araceli is the live-in maid in the Torres-Thompson household—one of three Mexican employees in a Spanish-style house with lovely views of the Pacific. She has been responsible strictly for the cooking and cleaning, but the recession has hit, and suddenly Araceli is the last Mexican standing—unless you count Scott Torres, though you’d never suspect he was half Mexican but for his last name and an old family photo with central L.A. in the background. The financial pressure is causing the kind of fights that even Araceli knows the children shouldn’t hear, and then one morning, after a particularly dramatic fight, Araceli wakes to an empty house—except for the two Torres-Thompson boys, little aliens she’s never had to interact with before. Their parents are unreachable, and the only family member she knows of is Señor Torres, the subject of that old family photo. So she does the only thing she can think of and heads to the bus stop to seek out their grandfather. It will be an adventure, she tells the boys. If she only knew . . .

With a precise eye for the telling detail and an unerring way with character, soaring brilliantly and seamlessly among a panorama of viewpoints, Tobar calls on all of his experience—as a novelist, a father, a journalist, a son of Guatemalan immigrants, and a native Angeleno—to deliver a novel as broad, as essential, as alive as the city itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Barbarian Nurseries is a book of extraordinary scope and extraordinary power. Héctor Tobar's second novel sweeps its central character from almost-serfdom and sends her on an odyssey through the teeming mysteries of Los Angeles and the wild jungles of the California judicial system . . . Tobar, a Los Angeles Times columnist, moves nimbly in and out of the minds of a host of characters, viewing even those who seem on the surface the least sympathetic with an awed authorial tenderness. The chief surprise of The Barbarian Nurseries is that, despite the social and ethnic schisms it so acutely explores, it turns out to be such a warm novel.” —Los Angeles Times

“The Barbarian Nurseries is a dark, poignant and hilarious tale of a family maid in Southern California who tries to hold things together as a marriage falls apart . . . That Tobar is so evenhanded, so compassionate, so downright smart, should place his new novel on everyone's must-read list.” —The Seattle Times

“In his ambitious second novel, The Barbarian Nurseries, Héctor Tobar plants issues both timely and timeless—race, class, mixed marriage, immigration, servitude, parenting—and raises them up from the fertile narrative soil of Southern California . . . [His] writing continually creates moments of uncommon magic.” —ELLE

“The Barbarian Nurseries, in stylistic homage to Charles Dickens, Tom Wolfe and T. C. Boyle, paints a rich Panavision place and time as sprawling and paradoxical as its subject . . . Tobar has crafted an illuminating parable for this historical moment, and an entertaining one, and provided a social mirror within which are faces we need to understand, and face.” —The Buffalo News

"Héctor Tobar’s The Barbarian Nurseries is that rare novel that redefines a city. It has the necessary vital sweep of culture and class that brings a city to life, but its power lies in Tobar's ability to persuasively change the perspective from which the Los Angeles of the present—and, by extension, the United States—is seen. This book confirms the promise of Tobar's debut novel, The Tattooed Soldier.” —Stuart Dybek, author of I Sailed with Magellan and The Coast of Chicago

"The Barbarian Nurseries is a huge novel of this century, as sprawling and exciting as Los Angeles itself, one that tracks a Mexican immigrant maid not only as static decor in 'real' America's economic rise and fall. Like yard workers and cooks, construction laborers and seamstresses, Tobar's Araceli has flesh, brains, dreams, ambition, history, culture, voice: a rich, generous life. A story that was demanded, we can celebrate that it is now here." —Dagoberto Gilb, author of Before the End, After the Beginning and The Flowers

"Héctor Tobar's novel is astonishing, like a many-layered mural on a long wall in Los Angeles, a tapestry of people and neighborhoods and stories. A vivid testament to Southern California as the world. Araceli is so unexpected and unique; she's a character America needs to see, and this novel takes her on a journey America needs to understand." —Susan Straight, author of Highwire Moon

"Tobar delivers a riveting, insightful morality tale of conspicuously consuming Americans and their Mexican servants in the O.C. . . . Tobar is both inventive and relentless in pricking the pretentious social consciences of his entitled Americans, though he also casts a sober look on the foibles of the Mexicans who serve them. His sharp eye for Southern California culture, spiraling plot twists, ecological awareness, and ample willingness to dole out come-uppance to the nauseatingly privileged may put readers in mind of T. C. Boyle." —Publishers Weekly

“Tobar, a veteran city reporter in Los Angeles, weaves an intricate urban tale animated by a creative, savvy protagonist.” —The New Yorker

