Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir (Paperback)

by Alberto Alvaro Rios (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A master of the coming-of-age story, R!os is the author of several short story collections (The Iguana Killer, etc.). Fans of his fiction will recognize the origins of numerous stories in this short memoir of growing up in a small Arizona border town. The Nogales of R!os's childhood shared a virtually open border with Nogales, Mexico: business was conducted casually between the two towns and playmates wandered back and forth. Now there is a solid steel wall separating the communities. "This is not the border," R!os writes. "It's something else, something underscoring the difference between danger and grace, which is not something that separates people. It's something that joins them, as they face the same border." The wall forms a dark subtext to this otherwise delightfully innocent memoir, which is magnified when R!os and his first grade "gang" rush home to take midday baths after the sewage treatment plant contaminates the town's one dry riverbed. Later, effluents from unregulated maquiladoras (foreign-owned factories) create a stream that can bleach blue jeans on contact. Now Nogales has the highest rate of lupus in the U.S. But R!os's memoir is not an environmental diatribe. Rather, it is an extremely personal family history filled with small anecdotes and finely drawn landscapes. As a literary autobiography, it is perhaps too true to its title (capirotada is a kind of catchall Mexican bread pudding): a collection of memories that fails to match the power of R!os's fiction. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Rios (Pig Cookies and Other Stories) is Regents Professor at Arizona State University and a native of Nogales, AZ. In this new book, he shares his experiences growing up in this small town on the Mexican border, where he learned to value the unique cultural mix of the area. Much like capirotadaAa Mexican bread pudding, made with lots of different ingredients and traditionally served at LentARios came of age among a mixture of peoples, ideas, and traditions in both his community and his family (his mother is from England, his father from Mexico). Finely crafted and emotionally powerful without being heavy-handed, this well-balanced narrative recalls the universal experiences of childhood and unique personal reminiscences of the author. For all collections, especially those with a regional emphasis.AGwen Gregory, New Mexico State Univ. Lib., Las Cruces
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 157 pages
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826320945
• ISBN-13: 978-0826320940
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #403,156 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MOST ENCHANTING ACCOUNT OF GROWING UP IN A MULTI- HUED PLACE, March 10, 2000

By	DIANE ELLIS (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

Sometimes you just want to read something that warms your heart. Something that is so rich and abundant with kindliness and warmth that you have to pause several times in your reading to ponder and absorb. The author must have been a very "nice boy." A nice boy with kaleidoscope vision and compassion.

Nothing fancy. Just plain home-cooking, albeit sometimes spicy, like the chilaquilas recipe in the book, which incidently, is wonderful!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Childhood Town, January 16, 2000

By	"aniram1" (Moreno Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir (Hardcover)

I have never read a book about my hometown. This book took me back to my childhood days, and what it meant to grow up in a border town where everyone knew each other, everyone was friendly, there was no racism and you could sleep with the door unlocked, leave your keys in the car and it was safe. It also brought sadness at the same time, since Nogales is not the same Nogales of the fifties, sixties, seventies and even part of the eighties. It has grown extensively, has crime, and is no longer the little friendly town I once knew and loved.

Albert was at Nogales High School at the same time as I. He has truly written a BEAUTIFUL memoir of what my little childhood town was.I knew his family, his father married my husband and I and his mom pierced my ears. I was saddened by the fact that his father had passed away,(since we moved to culture shock California 10 years ago,I don't have much contact with Nogalians). But, believe me,you don't have to be from Nogales to enjoy this little marvel of a book.

2.0 out of 5 stars Very very boring, July 7, 2009

By	Michal A. Joyner (Scottsdale, Az USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book because of One Book Arizona's sponsorship. It was boring beyond words, and I can't imagine why it won the One Book award. The people who voted must have been students of the author because this was not a good book.