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11th out of 38 books
—
35 voters
Bodega Dreams
"A new and authentic voice of the urban Latino experience." --Esmeralda Santiago, author of When I Was Puerto Rican
In a stunning narrative combining the gritty rhythms of Junot Diaz with the noirgenius of Walter Mosley, Bodega Dreams announces the arrival of a writer who The Village Voice has already hailed as "a Writer on the Verge."
The word is out in Spanish Harlem: Will...more
In a stunning narrative combining the gritty rhythms of Junot Diaz with the noirgenius of Walter Mosley, Bodega Dreams announces the arrival of a writer who The Village Voice has already hailed as "a Writer on the Verge."
The word is out in Spanish Harlem: Will...more
Paperback, 213 pages
Published
March 14th 2000
by Vintage
(first published January 1st 2000)
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"Bodega Dreams" is one of those books that don't have a catchy cover, however as you start reading the first pages the book drives you into wanting to read more and more. It cought my attention due to the fact that it talks bout how it all started back in high school when sapo and chino became friends,which I'm in right now it shows how high school memories were meanful to both . Throughout the book the character(chino) grows into a complete different character. From a imature teen into a grow...more
This is a wonderful story -- and great to use in the NYC classroom, as students many students will be able to relate to the cultural issues of East Harlem. Allusions to THE GREAT GATSBY made me a bit weary at first, but this novel questions what we assume about crime and justice continually, hitting on some of the same pivotal issues that Fitzgerald captured. It has great colloquial language and pushes the reader to consider the central question: "You may be able to take the man out of East Harl...more
May 21, 2013
Irina Blair
added it
I’ll admit, the vulgarity in this book was a turn-off in the beginning. I wasn’t new to that kind of writing in books, but somehow the author made it sound even filthier and grimier than I had ever read, which I guess was his aim. However, as the story came into itself, I started to really enjoy it. I found myself reading and then glimpsing at the page number, surprised by how fast I had zoomed through the chapters. It wasn’t exactly addicting and I didn’t have an insatiable hunger to continue r...more
SPNS-351 (Blaine, Olivia, Nicole, Alex, Emilee)
Bodega Dreams is a novel written by Ernesto Quinonez. The novel takes place in Spanish Harlem in the late 20th century. Quinonez describes the protagonist Chino, a young man trying to survive in Spanish Harlem while attending a college and providing for his pregnant wife, Blanca. Chino finds himself being pulled into a drug lord's struggle for power and love.
Quinonez describes the struggle of living between two worlds: one of legitimacy , and one o...more
Bodega Dreams is a novel written by Ernesto Quinonez. The novel takes place in Spanish Harlem in the late 20th century. Quinonez describes the protagonist Chino, a young man trying to survive in Spanish Harlem while attending a college and providing for his pregnant wife, Blanca. Chino finds himself being pulled into a drug lord's struggle for power and love.
Quinonez describes the struggle of living between two worlds: one of legitimacy , and one o...more
Taylor Drummond
Grace Caldwell
Kylee Firlit
Eddie Gantzer
Bodega Dreams
Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez is a quick and easy read, but also intriguing. It gives a unique look into El Barrio, a Puerto Rican neighborhood in East Harlem. The neighborhood is a lower class area with economic despair, which Bodega is trying to fix. Bodega is a selfish man, but also a heroic person. Bodega Dreams is an interesting take on what makes the difference between a hero and a villain. It looks into the themes o...more
Grace Caldwell
Kylee Firlit
Eddie Gantzer
Bodega Dreams
Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez is a quick and easy read, but also intriguing. It gives a unique look into El Barrio, a Puerto Rican neighborhood in East Harlem. The neighborhood is a lower class area with economic despair, which Bodega is trying to fix. Bodega is a selfish man, but also a heroic person. Bodega Dreams is an interesting take on what makes the difference between a hero and a villain. It looks into the themes o...more
SPNS 351- Review (Nataza, Ethan, Zoe, Erin & Rjika)
Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quiñonez is a Latino novel set in Spanish Harlem in the 1980s. At the time, Spanish Harlem was heavily affected by the energy crisis. The novel follows Chino, a young college student and newlywed living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to survive. His childhood chum, Sapo is caught up in a life of drug dealing and fast money alongside the neighborhood powerhouse, Willie Bodega. Bodega has a dream of cleaning up th...more
Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quiñonez is a Latino novel set in Spanish Harlem in the 1980s. At the time, Spanish Harlem was heavily affected by the energy crisis. The novel follows Chino, a young college student and newlywed living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to survive. His childhood chum, Sapo is caught up in a life of drug dealing and fast money alongside the neighborhood powerhouse, Willie Bodega. Bodega has a dream of cleaning up th...more