 

 “The strength of this book is to be found in its sympathetic portrayals of people who struggle to find a common language yet persist in misunderstanding one another . . . Tobar’s portraits, acute and humane, render his characters intelligible. His illuminations become our recognitions.” —Rebecca Donner, New York Times Book Review  

 

 “[R]iveting . . . a ripping novel—and a proper adventure yarn—about power and identity in 21st century California.” —Theo Schell-Lambert, San Francisco Chronicle 

 

 “This is a novel about Los Angeles, and maybe the finest we’ll see for many years. It is also a novel that triumphantly transcends geography and delivers a stirring look at the borders of our expectations, both great and small.” —Tod Goldberg, Los Angeles Review of Books

 

 “If Hector Tobar turns out to be the Charles Dickens or the Tom Wolfe of the 21st century, he owes a big thank-you to the people of California . . . Yuppies, immigrants, politicians and vigilantes—Tobar has them all coming together in a Crash-like moment for a perfect California ending that will leave readers pondering the inconsistencies in the country’s dependence on illegal immigrants even as some of us persist in keeping them at arm’s length.” —Karen Grigsby Bates, Morning Edition

 

“The Barbarian Nurseries is a grand, amusing read, a mad and sprawling city's less-mad but still sprawling apologia.” —Alan Scherstuhl, SF Weekly

 

 “A cross-cultural gem.” —Rebecca Adler-Warren, More

Review

“The Barbarian Nurseries is a book of extraordinary scope and extraordinary power. Héctor Tobar's second novel sweeps its central character from almost-serfdom and sends her on an odyssey through the teeming mysteries of Los Angeles and the wild jungles of the California judicial system . . . Tobar, a Los Angeles Times columnist, moves nimbly in and out of the minds of a host of characters, viewing even those who seem on the surface the least sympathetic with an awed authorial tenderness. The chief surprise of The Barbarian Nurseries is that, despite the social and ethnic schisms it so acutely explores, it turns out to be such a warm novel.” —Los Angeles Times

“The Barbarian Nurseries is a dark, poignant and hilarious tale of a family maid in Southern California who tries to hold things together as a marriage falls apart . . . That Tobar is so evenhanded, so compassionate, so downright smart, should place his new novel on everyone's must-read list.” —The Seattle Times

“In his ambitious second novel, The Barbarian Nurseries, Héctor Tobar plants issues both timely and timeless—race, class, mixed marriage, immigration, servitude, parenting—and raises them up from the fertile narrative soil of Southern California . . . [His] writing continually creates moments of uncommon magic.” —ELLE

“The Barbarian Nurseries, in stylistic homage to Charles Dickens, Tom Wolfe and T. C. Boyle, paints a rich Panavision place and time as sprawling and paradoxical as its subject . . . Tobar has crafted an illuminating parable for this historical moment, and an entertaining one, and provided a social mirror within which are faces we need to understand, and face.” —The Buffalo News

"Héctor Tobar’s The Barbarian Nurseries is that rare novel that redefines a city. It has the necessary vital sweep of culture and class that brings a city to life, but its power lies in Tobar's ability to persuasively change the perspective from which the Los Angeles of the present—and, by extension, the United States—is seen. This book confirms the promise of Tobar's debut novel, The Tattooed Soldier.” —Stuart Dybek, author of I Sailed with Magellan and The Coast of Chicago

"The Barbarian Nurseries is a huge novel of this century, as sprawling and exciting as Los Angeles itself, one that tracks a Mexican immigrant maid not only as static decor in 'real' America's economic rise and fall. Like yard workers and cooks, construction laborers and seamstresses, Tobar's Araceli has flesh, brains, dreams, ambition, history, culture, voice: a rich, generous life. A story that was demanded, we can celebrate that it is now here." —Dagoberto Gilb, author of Before the End, After the Beginning and The Flowers

"Héctor Tobar's novel is astonishing, like a many-layered mural on a long wall in Los Angeles, a tapestry of people and neighborhoods and stories. A vivid testament to Southern California as the world. Araceli is so unexpected and unique; she's a character America needs to see, and this novel takes her on a journey America needs to understand." —Susan Straight, author of Highwire Moon

"Tobar delivers a riveting, insightful morality tale of conspicuously consuming Americans and their Mexican servants in the O.C. . . . Tobar is both inventive and relentless in pricking the pretentious social consciences of his entitled Americans, though he also casts a sober look on the foibles of the Mexicans who serve them. His sharp eye for Southern California culture, spiraling plot twists, ecological awareness, and ample willingness to dole out come-uppance to the nauseatingly privileged may put readers in mind of T. C. Boyle." —Publishers Weekly

