Loving Pedro Infante

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Loving Pedro Infante is an infectious, lyrical novel about Teresina "La Tere" Avila, a border-town teacher's aide who is obsessed with the legendary Mexican radio and film star Pedro Infante. That Chavez is also a playwright will come as no surprise to readers, as this evocative tale is full of hilarious dialogue that brings Tere and her close friend Irma "La Wirma" Granados to life. Chavez first delighted readers with her raucous debut, Face of an Angel, earning the author comparisons to heavyweight Latina contemporaries Sandra Cisneros, Julia Alvarez, and Ana Castillo.

Margaria Fichtner

hough the flat, hot New Mexico setting of Denise Chavez's exuberant, titillating, engaging new novel, Loving Pedro Infante, may not look like much to those just passing through, it can be a good place to live if you are an old gossip like Ofelia Contreras, "who loves to talk about the lowlife she's married to who works at White Sands as a car mechanic, or if you're happily married and have kids in Little League and band and like to make banana creme pies in your spare time and your husband belongs to a bowling league like Sista Rocha." But for thirtysomethings Irma and Tere, Cabritoville is a wasteland. Time to throw in the old "toalla"? Not quite. Tere, the narrator of Loving Pedro Infante, would do almost anything to find a good man to match the "hombre" of her dreams, Pedro Infante - king of the golden age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and '50s. Tere and Irma, with their weekly "Pedro-athon" orgies of junk food and old films flickering on the wide-screen TV, may be the most avid members of Cabritoville's Pedro Infante Fan Club. As she so skillfully demonstrated in her previous novel, Face of an Angel, Chavez has her forefinger raised to measure the hot cultural crosswinds sweeping the southern borderlands.
— realbooks.com

Sandra Cisneros

. . . I read this book while throwing laundry in the washer, late in bed without realizing the sun was rising . . .

Dagoberto Gilb

Read this book and you soon forget about the handsome Pedro Infante — you'll be loving the beautiful Denise Chávez . . .

Sandra Benitez

If you're looking for a book that'll make you laugh, cry, and set you to thinking, then search no more . . .

Helena Maria Viramontes

. . . I actually felt saddened to finish Loving Pedro Infante. A heartfelt thank-you, Denise, for bringing Tere Ávila to life . . .

John Knoll

Denise Chávez is a Catholic soul queen. A poet, a myth maker, y una cuentista, a storyteller . . .

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ch vez's latest (after Face of an Angel) est de aquella it's a terrific novel full of abuelita wisdom and raunchy cantina wit. Trapped in Cabritoville, N.Mex., and in love with Lucio, a married man who refuses to commit, 30-something Tere Avila is a teacher's aide by day, a regular at local bar La Tempestad and a 24/7 member of the Pedro Infante Club #256. Mid-century movie star Infante is Elvis Presley and Cary Grant rolled into one. Though a womanizer, Infante's passion for life captured the souls of the Mexican people, and in death he reigns supreme as the ultimate male icon. When they're not at La Tempestad, or eating at Sophia's Mighty Taco, Tere and her best friend, Irma, indulge in weekly Pedro-athons. Matching his movies to their emotional state, the two use the films as an escape but also as a hilarious, poignant vehicle for their desires and anger. The movies highlight Tere's misguided love for Lucio while cleverly exposing the Mexican psyche. Ch vez's voice is at once zany and knowing. She is la gran mitotera a big troublemaker, stirring up rollicking mischief with wacky humor delivered in the lyrical tempo of Chicano slang. The language is bawdy, sometimes downright sucio, but expressive in a way that pure Spanish or English couldn't be. A liberating Chicana coming-of-a-certain-age tale, rooted in a profound love for la gente, the book gives us heroines we didn't know we had and makes us understand that love means embracing flaws our own as well as those of others. (Apr. 15) Forecast: Ch vez, a spirited reader, will embark on a 12-city author tour, with Pedro-athons planned for Chicago and L.A. Sales in the Southwest should be particularly strong, but this rollicking novel could easily be Chavez's biggest yet nationwide. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In a small, dusty Texas-Mexico border town called Cabritoville, thirtysomething Tere Avila is in love with a married man. She also loves Pedro Infante, a 1940-50s era film star whom the author describes as a Mexican Elvis. Tere's life revolves around her membership in Pedro Infante's fan club and her friendship with Irma. According to Irma, "You can learn so much about Mejicano culture, class structure, the relationships between men and women, women and women, men and men, as well as intergenerational patterns of collaterality in Pedro's movies. The movies tell you what Mejicanos embrace and reject in their lives." Through Tere, Chavez explores femininity and cultural identity. While many Chicano language and cultural references abound, Chavez explains the context. Readers familiar with works by Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, and Julia Alvarez will enjoy Chavez's new work. Appropriate for public and academic libraries. Lee McQueen, SUNY at Buffalo Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Funny, raunchy novel from the author of American Book Award-winner Face of an Angel (1994, not reviewed), this about lonely women in a dusty bordertown. Tere Ávila is a school aide at Cabritoville Elementary in New Mexico with little to do after hours but check out the same losers in the same bars and commiserate with her girlfriends, fellow members of the Pedro Infante Fan Club. In their eyes, the long-dead Mexican actor is the only real man around; they watch his movies over and over, sighing at his sensual good looks. Tere would give anything to find someone like Pedro. Her first husband didn't amount to much, and she scarcely gave him a thought after their quickie divorce. These days, she settles for fiery but ultimately unsatisfying trysts at a sleazy local motel with Lucio Valadez, the married father of a six-year-old girl. Tere feels guilty, but loneliness feels worse, and she ignores her practical friend Irma's advice to dump the guy and get on with her life. Lucio's not all that wonderful, but he's all she's got, even if he is preoccupied with several family businesses and a little too eager to improve her, starting with her vocabulary. His gift of love: a dictionary. Much to Irma's disgust, Tere doesn't throw it at him but reads it instead. After all, didn't she study the biography of St. Teresa of Avila that Irma gave her too? But Tere is consumed with shame and regret when Lucio's little daughter sees them necking in the school parking lot. He immediately breaks off the affair, fearing his wife's wrath, and there's nothing Tere can do to change his mind. But the night is young, and her old flame, Chago, is back in town . . . she just might get lucky. Not muchstoryhere, but the vivid characterizations and highly sensual style more than make up for it. Chavez's heroine is passionate, foolish, and wonderfully human.