The Ghost of John Wayne: and Other Stories

by Ray Gonzalez

The vast Texas borderland is a place divided, a land of legends and lies, sanctification and sinfulness, history and amnesia, haunted by the ghosts of the oppressed and the forgotten, who still stir beneath the parched fields and shimmering blacktops. It is a realm filled with scorpion eaters and mescal drinkers, cowboys and Indians, Anglos and Chicanos, spirit horses and beat-up pickups, brujos and putas, aching passion and seething rage, apparitions of the Virgin and bodies in the Rio Grande. In his first collection of short fiction, award-winning poet, editor, and anthologist Ray Gonzalez powerfully evokes both the mystery and the reality of the El Paso border country where he came to manhood. Here, in a riverbed filled with junked cars and old bones, a young boy is given a dark vision of a fiery future. Under the stones of the Alamo, amid the gift shops and tour buses, the wraiths of fallen soldiers cry out to be remembered. By an ancient burial site at the bottom of a hidden canyon, two lovers come face to face with their own dreams and fears. In these stories, Ray Gonzalez is a literary alchemist, blending contemporary culture with ancient tradition to give a new voice to the peoples of the border.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

The work of award-winning poet and editor Ray Gonzalez is inextricably linked to his Mexican ancestry and his American southwestern upbringing. Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Gonzalez has employed Chicano imagery in his poetry, oftentimes alluding to America's indigenous past, and particularly to the southwestern desert cultures. Gonzalez has published several collections of his poetry and has served as editor of several anthologies of writings, most of which emphasize the contributions of Chicano authors to the literary scene. These anthologies, including 1998's Touching the Fire: Fifteen Poets of Today's Latino Renaissance, provide a medium for many up-and-coming Latino writers to get their work to the public.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book after reading a couple of the flash pieces in an anthology or two and actually had to wishlist it for a while before a copy became available. The first section of similar flash was similarly interesting, but after that, the stories became too internal, lacking a lot of drive for me.

[Suzan Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I like Ray Gonzalez’s non-fiction essays more than his fiction. But I really only finished this book out of respect, not enjoyment.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) This is a collection of short stories, all based in the US/Mexico borderland region. They range greatly in topics from issues with illegal border crossings and corruption in "Invisible Country", to ghosts of Mexican soldiers in the Alamo ("The Ghost of John Wayne"), to more fanciful tales such as "Circling the Tortilla Dragon" where a young boy fights a dragon and vanquishes him by an unusual method. Full of the atmosphere of the region, many of the stories have hints of magical realism, mysticism or spiritualism. It was an unusual and fascinating collection, well worth reading.