Gary Soto’s Harsh Decision About What He Writes

“Keep cool” became my mantra in December 2005, when the phone rang for the third time and I knew a short message would be left expounding the caller’s disappointment in me. The first two calls had been surprising rants that made my invisible antennas, not unlike the antennas of ants, start vibrating. I, a poet, was suddenly controversial overmy chapter novel Marisol, a 140-page story of a little girl (Marisol) living in Pilsen’s mainly Latino area of Chicago.

That’s Gary Soto’s lead in his dis...