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Women Who Live in Coffee Shops
Everybody says that the owner of Sal's Diner is a former Mafioso, but nine-year-old Joanna, whose mom has worked for him as long as she can remember, has a hard time believing he's a Mafia retiree. But one day, when two fat, toothless men who look like the Godfather's brothers show up at the diner, she wonders if maybe the rumor is true. And when Sal is arrested a few days later, Joanna's mother not only runs the diner while he's in jail, she also leads the charge to save him. Can the women who frequent his diner--the League of Women Who Live in Coffee Shops--save Sal from doing hard time in prison?
Set against an urban backdrop of seedy motels and dilapidated houses next to industrial buildings and railroad tracks, Stella Pope Duarte's award-winning stories follow characters who make up the city's underbelly. Some strut through the lethal streets, flamboyant and hard to miss--flashy divas, transvestites, and prostitutes, like Valentine, "one of the girls who decorated Van Buren Street like ornaments dangling precariously on a Christmas tree." Others remain hidden, invisible to those who don't seek them out--bag ladies, illegals, and addicts.
Many of the stories feature young people who know too much, too soon. An eight-year-old girl, with the help of a hooker, finally meets the addict father she has never known. A boy falls to his death and though his older brother is blamed, young Sarita isn t sure her fourth-grade classmate was responsible. And two children, unbeknownst to their parents, befriend a suspected child molester.
Winner of the University of California's Chicano / Latino Literary Prize, this collection of short stories set in Phoenix, Arizona, reveals the hard-scrabble lives of people living on the razor-edge of city life.
Set against an urban backdrop of seedy motels and dilapidated houses next to industrial buildings and railroad tracks, Stella Pope Duarte's award-winning stories follow characters who make up the city's underbelly. Some strut through the lethal streets, flamboyant and hard to miss--flashy divas, transvestites, and prostitutes, like Valentine, "one of the girls who decorated Van Buren Street like ornaments dangling precariously on a Christmas tree." Others remain hidden, invisible to those who don't seek them out--bag ladies, illegals, and addicts.
Many of the stories feature young people who know too much, too soon. An eight-year-old girl, with the help of a hooker, finally meets the addict father she has never known. A boy falls to his death and though his older brother is blamed, young Sarita isn t sure her fourth-grade classmate was responsible. And two children, unbeknownst to their parents, befriend a suspected child molester.
Winner of the University of California's Chicano / Latino Literary Prize, this collection of short stories set in Phoenix, Arizona, reveals the hard-scrabble lives of people living on the razor-edge of city life.
- GenresShort Stories
186 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
38 people want to read
About the author
Stella Pope Duarte
11 books14 followersStella Pope Duarte began her literary career in 1995 after she had a dream in which her deceased father related to her that her destiny was to become a writer.
Her first collection of short stories, Fragile Night, (Bilingual Review Press, 1997) won a creative writing fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and was named a candidate for the prestigious, Pen West Fiction Award.
In 2001 Ms. Duarte was awarded a second creative writing fellowship for her current novel, Let Their Spirits Dance. (HarperCollins, 2002). Harper Collins has described Ms. Duarte as a major, new literary voice in America.
Ms. Duarte's work has won awards and honors nationwide, including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in Literature. Let Their Spirits Dance is on the Book Sense List, and was awarded the AZ Highways Fiction Award for 2003, and nominated as a ONEBOOKAz in 2004. Ms. Duarte won the 2003 Excellence in Latino Arts & Culture Award, presented by Valle del Sol.
In 2004, she received the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award for an excerpt from her current work, If I Die in Jurez, (2008 Spring release), and in 2005 she was honored with the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award by the American Association of Community Colleges. Governor Janet Napolitano appointed Ms. Duarte as a member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts in 2006, and her term will run for three years. Ms. Duarte is also on the Artists Roster for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, serving as a resident artist in creative writing for students in elementary through high school. She is a highly sought-after inspirational speaker for audiences of all ages, on topics related to her work, as well as on issues related to: women's rights, culture, diversity, leadership, education, literacy, Chicano/Latino history, writing, and storytelling. Ms. Duarte was born and raised in la Sonorita Barrio in South Phoenix."
