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A Glass of Water
A Glass of Water is a gripping tale of family, loyalty, ambition, and revenge that offers an intimate look into the tragedies unfurling at our country’s borders. The first novel from award-winning memoirist, poet, and activist, Jimmy Santiago Baca, it is a passionate and galvanizing addition to Chicano literature.
The promise of a new beginning brings Casimiro and Nopal together when they are young immigrants, having made the nearly deadly journey across the border from Mexico. They settle into a life of long days in the chili fields, and in a few years their happy union yields two sons, Lorenzo and Vito. But when Nopal is brutally murdered, the boys are left to navigate life in this brave but capricious new world without her.
A Glass of Water is a searing, heartfelt tribute to brotherhood, and an arresting portrait of the twisted paths people take to claim their piece of the ever-elusive American dream.
The promise of a new beginning brings Casimiro and Nopal together when they are young immigrants, having made the nearly deadly journey across the border from Mexico. They settle into a life of long days in the chili fields, and in a few years their happy union yields two sons, Lorenzo and Vito. But when Nopal is brutally murdered, the boys are left to navigate life in this brave but capricious new world without her.
A Glass of Water is a searing, heartfelt tribute to brotherhood, and an arresting portrait of the twisted paths people take to claim their piece of the ever-elusive American dream.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
13 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Jimmy Santiago Baca
64 books194 followersJimmy Santiago Baca of Apache and Chicano descent is an American poet and writer.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 11, 2009
I love Jimmy Santiago Baca's poetry so, when I was walking around the book store today and, "A Glass of Water" caught my attention, I sat down for a quick sip. It didn't take long for me to decide to buy the book. This is his first novel (according to the jacket) and it is incredible. It was so engaging that I read it entirely in one sitting - a 4 hour drink to be exact.
I don't want to give any spoilers so I will be deliberately brief. The story is about two brothers whose divergent paths converge at the story's end. This 200 page work attests to Baca's powerful story-telling abilities.
His prose is even more enjoyable as it echoes Baca's passion and accomplishment as a skilled poet. There are moments in the story where the writing is lyrical and rich in details - something only a poet can do.
The story line tangentially details the plight of undocumented Mexicans and, if I have any regrets, they would be that the underlying story - the bigotry that so many Americans harbor against Mexicans was not delved into more deeply. For my part, the story is great but I was left wanting to know more. There are parts of the story that could have been expanded and elaborated upon quite a bit more without making the book unnecessarily long (eg. the brothers' childhood relationship, ancillary characters such as the man with nickle-tipped boots, the land owner, Carmen and her work, the concentration camps).
The story deals with tension, strife, romance, angst, violence, revenge intrigue, regret, rage and forces of compromise. While the protagonists' character development were sufficient to carry the story, their development was more reflective of the title; drinks that only left me thirsty. I wanted to know more.
I am not sure what the title has to do with the story and, at least for this reader, a drink was not enough.
This book could easily work out to be part of a series because, there remains so much more to tell.
I don't want to give any spoilers so I will be deliberately brief. The story is about two brothers whose divergent paths converge at the story's end. This 200 page work attests to Baca's powerful story-telling abilities.
His prose is even more enjoyable as it echoes Baca's passion and accomplishment as a skilled poet. There are moments in the story where the writing is lyrical and rich in details - something only a poet can do.
The story line tangentially details the plight of undocumented Mexicans and, if I have any regrets, they would be that the underlying story - the bigotry that so many Americans harbor against Mexicans was not delved into more deeply. For my part, the story is great but I was left wanting to know more. There are parts of the story that could have been expanded and elaborated upon quite a bit more without making the book unnecessarily long (eg. the brothers' childhood relationship, ancillary characters such as the man with nickle-tipped boots, the land owner, Carmen and her work, the concentration camps).
The story deals with tension, strife, romance, angst, violence, revenge intrigue, regret, rage and forces of compromise. While the protagonists' character development were sufficient to carry the story, their development was more reflective of the title; drinks that only left me thirsty. I wanted to know more.
I am not sure what the title has to do with the story and, at least for this reader, a drink was not enough.
This book could easily work out to be part of a series because, there remains so much more to tell.
Read
September 6, 2012In the description alone the phrase "ever-elusive" American Dream, but in this novel Santiago Baca's main characters, the two brothers who are the center of the novel, do achieve their so-called American Dream to the extent that such a thing can ever be said to be truly had.
Maybe I appreciate his honesty, his scathing critiques of our country while simultaneously giving his characters the wherewithall to claim their country and, if not to thrive in it, than to definitely find measures of success. He manages to address issues of immigration and invisibility in the community while at the same time this novel is not drudged down by ethnic cliches. There are no grandmothers or mangos or old men and the sea here. He doens't, as it's said, sit there claiming cultural breadcrubms but claims the entirety of Americanness, through his characters successes (and failures).
The story of the mother and father gives love and grief strong dimensions in the story and leverages the brothers' will to fight, literally in some cases.