I bought Bodega Dreams after hearing Ernesto Quinonez tell a story on "The Moth," the NPR radio show that features famous and not-so-famous folks presenting personal narratives. Quinonez shared an episode from his awkward preteen years (redundant adjectives, I know) about the poetic justice he and his friends served up to a racist bully in middle school. Only, like the best stories, it's not really that simple. By the end of Quinonez's tale, the labels of "bully" and "victim" have been switched,...more
Speaking from a fan's perspective, Bodega dreams' urban cast of first generation Puerto Rican Americans kept me on the edge of seat. I couldn't put this book down it read more like behind the scenes documentary on the underbelly of urban crime and romance than the norm of an unaffected young adult drama. The plight of unrequited love borrows more from Gabriel García Márquez in substance than what I'd expect from a book recommended to me by my sister.
As Quinonez commonly refers to sites and soun...more
As Quinonez commonly refers to sites and soun...more
Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez, romance, drugs, crime, infidelity. Chino, the protagonist of the book, has trouble with paying bills and with a child coming soon, he needs more room. Willie Bodega, has the answers to that, though there are consequences. Spanish Harlem is where all the crime is taking place. Chino is insecure, uses lies to cover up, and Sapo, his best friend, takes advantage of him, by making him carry drugs for him, and ultimately Bodega. Blanca is Chino's wife, and every guy...more
Hello, everyone. I am tired and cranky and sick and stressed out today, so I'll keep this review rather brief. Although I feel bad because I haven't written a good review in a while. I'm not even in the top 100 reviewers this week. *Sobs* But anyway, enough of my pity party.
So … I was assigned to read Bodega Dreams for my Writing the Urban Experience class, which is this cool class where we read and write about … urban things. So yeah, it's exactly what the title of the course says. Only it's mu...more
So … I was assigned to read Bodega Dreams for my Writing the Urban Experience class, which is this cool class where we read and write about … urban things. So yeah, it's exactly what the title of the course says. Only it's mu...more
The book that I am currently going to talk about is possibly one of the books I will read in my high school years. As a sophomore, I have to learn how to expand my reading and this book is a benchmark of my expansion.
This book is about a young man named Julio, living in Spanish Harlem. He tells reminiscent stories as background towards the real climax of the book. After he finds a woman and an apartment, he still needs to help to lifetime buddy, Sapo. Sapo was always a negative influence to Ju...more
This book is about a young man named Julio, living in Spanish Harlem. He tells reminiscent stories as background towards the real climax of the book. After he finds a woman and an apartment, he still needs to help to lifetime buddy, Sapo. Sapo was always a negative influence to Ju...more
When it comes to trying to get up in the world, and being behind all of the illegal business that goes on in our local communities, Bodega Dreams deals with that issue. The major issues are being powerful, having rights, and being successful in life. The big theme is if you want to succeed in life it's up to you to make that dream into a reality.This book reminds me of The Great Gatsby only in Bodega Dreams its based in the Spanish Harlem Neighborhood.I really like this book because its not one...more
I am trying so hard to figure out Bodega Dreams. Oscar Quinonez created a work with multiple layers and textures but I am unsure if it is all smoke and mirrors. Ranging from, "Yeah, I know guys like that," to characters who are caricatures, Quinonez populates his first novel with peeps from the hood with dubious motivations and labyrinthine connections. These characters develop unevenly through the course of the novel and as the convoluted plot line unravels, they make choices that seem out of c...more
Apr 30, 2012
Sheryl Vidals
added it
In the book Bodega Dreams the book addressed a very intense and clear conflict.The main character Chino which described what it is to be living under pressure and being loyal to his loved ones.It's very hard to be loyal to two people at once because you want to please both but without hurting them and that is what makes it difficult for an individual because sometimes you don't know what to expect.For that reason Chino always had a hard time looking for his place because he never knew what was b...more
This is a really great book. It's definately meant for adults, because it can be kind of vulgar at times, but it's well written and interesting. It's about a Willie Bodega, a man who is using drug money to "rebuild" Spanish Harlem. He has dreams of uplifting the people of Spanish Harlem and making it a better place. It's also a love story about him and a woman named Vera who he fell in love with when he was young, but she moved to Miami and he just had to push his love aside and deal with her be...more
So far, Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez is an action packed personal narrative about the struggles of Julio, or China. He attends Hunter College and lives in an apartment with his pregnant wife, Blanca.
