Woman Hollering Creek

by Sandra Cisneros

"...already did he divine the morning his daughter would raise her hand over her eyes, look south, and dream of returning to the chores that never ended, six good-for-nothing brothers, and one old man's complaints..."

'Woman Hallering Creek' is a critically-acclaimed short story by Sandra Cisneros, about the experience of being surrounded by American culture and life while still being feeling ties to one's Mexican heritage while living up north of the Mexico-US border.

Sandra Cisneros (1954-) is an internationally acclaimed poetry and fiction writer, and recipient of numerous awards, including the Lannan Literary Award, the American Book Award, and of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacArthur Foundation. Among her most known works are her novels 'The House on Mango Street' (1984) and 'Caramelo' (2002); a collection of short stories, 'Woman Hollering Creek' (1991); two books of poetry, 'My Wicked Ways' (1992) and 'Loose Woman' (1994); and a children's book, 'Hairs/Pelitos' (1994).

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, American, Read For School, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Poetry

Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Sandra Cisneros is internationally acclaimed for her poetry and fiction and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lannan Literary Award and the American Book Award, and of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacArthur Foundation.

Cisneros is the author of two novels The House on Mango Street and Caramelo; a collection of short stories, Woman Hollering Creek; two books of poetry, My Wicked Ways and Loose Woman; and a children's book, Hairs/Pelitos.

She is the founder of the Macondo Foundation, an association of writers united to serve underserved communities (www.macondofoundation.org), and is Writer in Residence at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Reviews

[Federica · Rating 4 out of 5]

non so perché leggiamo solo storie di violenza x questo corso, ma molto molto bella

[Bookish · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel somewhat conflicted with this collection. The quality of the writing, the tone, the technicality of it merits a high rating but I got fed up with the underlying theme pretty fast and it is on this basis that my final rating lies. The stories, for the most part, are about women who to their detriment have absolutely centered their lives around men. I want to know more about these women's characters, their motivations, their drive, their struggles, their journey ... but instead of getting all of this unfiltered, so to speak, it comes across the page through the filter of a relationship with whichever man they're glued to at the moment. It just got boring, fast, unfortunately. Because Sandra Cisneros is one of my favourite authors and the short story with the kids in front of the church got off to such a good start I was optimistic but I just didn't want to go back to these empty women stretching out this reading experience a whole 2 months and 1 week, yikes.

[Aleea · Rating 5 out of 5]

the chisme in this

[Samantha Buchheit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for my lit class today as well, and I think I liked this one a little better than "Two Kinds". I think maybe this is because in "Two Kinds", the narrator has made peace with her mother, she is older and wiser and understands why her mother is the way she is. I'm still working on that, haha. Rather, this story stops off mostly during the ride Cleófilas takes with Felice to escape her husband. I loved some of the wording, and again enjoyed the coming-of-age storytelling aspect.
An excerpt that I especially liked: "In the morning sometimes before he opens his eyes. Or after they have finished loving. Or at times when he is simply across from her at the table putting pieces of food into his mouth and chewing. Cleófilas thinks, This is the man I have waited my whole life for.
Not that he isn't a good man. She has to remind herself why she loves him when she changes the baby's Pampers, or when she mops the bathroom floor, or tries to make the curtains for the doorways without doors, or whiten the linen. Or wonder a little when he kicks the refrigerator and says he hates this shitty house and is going out where he won't be bothered with the baby's howling and her suspicious questions, and her requests to fix this and this and this because if she had any brains in her head she'd realize he's been up before the rooster earning his living to pay for the food in her belly and the roof over her head and would have to wake up again early the next day so why can't you just leave me in peace, woman." I actually want to write a lot more because I haven't even got to the part that resonates with me the most, but it's a lot haha. Page 1134-1135 of the Norton Anthology Volume E.

[Gabs 🫧 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Ishman Laghari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one hit home🤧
"You or no one. Because to suffer for love is good. The pain all sweet somehow. In the end."

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in conjunction with The House on Mango Street and recommend reading that book first. This book feels like it starts where the other leaves off with much more adult themes and as a result many more emotional facets. What struck me most was her descriptions of the scents of things. Reading this book was like eating a five course meal and I enjoyed every morsel. I appreciate the multilayers of the small stories and just being led wherever the author chose to take me. It's a wonderful ride!