Her first collection of short stories, Fragile Night, (Bilingual Review Press, 1997) won a creative writing fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and was named a candidate for the prestigious, Pen West Fiction Award.
In 2001 Ms. Duarte was awarded a second creative writing fellowship for her current novel, Let Their Spirits Dance. (HarperCollins, 2002). Harper Collins has described Ms. Duarte as a major, new literary voice in America.
Ms. Duarte's work has won awards and honors nationwide, including a nomination for the Pushcart Prize in Literature. Let Their Spirits Dance is on the Book Sense List, and was awarded the AZ Highways Fiction Award for 2003, and nominated as a ONEBOOKAz in 2004. Ms. Duarte won the 2003 Excellence in Latino Arts & Culture Award, presented by Valle del Sol.
In 2004, she received the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Award for an excerpt from her current work, If I Die in Jurez, (2008 Spring release), and in 2005 she was honored with the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award by the American Association of Community Colleges. Governor Janet Napolitano appointed Ms. Duarte as a member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts in 2006, and her term will run for three years. Ms. Duarte is also on the Artists Roster for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, serving as a resident artist in creative writing for students in elementary through high school. She is a highly sought-after inspirational speaker for audiences of all ages, on topics related to her work, as well as on issues related to: women's rights, culture, diversity, leadership, education, literacy, Chicano/Latino history, writing, and storytelling. Ms. Duarte was born and raised in la Sonorita Barrio in South Phoenix."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 5, 2014
Gritty and depressing yet sometimes hopeful short stories set in the seedier part of Phoenix, the "city's underbelly" as stated on the back cover. An area of town with which I am familiar, though I don't live there. Though no time period is stated, I would guess they are set in the 1970s or 80s. Here's a bit about each story:
The first story, "Benny," about Maria, an 8-year-old who meets her father for the first time she can remember, learning that he is/was a piano player. She and her Mom live near Van Buren & 7th.
Powerful second story, "Devil in the tree," combines death of a child (at Harmon Park), the aftermath, and coming of age.
"Vicki's Thirteen" -- Moms, daughters, and yelling. In this story Vicki seems to be more perceptive and have a more mature, though naive, view of life than does her mother.
In the title story, Andrea, a waitress at Sal's Diner on Van Buren, is the founder of The League of Women Who Live in Coffee Shops according to her daughter. The women don't actually live there but use it as a hang out, refuge and support system. When Sal gets into trouble the women help him.
In "Homage" Brenda helps an attorney's clients when she is asked to be a translator. Brenda also appeared in the previous story, "Women Who Live in Coffee Shops."
"The Plight of Patrick Polanski" - Friendship overcomes barriers of race, gender & age, but not the suspicions of family. Was Patrick a pervert?
"Mismatched Julian" - Julian's physical deformities are matched with good-hearted attributes.
"One of These Days I'm Gonna Go Home - Peggy is inspired by her minister to adopt a child from Mexico. "Peggy had her orphan, Emma had her family, and Buzzard had his war front. Peggy could have never figured this for the abundant life."
"Bread and Water" - Impressionable Gabriela, 17, is smitten with Raul, a young man working with her father. "The weather changed almost as fast as the human heart."
"Spirit Women" - Can the spirits help heal Tonia from the pain of having helped deliver the baby of her boyfriend's wife?
"Ol Lady Renteria - Perspective is different from another's point of view, and from a different time in life.
"Confession" -- Naive 8th grader, Big Boy, spends 6 months in juvie, and at his mother's insistence becomes an altar boy afterwards so the Priest, who seems less than a perfect specimen, can be his mentor.