I also enjoyed the farmowner character as well as Carmen, who allow us to view every character in alternate functions from those two brothers.
I loved it and think he did a great job with his first novel. I was enthralled until the last page and did not feel cheapened nor cheated by the ending.
Maybe I appreciate his honesty, his scathing critiques of our country while simultaneously giving his characters the wherewithall to claim their country and, if not to thrive in it, than to definitely find measures of success. He manages to address issues of immigration and invisibility in the community while at the same time this novel is not drudged down by ethnic cliches. There are no grandmothers or mangos or old men and the sea here. He doens't, as it's said, sit there claiming cultural breadcrubms but claims the entirety of Americanness, through his characters successes (and failures).
The story of the mother and father gives love and grief strong dimensions in the story and leverages the brothers' will to fight, literally in some cases.
I also enjoyed the farmowner character as well as Carmen, who allow us to view every character in alternate functions from those two brothers.
I loved it and think he did a great job with his first novel. I was enthralled until the last page and did not feel cheapened nor cheated by the ending.
February 13, 2010
This book had marvelous spots of prose ("As far as the eye could follow ran a continuous background of cottonwoods concealing the Rio Grande, a wall of leaves so dense that midday air was blue under it's canopy"), and a plot with a suprise twist, but I had trouble following the multiple POVs. They didn't quite patch together as well as, say, Sherrie Flick did in Reconsidering Happiness. I was at times confused, out of place in time, and wanted more of certain characters than others. Still, fans of Baca should give this a look.
August 8, 2024
This was easily one of the most well-written novels I've ever had the chance to read. It is written with such vivid imagery and detail that I feel I walk alongside the characters throughout the story. I thought the way that we still got little glimpses of the influence of the mother throughout the entire story was beautiful, intricate, and allowed for an additional glimpse into the thoughts and the minds of the characters. I highly recommend this book.
August 2, 2022
I thought this book was stunning. It tore open my heart and let me bleed. I loved how much depth the author placed into such a powerful tale. Great book.
March 30, 2023
Such Lyrical prose!
May 7, 2025
Not a big fan of this book. Non-memorable characters, but for 215 pages, can’t really complain. It was alright.
October 18, 2020
I liked this short novel, and I would say it is worth reading for anyone interested in understanding illegal immigrant families and some of the challenges they face. Though there are other, more compelling novels, on this subject, this one is a quick read.
The novel centers around a small family. Mexican-born parents, who enter the US illegally, and their two sons, both born in the US. They work for pitiful wages on a chili farm in southern New Mexico.
Their story, which touches on the many injustices and bigotry faced by immigrants and their children, can hardly be called representative though. The mother is murdered, the father suffers a paralyzing stroke (in his 30s); one of the sons is a boxer whose skill is compared with the likes of Mohammad Ali; the other son dabbles (pretty successfully) in the drug trade.
I found the story a bit contrived and the writing just a notch above mediocre. The author, however, is a passionate writer who cares deeply about this topic. Unfortunately for me, I was never really drawn in.
The novel centers around a small family. Mexican-born parents, who enter the US illegally, and their two sons, both born in the US. They work for pitiful wages on a chili farm in southern New Mexico.
Their story, which touches on the many injustices and bigotry faced by immigrants and their children, can hardly be called representative though. The mother is murdered, the father suffers a paralyzing stroke (in his 30s); one of the sons is a boxer whose skill is compared with the likes of Mohammad Ali; the other son dabbles (pretty successfully) in the drug trade.
I found the story a bit contrived and the writing just a notch above mediocre. The author, however, is a passionate writer who cares deeply about this topic. Unfortunately for me, I was never really drawn in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2014
I had heard of Jimmy Santiago Baca's poetry and this book caught my eye at the library. It was a quick read and filled with some really remarkable prose; there were many lines that I read two or three times in an attempt to commit them to memory. n. A Glass of Water examines the human toll of immigrant labor practices from the point of view of those inside the workforce, who believed in the myths of success and freedom only to realize too late that neither can be achieved because of a corrupt and exploitative labor system.
Similar to other readers, I struggled with the point of view shifts and the way that Baca bounced back and forth between different years and moments in time. I needed to go back to the first page of several chapters to remind myself if it was 2004 or 2008. I wish that Casimiro's character had been more developed before he had the stroke. I found Carmen to be rather two-dimensional (expected more of of who was apparently a very bright graduate student). She just wasn't a very believable character in my opinion. I also found the heavyweight championship boxing match hard to swallow--- there is simply no way that security at a venue as big as the Staples Center would allow the fight to escalate into a riot and a street brawl.
It was a good book, a sad book, and one that I can see being used in both English literature and Latin America history classes at the college level.
