Birthday Parties in Heaven: Thoughts on Love, Life, Grief, and Other Matters of the Heart (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The author is not exaggerating when she includes love, life, and grief in her title, for this collection of essays touchesDno, presses uponDeach of these topics. Veciana-Suarez's family emigrated from Cuba during the early Castro era and settled in Miami. But the book goes beyond any mere political stereotypes to describe complex family relationships: the mutual devotion between a strong-spirited daughter and a politically active father, the author's mixed emotions toward a mother who is totally dedicated to family, and the sibling love and rivalry she feels for the sister she is closest to in age. Not afraid to reveal highly charged emotional situations, Veciana-Suarez (a syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald and author of the novel The Chin Kiss King) gives an honest, unflinching account of life after the loss of her first husband, compelling compassion with skillful writing that forbids bathos or pity. In turn, she uplifts spirits with a thoughtful yet humorous account of her second marriageDhe is Jewish, she is CatholicDand her wonderful vignettes on beisbol ("baseball"). Veciana-Suarez has managed to retain an ability to view her culture with the crisp impressions perceived only by the newcomer or the very young. Recommended for all public libraries.DNedra C. Evers, Sacramento P.L., CA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

"Ana Veciana-Suarez is a wise, honest, and astonishingly perceptive writer who looks at everyday life and finds both gentle humor and profound truth."--Dave Barry

With The Chin Kiss King, her critically lauded debut novel, Ana Veciana-Suarez joined the ranks of Julia Alvarez and Cristina Garca, authors who have defined the Latina experience in contemporary fiction. In Birthday Parties in Heaven, Veciana-Suarez's first collection of essays, the acclaimed writer and mother of five offers seventeen wise and generous-hearted takes on subjects as diverse as: living in exile; the untimely death of her first husband; being a single mother; interfaith marriage; and the bond between sisters. She also offers reflections, by turns humorous and meaningful, on beisbol; motorcycles; the special terrors of swimsuit season; and the sweetness of love the second time around. In these eloquent and moving essays, Veciana-Suarez proves why she is one of America's most popular columnists.

"Wise and touching . . . Written with a spirited sense of inner worlds and human foibles."--The New York Times (on The Chin Kiss King)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Plume (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452282004
• ISBN-13: 978-0452282001
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,651,516 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, October 15, 2000

By	Pete Silver (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

Her carefully chosen words tug at your heart. Her raw experience, written from the deepest emotion, is universal. She crafts words as a Vermont craftsman cuts marble: so expertly you don't even realize how brilliant she is.

Here in Miami, Ana Veciana-Suarez is in a league all her own. Beloved and supported by the community after her husband's early death, she openly shared her pain and re-emergence with us all through her Miami Herald columns.

When she found love and married again, we as a community, each in our way, rejoiced. Her observations of merging her Cuban heritage with her new husband's Jewish background are both sensitive and humorous.

This book tells what her frequent columns did not. It reveals an even deeper side to a remarkable woman.

As a writer, I am in pure awe of her ability to say what she does. She never asks for sympathy. She simply observes -- and includes her readers as she shares.

If I were to choose only one gift for this holiday season to tell people around me that I love them, this wonderfully rich book would be my choice. I warn you that your tears will flow, and you cannot just plunk down and read this book all the way through. Like a fine wine or a decadent dessert, this small book takes time to savor and appreciate. It is worth every delicious moment.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous Reflections!, December 4, 2000

By	Fafa Demasio (New York City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the book, "Birthday Parties in Heaven: Thoughts on Love, Life, Grief, and Other Matters of the Heart," Ana Veciana-Suarez provides interesting, sad, inspiring, wonderful, insightful, moving and humorous reflections from which the reader could relate or learn.

Inspiring are the chapters on the writer's parents.

In the chapter, 'My Father, Mi Papi,' the author writes about her father, who she describes as the "first man I loved" and "a man for impossible missions."

'Stitchwork' is a chapter where the author provides a beautiful description of her mother, a strong and courageous woman who has positively affected Veciana-Suarez. "In the face of necessity, you can do anything," her mother has said.

Hilarious is the chapter entitled, 'Cellulite, Schmellulite,' where the author writes about her experience in the gym.

Touching, wise and encouraging is the chapter, 'Open Letter to My Son (As He Leaves for College).'

Probably, most powerful is the chapter, 'Birthday Parties in Heaven.' Here, Veciana-Suarez writes of her experience when her first husband unexpectedly passed away at the age of 37, leaving her and their five children. Anyone, especially someone who has lost a loved one, can appreciate this chapter. The author, truly, writes from the heart and experience.

I was happy to read that the author was able to find love again.

Other chapters deal with baseball, parenthood, sisters, a mother-in-law, a household of different religious backgrounds (Catholic and Jewish), and much more.

Once you start reading the first chapter, you will look forward to reading the following chapters to see what Veciana-Suarez has to write about on other varying topics. There is something to take away from each chapter. It's like receiving a treat.

So, go ahead and treat yourself!

Fafa Demasio

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This will make a GREAT gift!, November 6, 2000

By	Maria C. Nieto (South Miami, Florida USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I sat down to read this book and quickly got hooked. I could not put it down.

It is a great narrative about life in Miami as a Cuban-American mother -- I know because this is my life as well. Ana Veciana-Suarez writes beautifully and has a gift for expressing those thoughts and moods that are the undercurrent of our lives. She describes Miami and the realities of the Cuban exile experience so that others can understand all of the textures and subtleties that type of existence - caught between two lives.

The daughter of refugees, she is caught in between the two worlds : the Cuban (Hispanic) culture and the American world in which she is raising her own family. She is articulate and precise when she expresses the Cuban attitude about "Baisbol" and all of the passionate history of that sport in our culture; her description of her parents and the tremendous struggles they faced in beginning a new life in the United States; what fishing on Biscayne Bay feels like; and the subtle complexities of family relationships. The reader grieves with her on the suddend death of her husband and childhood sweetheart. That chapter in particular tore my heart gave me a new appreciation and gratitude for the man I share my life with. She shares her surprise at finding love in mid-life and the complications and joys of being part of a blended family which is not only from different cultures, but also different religions.

The book is full of laughs, tears, and many smiles. I highly recommend this book. I know that I will personally be purchasing a few as Holiday gifts.

It is a great book!