I like how Ernesto starts off the book with the importance of being tough and making a name for yourself. I found it very easy to relate to this book. I also like the inclusion of Spanish language. It gives the book a little excitement. Last but not least I love how him and Blanca always argue....more
I like how Ernesto starts off the book with the importance of being tough and making a name for yourself. I found it very easy to relate to this book. I also like the inclusion of Spanish language. It gives the book a little excitement. Last but not least I love how him and Blanca always argue....more
I think that this is a very good book. In this book the main character chino has a difficult time being loyal to both his wife blanca and his best friend sapo. Chino has internal and external conflict during the whole book because blanca and chino have never liked each other. Chino learns a lot from the beginning to the end he grows in a lot of different ways. As blanca try's to guide him in a good way sapo try's to get him into a deal with bodega which isn't such a good idea. It is all up to ch...more
This a beautifully written story about Spanish Harlem, that has been compared to Great Gatsby. The story is told by a young man, Chino, who was married to a cousin of Vera, the woman Willie had been in love with for 20 years, since he was in high school. Vera could be compared to Daisy, Gatsby's love and like Jay Gatsby Willie Bodega was a self made man. He came from the barrio and earned his money the old way, with drugs and gambling, but dreamed big and was very generous with the people in his...more
Chino, an ordinary resident of El Barrio and a Hunter College student, gets tangled in the aspirations of a small time East Harlem mob. Some interesting things about the book are: 1) masculine criminal characters always seem to have a sentimental side, 2) the national struggle, deferred dreams and pride of Puerto Ricans/American immigrants are played out in the neighborhood politics; 3) the author has an excellent ear for dialogue of the streets and Spanglish mixed together. Add to that the way...more
Apr 25, 2011
Coralie
added it
A quick and easy read. Chino is newly married, with a baby on the way, when his best friend pulls him into a relationship with a Puerto Rican mobster named "Bodega". Although Bodega finances his enterprises selling drugs and running numbers rackets, he uses his ill acquired gains to help other Puerto Ricans in Spanish Harlem, helping them go to college and renovating apartments to give them good places to live. Chino's wife, Blanca, doesn't approve of Chino's association with Bodega, however, an...more
May 04, 2012
Terrill Williams
is currently reading it
The book Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez is a story of the typical life of the life of people in Spanish Harlem. This life includes everything from love, to gaining respect in your neighborhood, violence, fighting, drugs and etc. One thing I like about this book is that it is very interesting your face and eyes will be glued to the pages while you try to anticipate what coming next. In this book the build up of suspence will have you at the edge of your seat and completely in shock due to the...more
I can honestly say I really enjoyed Bodega Dreams. Not only was I so interested that i wasn't burdened to read it, but I found myself relating to many themes within the book. It was a light read and the characters were engaging. I found myself really identifying with their desires to come out of the stereotypical standards set for minorities in certain communities. The name struck me as funny in the beginning, but towards the end I found its dynamic symbolism very satisfying. Quinonez did a wond...more
dear m.s Charan,
I Think that you would love this book called "Bodega Dream". Bodega Dreams is base on how an drug lord use to sell drugs in Spanish Harlem.But with the dirty money he was making he was giving back to the people of spanish Harlem.For an example he would pay for peoples college tuitions and also he would buy buildings and rent them to people for an afforable price.In the story Bodega dreams, was to change the ways that people judge the people in Harlem and to remodel the paths th...more
I Think that you would love this book called "Bodega Dream". Bodega Dreams is base on how an drug lord use to sell drugs in Spanish Harlem.But with the dirty money he was making he was giving back to the people of spanish Harlem.For an example he would pay for peoples college tuitions and also he would buy buildings and rent them to people for an afforable price.In the story Bodega dreams, was to change the ways that people judge the people in Harlem and to remodel the paths th...more
This is a brilliantly crafted, character driven novel that moves at a break neck speed, crashing into a completely unexpected ending. Protagonist Chino recounts his experience with Willie Bodega, the neighborhood savior with a whole lot of dirty business. Quinonez presents us with multiple experiences of life in the barrio, from the streets to school, from interpersonal relationships to the larger community. Street crime and cultural love intertwine here, with a novel that looks at the immigrant...more
Loved this book. Loved the rhythm and dialogue. Loved the plot. Loved feeling transported to something kind of familiar but not quite.