Similar to other readers, I struggled with the point of view shifts and the way that Baca bounced back and forth between different years and moments in time. I needed to go back to the first page of several chapters to remind myself if it was 2004 or 2008. I wish that Casimiro's character had been more developed before he had the stroke. I found Carmen to be rather two-dimensional (expected more of of who was apparently a very bright graduate student). She just wasn't a very believable character in my opinion. I also found the heavyweight championship boxing match hard to swallow--- there is simply no way that security at a venue as big as the Staples Center would allow the fight to escalate into a riot and a street brawl.
It was a good book, a sad book, and one that I can see being used in both English literature and Latin America history classes at the college level.
March 22, 2010
I think this was Baca's first novel. He writes more short stories and poetry. Anyway, my fella really likes him, being from New Mexico and all, so I originally brought the book home for him.
It's a very interesting story of a family and their progression through the years. The language was beautiful; you could tell Baca is a poet. I don't think I fully appreciated the actual words. Sometimes the stories are too interesting for me to pay attention to really beautiful, descriptive language. A lot of that gets missed on me because I'm speeding through to get to the outcome.
The novel was a bit disjointed. The focus moved around to different family members and also through time. I can't decide, however, if I liked that or not. Part of it may also have been the way I read it. Maybe if I had read it in larger chunks, it would have seemed more cohesive.
It's a very interesting story of a family and their progression through the years. The language was beautiful; you could tell Baca is a poet. I don't think I fully appreciated the actual words. Sometimes the stories are too interesting for me to pay attention to really beautiful, descriptive language. A lot of that gets missed on me because I'm speeding through to get to the outcome.
The novel was a bit disjointed. The focus moved around to different family members and also through time. I can't decide, however, if I liked that or not. Part of it may also have been the way I read it. Maybe if I had read it in larger chunks, it would have seemed more cohesive.
November 12, 2012
A Glass of Water is an important novel that should be read by all. It is a riveting story about the clash of ambition and loyalty, revenge and justice, as a family fights for survival and reinvents the American Dream. Mr. Baca boldly explores the brutal devastation of the U.S. immigration practices that are truly an atrocious affront to humanity. He shows this profoundly horrific reality without seeming predictable or didactic. It is a heartfelt and inspiring story about brotherhood and perseverance that will certainly stand the test of time. His descriptions are lyrical and his characters are full of passion and will reach you with a force so powerful you will forget you’re reading a book. Don’t start reading A Glass of Water if you have somewhere to be in the next few hours because you won’t be able to stop.
March 17, 2010
I enjoyed this book. Style of writing is almost prose-like. Living in an area where there is a good-sized Latino population, this book brings out my empathy for these people who are simply searching for a better life for themselves and their families. It is unfortunate for them that they do not know how to/choose not to/ or are unable to move to the U.S. in a legal manner. Each of the characters in the book just don't seem quite developed enough for me to give this book a "4" rating.
February 17, 2010
3.5 stars on this one. There were moving and beautifully written parts of this book. I felt like the character of the father was pretty typical disability-as-metaphorical-tragedy, though. However, Baca's poetic gifts shine in here, and there's some awesome stuff about oppression, resistance and community-building. It's a good, quick read.
August 21, 2010
I kept thinking that I want a friend who is a 2nd generation Mexican American to read the book so we could discuss the book in light of her personal experiences. I was uncomfortable with the level of anger in the book. Well written, but sometimes hard to follow who was narrating at times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2010
Fast read, I cant decide what bothered me about this book. Either that the characters were not as developed as I would have liked or that I didnt like what parts of them developed as??? I cant put my finger on it. That being said I liked this book. I must have since I couldnt put it down.
December 29, 2009
Gave up halfway in.....the writing was sparse and did not grab me the way I thought it would and OMG the cliche plot!!!! Two macho brothers fall for the same woman - come on!!
November 29, 2009
Great language and strongly human
February 4, 2010
I enjoyed this book. Current day fiction from a chicano/mexican immigrant point of view. Very interested and entertaining.
March 9, 2010
Another contribution to border literature. Very poetic, maybe overly so. A fresh, sympathetic approach to the problems of migrant labor in the Southwest.
January 10, 2013
I am currently reading and love the language and the flow of the book!
June 4, 2010
Another small gem! This book was about a Hispanic family and their pursuit of the American Dream. Or Not.
This book will break your heart; but worth the read. Beautifully written prose!
This book will break your heart; but worth the read. Beautifully written prose!
September 15, 2010
This was a good read. Although it was fiction, it gave a raw look into the life of migrant workers in the southwest.
February 8, 2011
This tale of contemporary Mexican Americans affords Baca the platform from which he shows the dignity of struggle inherent in the lives of brown skinned people in the Southwest.
August 10, 2012
Great writing but a hard book to read, the lives of the characters are so harsh.
September 12, 2016
Hispanic illegals work their entire lives...have two sons who grow up to become landowners.
March 19, 2016
beautiful prose. pertinent topic. wished more people read this book.
January 19, 2013
Love his writing, but this wasn't my favorite.
April 2, 2013
Nice writing, insightful, sad.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews