Every Night Is Ladies' Night: Stories

USA Today

Every Night Is Ladies' Night by Michael Jaime-Becerra is a love letter to the city in which he was raised, a place where luck is in short supply but hope survives, as quiet and resilient as the sunrise … His affection for his characters is contagious, he has the wisdom to let them be what they are, and he makes us miss them when they're gone. This is his first book, and it's a lovely one indeed. — Anne Stephenson

The Washington Post

… this book is extraordinary. It's just great, and it brings shame on those who might want to treat it as in any way regional, or ethnic or quaint … Most of us have lost sight of lives lived at this terrifying level. These beautifully crafted stories jolt us into electric awareness, inviting us, as sleepers, to, for God's sake, wake up. — Carolyn See

Publishers Weekly

Intimate and sweetly slangy, this collection of 10 interconnected stories set in the hardscrabble, blue-collar town of El Monte captures the essence of Latino life in Southern California. Many of the characters and story lines revolve around the up-and-down fortunes of the Cruz family, starting with "The Corrido of Hector Cruz," which involves the efforts of an auto shop owner to balance the concerns of his newly pregnant wife with those of his troubled nephew Lencho, who comes to live with the couple after getting out of prison. Five years later, in "Riding with Lencho," Lencho must battle his girlfriend, who doesn't appreciate his attempts to educate himself by taking college night classes while working full-time as a mechanic. Jaime-Becerra adds some nice local color in "Georgie and Wanda," in which a stock car racer tries to quell his driving fears after a near-deadly wreck, while striving to win the heart of a Mexican trophy queen. The tour de force story in the collection is "Media Vuelta," which describes the journey of an older mariachi musician to Southern California to find his first wife. Instead, he runs into Lencho, who demands a musical performance in exchange for his help in the search. Jaime-Becerra's characters are notable for their innocence and good intentions. When they get into trouble-which is often-it's because of their surroundings. The author's ability to get inside the hearts and minds of his characters helps the collection rise above the general run of Spanglish-flavored fiction, as does his evocative, superreal scene-setting ("Mom's Tercel stalls at the signal on Durfee") and the immediacy of his present-tense prose, despite some awkward phrasings. The result is a collection that succeeds at several levels while establishing Jaime-Becerra as a writer to watch. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

This debut collection presents ten interrelated stories, most of which feature Hispanic characters living in 1980s El Monte, CA. One must read them all to appreciate the totality of their impact. For example, readers will end up with a completely different understanding of "Georgie and Wanda" without reading the follow-up, "The Corrido of Hector Cruz." Although Jaime-Becerra (M.F.A., creative writing, Univ. of California, Irvine) portrays some remarkably convincing female narrators, they are basically indistinguishable from one another, a trait that also characterizes many of the situations. As a character-building device, the dialog fails to differentiate between the speech of a 17-year-old and that of a grandparent. Unfortunately, too, the stories are crammed with a lot of specific yet occasionally extraneous detail, so that the author tells rather than shows what the characters are like. Jaime-Becerra would have done better to let his creations speak for themselves with a little less intrusive artistic effort. The situations will appeal to Hispanic audiences, but that's about it.-Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., Dublin, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Ten connecting stories, set mostly in 1980s California, deftly pursue a loosely connected family of Mexican-Americans with little money or education. Jaime-Becerra's protagonists are ice cream vendors, tattoo artists, and teenagers navigating American values in El Monte, California, while their old-world parents glower uncomprehendingly at the new ways. In "The Corrido of Hector Cruz," a young father-to-be is sent out for food to satisfy the cravings of his pregnant wife, whom he adores. The two are barely scraping by on low-wage jobs when they learn that Hector's nephew-his dead brother's young son, Lencho, fresh from reform school-must come live with them. Yet what might have been disastrous turns out-as happens often here-a kind of salvation for both the couple and for Lencho, who has no real skills but a lot of heart. Subsequently, in "Riding with Lencho," we learn that he becomes an auto mechanic, then gets by on disability when his ex-girlfriend scalds him with boiling coffee after growing enraged at his going to night school. In another familial tangent, the young narrator of the fine first story, "Practice Tattoos," watches in sad resignation as the fights between his mother and sister, Gina, over her boyfriends eventually propel her out the door forever. Later, Gina and her tattoo artist steady, Max, resurface in another eponymous story, trying to stay in love despite the louche types who supply Max's trade. The characters here want more than anything to do the right thing-fall in love and steer a better course, for example, though in a couple of stories, like "Media Vuelta," we're given a glimpse of the earlier generation back in Mexico: mariachi guitarist Jose Luis's courtship,for instance, and loss of his sweetheart. The writing is fluid, the details brisk and vivid as newcomer Jaime-Becerra reveals his characters without judging them harshly. Learn Spanish in richly affecting narratives from a strong new talent. Agent: Lisa Bankoff/ICM