“Tobar, a veteran city reporter in Los Angeles, weaves an intricate urban tale animated by a creative, savvy protagonist.” —The New Yorker

 

 “The strength of this book is to be found in its sympathetic portrayals of people who struggle to find a common language yet persist in misunderstanding one another . . . Tobar’s portraits, acute and humane, render his characters intelligible. His illuminations become our recognitions.” —Rebecca Donner, New York Times Book Review  

 

 “[R]iveting . . . a ripping novel—and a proper adventure yarn—about power and identity in 21st century California.” —Theo Schell-Lambert, San Francisco Chronicle 

 

 “This is a novel about Los Angeles, and maybe the finest we’ll see for many years. It is also a novel that triumphantly transcends geography and delivers a stirring look at the borders of our expectations, both great and small.” —Tod Goldberg, Los Angeles Review of Books

 

 “If Hector Tobar turns out to be the Charles Dickens or the Tom Wolfe of the 21st century, he owes a big thank-you to the people of California . . . Yuppies, immigrants, politicians and vigilantes—Tobar has them all coming together in a Crash-like moment for a perfect California ending that will leave readers pondering the inconsistencies in the country’s dependence on illegal immigrants even as some of us persist in keeping them at arm’s length.” —Karen Grigsby Bates, Morning Edition

 

“The Barbarian Nurseries is a grand, amusing read, a mad and sprawling city's less-mad but still sprawling apologia.” —Alan Scherstuhl, SF Weekly

 

 “A cross-cultural gem.” —Rebecca Adler-Warren, More

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition (September 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374108994
• ISBN-13: 978-0374108991
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Hispanic

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely and important August 17, 2011

By TChris TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The Barbarian Nurseries begins with the flip sides of LA: the one that Hollywood showcases, populated by prosperous, shallow, socially competitive consumers; and the one almost invisibly populated by maids, landscapers, day laborers, and the other workers who, speaking heavily accented English, struggle to sustain their families while serving the needs of those who hire them. I am impressed by the fullness of the characters on both sides of the economic divide.

The principle characters of means are Scott Torres and his wife, Maureen Thompson. The Torres-Thompsons and their three children live in a posh house tended by a staff they can no longer afford. As the novel opens, the gardener and nanny have been recently sacked, leaving only Araceli, the maid whose duties suddenly expand to include childcare without a commensurate increase in pay. Following a mild incident of domestic violence, Scott and Maureen make independent decisions to take a "break" from domestic life. Maureen goes to a spa with their daughter, Scott doesn't come home from work, and neither of them bothers to tell the other -- or, more importantly, Araceli, who finds herself taking care of the two boys without guidance from their parents.

Araceli, fearful that the kids will be placed in foster care if she calls the police, begins a journey through the sprawling city and its suburbs in search of their paternal grandfather. Héctor Tobar uses Araceli's quest to illustrate the city's cultural evolution: the ever-changing character of its neighborhoods as members of various ethnic groups settle in and later move on, replaced by new arrivals with a different group identity. Tobar sketches the people Araceli meets in a way that makes each a community representative without sacrificing the character's individual identity.

Araceli's well-intentioned trip begets a chain of events: misunderstanding morphs into misplaced blame that feeds xenophobic fears of undocumented immigrants. Sadly enough, the news media's instant fascination with the story of missing children -- cute white children from an affluent family allegedly abducted by a Mexican woman -- is all too credible.

The last section of the novel is an indictment of the media's "talking heads" who make accusations of criminal behavior before they have all the facts, of prosecutors who feel compelled by media pressure to accuse the innocent, and of the television viewers who -- lacking the patience to wait until a trial brings out all the facts -- allow race or ethnicity to influence their opinions about guilt. While the story loses some of its magic as it shifts from the personal to the political, it also gains power and social relevance. At least for me, the magic returns near the novel's end, beginning with some realistic courtroom drama.

The last section captures an unfortunate aspect of American life with deadly accuracy. In an ideal world, the "no harm, no foul" rule would leave the parents and Araceli free from repercussions, but Tobar recognizes that the media-driven lust for scapegoats drives decisions about arrest, prosecution, and deportation. In different ways, both Araceli and the Torres-Thompsons become victims of politics and a frenzied media. Those with an agenda view Araceli and the Torres-Thompsons as symbols, not as persons.