[Linnea · Rating 3 out of 5]

She has a great way with words. Certain sentences I wanted to highlight or write down. Incredibly skilled with short 2-3 page stories. I tended to tune out the one over 30 pages. I understand the heartbreak she's trying to convey in the stories she writes about women throwing themselves away on dirtbag men...but instead of feeling sympathetic I'm kind of just annoyed. It's like she's giving these men more power instead of stripping it away. Ugh. The other stories NOT dealing with that were great probably a 60/40 split on stories I liked vs meh.

[Nineregrettes · Rating 4 out of 5]

so much happened here

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up really liking this one a lot. I read this for my Women's Literature class, and this was the one I used for doing all the discussion boards.
The main character grows up watching telenovelas, which is like how media is today. How do you sell a beauty product to someone? You point out a flaw in them and tell them that they need to fix it.
The telenovelas messed her up and made her thing that her relationship with her husband was fine (which is very much was not).
When she finds the other lady and they go across the bridge of Women Hollering Creek, it symbolizes her getting away from her abusive husband and her old life of what she thought she had to be.
REALLY good for a literature class. There's a lot to explore here to write about.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3ʼ5 en realidad. Muy interesante el uso de elementos del folklore mexicano para contarnos esta dura y triste historia que, lamentablemente, sigue siendo bastante actual. La simbología de los lugares —los límites/fronteras– está muy bien diseñada. También la forma de narrar la historia, en tercera persona pero limitada a los pensamientos de la protagonista, a lo que ella ve, oye y siente. Narrativamente es excelente.

[Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

the writing style is so different from what I'm used to, but damn it works. The constant POV changes are so interesting and really give you a better view of the story. Cleo is such a great main character. I'd love to see what happens to her and her son after escaping to San Antonio/her home town!

[kimby · Rating 3 out of 5]

what happened to having closure in endings … ;-; anyway so sad that this situación happens so often oh no keyboard is in Spanish but yeah. kind of funny bc I have seen just as many telenovelas involving husbands abusing their wives as not so. definitely a problem in the culture

[eva ⚘ · Rating 5 out of 5]

(read for uni)
LOVED IT

[tzuyu · Rating 2 out of 5]

huh ?

[Turnipboys]

Extremely good, read ravenously.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a real place, I've been there. Cisneros has the ability to use few words and express so much!

#popsugar2022 challenge
An Anisfield Wolf winner

[jerney · Rating 3 out of 5]

really enjoyed this book a lot more than i expected i definitely want to read more from cisneros.

[Pablo López · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qué belleza de texto

[Galilea Monterroso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never marry a Mexican
Eyes of Zapata
Bien pretty.
Might read again in a couple years.
Interesting to see Chicano and Mexican female perspectives in different time periods.

[Kristel]

read this for class , i had read it before but reading it again it was very good.

i hate drew

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

{4.25}

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting

[⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ঌ alis ໒꒱ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ( hudson’s version ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

wouldn’t hurt to have a happy story to read sometimes yk

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a lot of good stuff here but it doesn't always come together as nicely. Great detail, point of view, and interesting topics, but most of the stories were under five pages and the narrative didn't amount to much. I wish she would have focused on longer stories and developed the narrative more instead of just delivering flavor.

[Tom Leland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked many of these; probably a bit richer if like I did, you grew up in area with large Mexican influence;
so poetic -- sometimes almost too much so. But one of those authors who you know is writing from a very deep place within herself

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't speak Spanish so sometimes I had a hard time reading this book but otherwise it is beautifully written. Cisneros always challenges the way I think about things - her descriptions are so unique.

[Ida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories in this collection stuck with me, but others stayed too much on the surface for my taste. The collection is cleverly put together and full of details that would probably require a few readings to grasp.

[Rebecca Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that show the perspective of what it means to be part of the Hispanic culture in the US for women.

[Julianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised myself reading short stories and was delighted. Some are lilting, some harsh, all painted a view of Latina life in America unknown to me.