Small Faces

by Gary Soto

The author of A Summer Life shares memories of his childhood, such as the hideous jacket he was forced to wear for three years, his grandmother's advising him to be a barber, and other gems. Reissue.

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 12, 1986

About the author

Gary Soto is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as NBC’s Person-of-the-Week. In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his hometown of Fresno.

Reviews

[Gladis Diaz]

Gary wanted a job. His grandmother gave him bad advice and good advice.He married a women named Carolyn and had a daughter. He told his told a story of how he would drive from Sacramento to Bakersfield. Also of what he would with his friends before he got married.

[Margie]

Beautifully written personal narratives - may be able to grab a few paragraphs or part of an entry to use as a model in my classroom (much of it is intended for mature readers, though).

[Lafcadio]

You never really know a person until you've played basketball in his shoes and his daughter has accused you of murder. Still don't really. Her?

[Judi]

a collection of "short stories" that varied from good, mediocre and blah.