'Because a single lawyer can steal more moeny than a hundred men with guns."
"And when you've been with someone for a long time and they leave you, the saddest part is turning out the lights."
"So like you know I was with this white girl las' night and they like good in bed but like they say stupid shit. You know, like, Spanish girls, they moan to you, 'Ayy papi, ay...more
'Because a single lawyer can steal more moeny than a hundred men with guns."
"And when you've been with someone for a long time and they leave you, the saddest part is turning out the lights."
"So like you know I was with this white girl las' night and they like good in bed but like they say stupid shit. You know, like, Spanish girls, they moan to you, 'Ayy papi, ay...more
I like the book Bodega Dreams because it made you visualize how Spanish Harlem look before. Ernesto Quinonez speaks about the truth and his life experience on growing up in that type of neighborhood and how he change as person to make things better for him and his wife.I like how Chino got caught up into problems but still stood out in a different light from the neighborhood by being sweet,smart,loyal,and confused.I recommend this book to teenagers that are involved into problems and trying to g...more
I personally thought that this was a great book, it was able to express a twisted crime - love lifestyle that seemed quite simple. This book can interest anybody to be honest, it seems like it would be a "typical" power struggle in the neighborhood of Harlem, but it ends up being about love which is weird... in my opinion because it leaves out a few things (everything comes together only in the end). The book is not too difficult, it has a few spanish words here and there but it'll be easy to un...more
Quiñonez creates a place in this novel that is so real, so vivid, that I just keep turning it over in my hands and touching it as I read. The description is marvelous, but even more than that his characters flesh out the place further by being the people who could only be in that place. The novel is worth reading for that alone, though the story is a good one as well. I'm almost reminded of Gatsby in a strange sort of way. This story has the same music of human hope, though it's own notes and no...more
Quotes:
“To them our self-respect was more important than passing some test, because you can’t pass a test if you already feel defeated.”
“Bodega was the type of guy who, if he was going to show you how to make paper airplanes, would first tell you how trees had to be cut down in order to make paper.”
On Nazario’s success: “It was something about knowing who the important little people were, the forgotten ones who don’t wear suits, the mailroom clerk, the secretaries, the custodial staffs. They wo...more
“To them our self-respect was more important than passing some test, because you can’t pass a test if you already feel defeated.”
“Bodega was the type of guy who, if he was going to show you how to make paper airplanes, would first tell you how trees had to be cut down in order to make paper.”
On Nazario’s success: “It was something about knowing who the important little people were, the forgotten ones who don’t wear suits, the mailroom clerk, the secretaries, the custodial staffs. They wo...more
This was a pretty good read. It is the story of a young Latino growing up in East Harlem. He is able (or perhaps forced) to walking the fine line between getting ahead through his education and the life he is building with his very religious wife or through his involvement in the shadier sides of neighborhood business where success comes quicker but with more moral dilemmas.
The story was interesting and the writer's writing style was easy to read, even though it was heavily laced with slang (whi...more
The story was interesting and the writer's writing style was easy to read, even though it was heavily laced with slang (whi...more
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Ernesto Quiñonez (born 1966) is an American novelist. His work received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers designation, the Borders Bookstore Original New Voice selection, and was declared a “Best Book” by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
More about Ernesto Quiñonez...
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“i think you're worth all the souls in hell. thass thousands of more souls than there are in heavan. So you're worth a lot, pana.”
—
4 people liked it
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Thanks for your review Elizabeth!
Apr 14, 2008 08:42pm