Last story, "Enemy Lines" good final story subject wise as about a woman dying and hallucinating about the son she had to give up. Surprise twist at the end.
The first story, "Benny," about Maria, an 8-year-old who meets her father for the first time she can remember, learning that he is/was a piano player. She and her Mom live near Van Buren & 7th.
Powerful second story, "Devil in the tree," combines death of a child (at Harmon Park), the aftermath, and coming of age.
"Vicki's Thirteen" -- Moms, daughters, and yelling. In this story Vicki seems to be more perceptive and have a more mature, though naive, view of life than does her mother.
In the title story, Andrea, a waitress at Sal's Diner on Van Buren, is the founder of The League of Women Who Live in Coffee Shops according to her daughter. The women don't actually live there but use it as a hang out, refuge and support system. When Sal gets into trouble the women help him.
In "Homage" Brenda helps an attorney's clients when she is asked to be a translator. Brenda also appeared in the previous story, "Women Who Live in Coffee Shops."
"The Plight of Patrick Polanski" - Friendship overcomes barriers of race, gender & age, but not the suspicions of family. Was Patrick a pervert?
"Mismatched Julian" - Julian's physical deformities are matched with good-hearted attributes.
"One of These Days I'm Gonna Go Home - Peggy is inspired by her minister to adopt a child from Mexico. "Peggy had her orphan, Emma had her family, and Buzzard had his war front. Peggy could have never figured this for the abundant life."
"Bread and Water" - Impressionable Gabriela, 17, is smitten with Raul, a young man working with her father. "The weather changed almost as fast as the human heart."
"Spirit Women" - Can the spirits help heal Tonia from the pain of having helped deliver the baby of her boyfriend's wife?
"Ol Lady Renteria - Perspective is different from another's point of view, and from a different time in life.
"Confession" -- Naive 8th grader, Big Boy, spends 6 months in juvie, and at his mother's insistence becomes an altar boy afterwards so the Priest, who seems less than a perfect specimen, can be his mentor.
Last story, "Enemy Lines" good final story subject wise as about a woman dying and hallucinating about the son she had to give up. Surprise twist at the end.
Want to read
February 24, 2010Author Stella Pope Duarte's award-winning story collection, Women Who Live in Coffee Shops and Other Stories, offers a glimpse into the lives of characters living on the meanest streets in Phoenix.
Praise for the work of Stella Pope Duarte:
"Duarte's writing is laced with anguish and desperation and brings to life the grime and sleaze of Juárez."
—Publishers Weekly on If I Die in Juárez
"Duarte's first novel is an inspirational road book full of energetic Latinos exorcising their cultural, political, and personal demons."
—Library Journal on Let Their Spirits Dance
Praise for the work of Stella Pope Duarte:
"Duarte's writing is laced with anguish and desperation and brings to life the grime and sleaze of Juárez."
—Publishers Weekly on If I Die in Juárez
"Duarte's first novel is an inspirational road book full of energetic Latinos exorcising their cultural, political, and personal demons."
—Library Journal on Let Their Spirits Dance
March 26, 2013
stella is an intense writer and is, at times, overwhelming. i did not finish her 'if i die in juarez' due to its intensity. women is a book of short stories centered around a ghetto barrio in south phoenix. the stories are all told from perspectives about different members of the community including a mother, several (female) children, a homeless woman and a young single woman. the different stories in this book are really interesting, well written and have great characters. i felt that the stories got a little weaker towards the end of the book, which is what is keeping me from a 5th star.
June 24, 2012
This was a collection of short stories about what most people would say are the "working poor" of Phoenix. Duarte's writing brings Phoenix to life and reminds us all how it feels to live in Phoenix.
April 12, 2011
Like all collections of short stories Women Who Live in Coffee Shops had it's ups and it's downs, but overall was a very good read.
April 29, 2013
Interesting look at Hispanic woman. The author came here she was very dynamic and I appreciated the book more after I heard her speak. If one has a chance to hear her do it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews