Villarreal illuminates here the world of "pochos," Americans whose parents come to the United States from Mexico. Set in Depression-era C...
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reviews
Jul 09, 2009
Wightknyte11
rated it: 
Villarreal does a great job of characterization and creating a vivid depression era Mexican-American setting. Villarreal also created the cultural conflicts in the main character and others very well. The book is thought provoking to say the least.
However, I did not entirely like how Villarreal handles point of view. The vast majority of the book is from the point of view of Richard. However, the book starts out from the point of view of his father. Almost none of the rest of the book is fr More...
However, I did not entirely like how Villarreal handles point of view. The vast majority of the book is from the point of view of Richard. However, the book starts out from the point of view of his father. Almost none of the rest of the book is fr More...
Jul 07, 2011
Lyndon
rated it: 
(Note: This is a lengthy analysis of Pocho, originally written for my college class. Lyn)
The 1959 novel, Pocho, by José Antonio Villarreal, is an insightful cultural exposition told primarily from the vantage point of Richard Rubio, the coming-of-age son of immigrant Mexican parents who eventually settle in Santa Clara, California, after many seasons of migrant farm work. Although fiction, the story likely mirrors some of the experiences of the author who was born to migrant laborers More...
The 1959 novel, Pocho, by José Antonio Villarreal, is an insightful cultural exposition told primarily from the vantage point of Richard Rubio, the coming-of-age son of immigrant Mexican parents who eventually settle in Santa Clara, California, after many seasons of migrant farm work. Although fiction, the story likely mirrors some of the experiences of the author who was born to migrant laborers More...
May 25, 2009
Rebekah
rated it:
Pocho is a very well written book and very ahead of its time for when it was written and published, but i can't rate it higher because its attitude towards women absolutely infuriated me. It's one thing to simply state how things are in recognition of "traditional" gender roles in a certain culture and for a time I thought maybe the main character would come to understand that women shouldn't be boxed into stereotypes and cultural expectations as he was fighting them as well, but he do
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Dec 05, 2011
John
rated it:
I've read Pocho four or five times, and I'm more and more impressed with each reading. Villarreal anticipates many of the tropes of contemporary Chicano literature, but he does so in a way that's purely original. The novel recounts the story of the Rubio family, who move from Mexico in the wake of the Revolution and establish themselves in Santa Clara, California. The "pocho" (Americanized Mexican) of the title is Richard, the family's only son and a boy with an exceptional imagination
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Nov 15, 2009
Dusty
rated it:
WHAT is this book?! It starts like Bless Me, Última or a Mexican-American Last Picture Show -- a funny-serious tale of a smarter-than-average outsider boy who comes of age in an isolated town in a moment of exceptional national turmoil, with lots of talk of people's genitals. Then, at about the midpoint, it abruptly becomes serious-tragic, more like zombie movie -- a smarter-than-average teenager wandering lost as his culture, town, family and friendships disintegrate around him. The blurb on th
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Nov 21, 2008
David
rated it:
Villarreal does a great job of characterization and creating a vivid depression era Mexican-American setting. Villarreal also created the cultural conflicts in the main character and others very well. The book is thought provoking to say the least.
However, I did not entirely like how Villarreal handles point of view. The vast majority of the book is from the point of view of Richard. However, the book starts out from the point of view of his father. Almost none of the rest of th More...
However, I did not entirely like how Villarreal handles point of view. The vast majority of the book is from the point of view of Richard. However, the book starts out from the point of view of his father. Almost none of the rest of th More...
Sep 15, 2011
Brett
rated it:
It was interesting to read a story about an immigrant family that wasn't just some liberal propaganda. This was a real and fair interpretation of immigrant life that was equally critical of the negative aspects of Mexican and American culture. It was also a shining example of how it takes individuality to get ahead in America, and that many Mexican immigrants who hold on to the old ways get left behind and remain poor. Ultimately, the book preached that Mexicans must accept American ways while o
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Feb 08, 2010
Janine
rated it:
Pocho was a little journey through American/ Mexican history. But for such a little book, too much was packed into it. The character stories were disintegrated. It started out with Pocho's dad, and his lover, and then it suddenly jumped to his life with his wife and the birth of Pocho. And since the author tried to cover so mucb ground, the book read more like a newspaper report covering the events in Pocho's life. Too much was told, little was left for the reader to experience himself, by parta
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May 14, 2009
Mary
rated it:
I learned a lot about Mexican American family life from this book, which I read for my class called readings in Mexican American studies. It was a good novel. Generally, not my favorite-but if you're interested in the subject, I would recommend it.
Dec 10, 2007
Kate
rated it:
This was written in the 50s (a feat for a Chicano author at that time) and gives an interesting glimpse into the world of a "pocho", or a kid born in the US of Mexican parents. It's the fictional story of Richard and his family in southern Cali. It's a short read with a lot of history woven in as it takes place in the 40s. It reminded me of my father...who coincidentally has the same name as the author.
Apr 03, 2011
Zacharia
rated it: 
An amazing story of a boy stuck between two very different cultures: the Mexican tradition of his parents' background and the liberalism of America. Loved every minute of it.
Sep 18, 2008
Sarah
rated it:
this book was way ahead of its time. It IS NOT an assimilationist novel, but rather captures the idea that the individual cannot be boxed into fixed categories of heritages. It also captures the transcendence of these boundaries, especially in the Bay Area.
Oct 12, 2008
Melissa
rated it:
A perspective into the life of a self proclaimed chicano - pocho, good light read
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