Spiks

by Pedro Juan Soto

Excellent Book

Genres: Latin American

89 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Luzma Umpierre · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to authoritative writings about the early years of Puerto Ricans in New York City there is no book that was essential to my formation as this one. Even at Bryn Mawr College I decided to write a shot essay on it and my professor tehn told me of Soto's other works and he suggested that I do my dissertation on Soto as one of the three authors I covered. Eventually I met Soto and as one of the very few critical authorities on Puerto Rican Literature of the generation of 1950 I suggest that you all read this book. The vignettes are funny but poignant even polemical these days but a generational giant of a book to me and others. Many times it is forgotten to list it in anthologies because Soto was not an ass licker and devoted his life to teaching at UPR. In 1979 his son was assassinated at the Cerro Maravilla events and he sued the USA government. I interviewed him then again and I must admit that his sentimientos, su compassion y su juicio literario make me say that he is the father of the Diaspora Puerto Rican writing in the USA far ahead from Piri Thomas who is mostly known for one book. This man has books like USMail in which he is critical about servitude in Puerto Rico at the hands of the USA government and the program of La PRERA. His final novel written shortly before he died is a magnum opus that needs to be read carefully! Bravo for Soto! Despised, rejected and loved by millions in exile as a true Puerto Rican! In spite the character assassinations of him, the brutality against his family incurred by other Ricans, I praise the vision he had to produce this short story vignettes against all odds; not included often by others essayist but left intact in my critical mind as one of the most prolific literary figures in the island of Puerto Rican and at the forefront in Latino Literature in the USA.

[Edgar Gabriel Rios Salgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro para la historia. Las historias de Spiks siempre las leía por separados en mis clases de concentración. Una muestra aquí y una por allá. Leer el libro y conversar con él, me llevó a ver un panorama más amplio de las historias. Esas que convergen entre las dos caras de los isleños. La gran migración que nunca se ha detenido y lo que conlleva al sacrificio patrio es un tema que siempre pernea en el diario puertorriqueño. Las imágenes son vividas y lo importante es que aunque ya hace par de tiempo que fue escrito, sigue cobrando vigencia en otros matices.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty, 1970s old school urban Latino fiction.