Tobar's handling of this serious social issue is nuanced: he doesn't simplistically portray all affluent whites as evil or all immigrants as nonjudgmental victims. Scott and Maureen demonstrate complex and evolving reactions to the crisis. They are never depicted as uncaring parents although some members of the public, including some in the Hispanic community, unjustly regard them that way. Some members of the criminal justice system are sympathetic to Araceli and indifferent to political pressures; others are motivated by headlines. Tobar's deft and balanced juggling of these different points of view is impressive.

The Barbarian Nurseries is a captivating, beautifully written novel that tells a timely and important story. It is also one of the best novels I've read this year. I highly recommend it.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Tale of Two Cities -- And Both Are L.A. August 15, 2011

By Jill I. Shtulman TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Imagine a Tom Wolfe - or perhaps a T.C. Boyle or Don DeLillo - novel without some of the more tempered nuances. The Barbarian Nurseries is a social novel, focusing largely on the schisms between the wealthy and the immigrant population in Southern California and it's good - at times, really good - before dissolving into a disappointing ending.

Scott Torres is a programmer, a Mexican American with the emphasis on the American, who has fulfilled the American dream: he lives with his lovely blond wife Maureen Thompson, his two sensitive and precocious young sons Brandon and Keenan and his baby daughter Samantha in wealthy gated L.A. community he can ill-afford. The Spanish-style house - Paseo Linda Bonita, a redundancy - is an immediate clue that this is not a community that is primed to understand those who toil in its households.

After falling on hard times, he dismisses all the servants with one exception: Araceli, his illegal Mexican maid. One night, Scott and Maureen get into a particularly vicious fight about Maureen's plan to replace the "petite forest" tropical garden with a very pricey desert landscape. Each separately decides to take a little break from home, leaving the two boys with Araceli. Unwilling and ill-equipped to handle her two charges, Araceli takes off on an ill-advised adventure to downtown Los Angeles, where she hopes to deposit the boys with their grandfather. When the parents return home four days later (each thinking the other is already there) they reach the absurd conclusion that Araceli has absconded with their sons and the result is the predictable media circus.

Hector Tobar is at heart, a journalist, and his writing reflects his careful journalist's eye for detail. That is both the good news and the bad news. On one hand, we - as readers - receive full details on each scene, straight to the freshly dusted living rooms, tautly made beds, and photographs from places south with KODAK imprinted anachronistically on the back. On the other hand, all the work is done for us: Tobar tells us what we are viewing and how we should relate to it, not empowering us to come to our own conclusions.

Yet, for about three-quarters on the book, I was swept away with the contrasting worlds, the isolation of those who live affluent lifestyles in gated communities versus those who exist in a "shadow world". Araceli is portrayed as "the strange one, the Mexicana they couldn't comprehend, but it would fall to her to bring the Torres-Thompson household by restoring the broken routines..." There are truths that Tobar reveals: e.g., Arceli divulges the cost of the boys' private school to her aspirational friends, which "strips them of some of their own moderately elevated sense of accomplishment by revealing just how small their achievements were relative to true American success and affluence."

The two distinct camps - those who live in gleaming white homes in a neighborhood most often described with the adjectives "exclusive, " "hillside," and "gated," - and those who they know only in the most superficial manner, are very well portrayed.

Where Tobar falls is in the last quarter of the novel, where the novel becomes obvious and heavy-handed. At one point, when Maureen meets the aggressive prosecutor, she reflects, "This man is telling me what to feel as much as he's telling me what to think." I felt the same way about the author. The camps were too finely drawn - the rich and irresponsible parents, the befuddled but blameless Mexican maid. The book becomes more pedestrian and predictable, losing some of its magic.

My conclusion: this is a good book that could easily have been a great book. Tobar does capture the complexity of one of our most unique cities - as well as the biases and assumptions that may end up toppling us. For that alone, the book is well worth the read.

36 of 46 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars "A view of the plight of illegal immigrants; of moral, political and social injustice" October 8, 2011

By Max Read

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The "barbarian Nurseries" was written by Hector Tobar. Mr. Tobar is the son of Guatemalan immigrants and was born in 1963. He currently writes a weekly column for the Los Angeles Times and was previously employed by the Times as bureau chief in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Mr. Tobar was the recipient of a Pulizer Prize as part of the team covering the L.A. riots in 1992.

The Novel was written as a narration, presumably expressing the author's view point. It contains many conversational instances of characters speaking in their native Spanish; otherwise English dialog is assigned to the character speaking. Many of the Spanish language exchanges are not accompanied by translation.

