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Overview
The Espejo family of El Paso, Texas, is like so many others in America in 1967, trying to make sense of a rapidly escalating war they feel does not concern them. But when the eldest son, Gustavo, a complex and errant rebel, receives a certified letter ordering him to report to basic training, he chooses to flee instead to Mexico. Retreating back to the land of his grandfather—a foreign country to which he is no longer culturally connected—Gustavo sets into motion a series of events that will have catastrophic consequences on the fragile bonds holding the family together.
Told with raw power and searing bluntness, and filled with important themes as immediate as today’s headlines, Names on a Map is arguably the most important work to date of a major American literary artist.
Synopsis
The Espejo family of El Paso, Texas, is like so many others in America in 1967, trying to make sense of a rapidly escalating war they feel does not concern them. But when the eldest son, Gustavo, a complex and errant rebel, receives a certified letter ordering him to report to basic training, he chooses to flee instead to Mexico. Retreating back to the land of his grandfather—a foreign country to which he is no longer culturally connected—Gustavo sets into motion a series of events that will have catastrophic consequences on the fragile bonds holding the family together.
Told with raw power and searing bluntness, and filled with important themes as immediate as today’s headlines, Names on a Map is arguably the most important work to date of a major American literary artist.
Publishers Weekly
In Sáenz's lyrical sixth novel, Octavio Espejo leads an ordinary life in multiethnic 1967 El Paso: he sells insurance and is raising three children with his wife, Lourdes. Octavio was brought to the U.S. from revolutionary Mexico as a child and talks about the family's roots across the border, but on the whole the family has silently Americanized. The Vietnam War and the counterculture, however, begin to change how his children conceive of themselves and their lives-teenaged twins Gustavo and Xochil in particular. Gus must make choices about facing the draft; Xochil, a rape victim when she was 12, attempts to reconcile the era's passions with internal bitterness. Sáenz shifts perspectives fluidly among the family, relatives and friends. The climax is given away early, keeping the focus on the manner in which the characters come to know themselves-or fail to. The result is a beautiful mosaic of the borderlands as women's liberation and the Chicano movement gain traction. (Feb.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationEditorials
Booklist
"A rich, conflicting, and ultimately heartbreaking saga of a family’s loyalty and love for one another."Booklist
“A rich, conflicting, and ultimately heartbreaking saga of a family’s loyalty and love for one another.”Publishers Weekly
In Sáenz's lyrical sixth novel, Octavio Espejo leads an ordinary life in multiethnic 1967 El Paso: he sells insurance and is raising three children with his wife, Lourdes. Octavio was brought to the U.S. from revolutionary Mexico as a child and talks about the family's roots across the border, but on the whole the family has silently Americanized. The Vietnam War and the counterculture, however, begin to change how his children conceive of themselves and their lives-teenaged twins Gustavo and Xochil in particular. Gus must make choices about facing the draft; Xochil, a rape victim when she was 12, attempts to reconcile the era's passions with internal bitterness. Sáenz shifts perspectives fluidly among the family, relatives and friends. The climax is given away early, keeping the focus on the manner in which the characters come to know themselves-or fail to. The result is a beautiful mosaic of the borderlands as women's liberation and the Chicano movement gain traction. (Feb.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationLibrary Journal
Transpiring during a week in September 1967, this fourth major novel by Saenz focuses on the confluence of two symbiotic events in the Espejo family: the death of Grandmother Rosario and her 18-year-old grandson's receipt of a U.S. Army induction notice. Saenz creatively and effectively weaves these stories together using several alternating threads: all five members of the Espejo family plus two Vietnam soldiers narrate their respective stories. Though the grandson, Gustavo, eventually emerges as the lead character as he struggles over whether to obey the draft orders, the other characters battle their own private wars, such as rape and marital discord. Like his 2005 In Perfect Light, this novel transcends its setting-El Paso's Hispanic community-and will appeal to a much wider readership. Saenz's innate understanding and vivid description of the nation's angst at the time over the Vietnam War is commendable; it is perhaps no accident that the book's publication date coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Tet Offensive. Well written, moving, and highly interesting, this is Saenz's best work yet. Highly recommended, especially for public libraries.
—Lawrence Olszewski