In summary, the story is about the well to do Thompson-Torres family represented by Wife and mother, Maureen; husband and father, Scott; sons, 11 year old Brandon and eight year old Keenan and baby daughter Samantha. The opening scenes finds the Thompson-Torres family, struggling with financial problems that cause them to dismiss two of their three Mexican domestic help retaining one, Araceli Ramirez. In the course of the drama, Scott and Maureen get into a domestic squabble over Maureen's expenditure of needed capital on the redesign of an outdoor garden. Scott, in the heat of the argument pushes Maureen who falls backward striking the coffee table breaking its glass top. Struck by the violence in the act, Maureen gathers up her baby and flees to a spa in the high desert mountains above Joshua Tree while Scott seeks out the company of an office employee and bunks out there. The irony of the situation then being that neither spouse knew that the other would not be returning home. Araceli's plight begins when she finally recognizes that her employers have left her with the two sons and no indication of where they are or when they will return. She fears calling the police because she imagines that the boys will be given over to foster care if she does and that she will be deported. After several days alone and realizing they are running out of food, Araceli packs up the two sons and launches out with her troupe to find Grandfather Torres' house; a place where Araceli feels she can safely leave the boys. It has been two years since Grandfather Torres was last allowed to visit following a family disagreement and the home had been purged of any links to him except an old photograph of the grandfather taken at a location indicated on the back as West 39th street, LA. While Araceli and the boys are on their expedition to West 39th street to find Grandfather Torres, four days later Scott and Maureen return home to find the house empty. Not understanding what could have happened to Araceli and the boys, Scott and Maureen call the police. To the police, Araceli is a fugitive and kidnapper and from here both Araceli's and the Thompson-Torres' life begin to unravel under the heavy hand of institutional "justice".

Tobar writes with a purpose; to expose what he considers the naďve fear and mischaracterization of Mexican immigrants as barbarians. He portrays Araceli as bright, honest and talented though misunderstood. Mr. Tobar no doubt believes that immigrants seeking a life in the United States should be granted that privilege without the encumbrance of doing so legally because immigrants are not any different than the rest of the population. He despises the people that operate the US justice system and sees them as uncaring bureaucrats concerned only with their own advancement; done so at the expense of the unwitting defendant's they prosecute in the system.

In the attempt to get this message out in his narrative, Tobar produces a weak story line. Its credibility only just passes the possibility threshold. In the process of filling in the details of the story, Tobar unwittingly contradicts his own arguments exposing the dichotomy that is prevalent in the national discourse. For instance, he wants us to believe that the Mexican nationals crossing into the US are mostly hard working, honest individuals that should be accepted.....and at the same time shows the reader the decadent landscape of West 39th street LA, once a middle class neighborhood, now a barrio and ghetto of barred windows and doors where the mere presence of a woman with two young children would have the woman charged with child endangerment! In another instance, Tobar would like us to believe that all the immigrants entering the populace are here to better their lives by assimilating with their new countrymen; yet even the protagonist of his story wants only to return to her country with the money she has earned, for her passions lie with her people not the foreigners who would exploit her.

The depiction of Ian Goller, the assistant DA in the story, as a 38 year old earring wearing, surfboard carrying autocrat who is inherently prejudiced against Latin American immigrants is eyebrow raising. Tobar is expressing great displeasure with a social justice system that seems more concerned with dispensing with cases than dispensing with justice. In the same breath, however, he acknowledges that the cases of immigrants are clogging the American court system, and 95% of the cases involve serious crimes.
Hector Tobar's message is a contemporary statement of the moral, political and social stigma of our immigration policies. It is without doubt argumentative, and whichever side of the issues you stand on it is painfully evident that there is no absolute solution to the problem - for each side has its passion.

I would recommend this novel only with reservations: I think the story line is weak though interesting enough. I think the characters are not particularly endearing in any manner. Araceli comes across as particularly strange, and it doesn't seem to be a result of her intellectual prowess. Scott and Maureen are atypical and Ian Goller is anything but a classic prosecutor. The underlying theme is divisive. Finally, I did not care for the manner of narration. Uncharacteristic thoughts and dialog were attributed to characters, especially the young boys as in this exchange:" The small steel rectangle that announced Laguna Niguel in the spare, sans-serif font, of the Metrolink commuter rail network didn't rise to the occasion, and Brandon frowned at the recognition that actual life did not always match the drama and sweep of literature or film". Really - would an 11 year old boy think about the drama and sweep of literature or film? He would probably be more interested in whether he could hit the sign with a rock from where he was standing!