Product Description

Written with an undercurrent of magical realism, and spiced with the flavors that linger long in the memory, these tales from Tecate--along the dusty strip of the Baja California border--evoke a wondrous place where roosters crow in Spanish, affection is spontaneous, and water, if it so chooses, can flow uphill . . . .
"These tales charm as they traverse a happy, well-observed life. The scenery is vigorous Californian-Mexican. The road signs crackle with whimsy, pride, and mystery."
--Kelvin Christopher James
Author of JUMPING SHIP AND OTHER STORIES

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1866820 in Books
• Published on: 1994-08-16
• Released on: 1994-08-16
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.50" h x .75" w x 5.50" l, .78 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 276 pages

From Publishers Weekly
So close to the border that a gusty wind will send Sra. Mendoza's laundry flying illegally into the U.S., Tecate, Mexico, is a dusty little town where a group of regulars meet on the square to swap stories and watch life stroll by. "I live behind the adobe curtain and I bring you a plate full of chismes. In your country you call them tales." In his debut story collection, this filmmaker and citizen of Tecate, describes small-town life in a place where "what goes up stays up and water runs uphill." But the author wisely steers away from magic realism and concentrates instead on the charm and eccentricities of the characters. In "Of Time and Circumstances," a harried Los Angeles filmmaker longs to meet the funny, erudite attorney, "El Gato," who's helping him buy land in Tecate. But when he finally gets to town, no one will let him meet the man. Mysterious circumstances in "The Miracle" have a number of ranchers wondering why their workers aren't showing up for work and why they're dressed entirely in new clothes. In "The Other Woman," submissive Claudia mourns her husband's waning attentions until she gets some tips from the other woman. As surprising as some of the stories are, they don't match the wit and spark of the book's prologue and epilogue; many of the characters are two-dimensional, and several stories run out of steam. Still, Reveles certainly has a way with words and needs just a little practice to perfect his chismes.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Filmmaker, entertainer, and screenwriter Reveles sandwiches nine courses of short stories between an appetizer preface and a postprandial epilog, spinning each yarn like a folksy retelling one might likely hear over the dinner table. Embued with delightful self-deprecating humor and O. Henry-like ironic twists, such as the monetary crisis that doubles as peripeteia in "Jeemy," these novellas deal with daily life in the Baja California border town of Tecate and its inhabitants, who reappear in successive tales. Absurd and often verging on the nonsensical, the stories don't explain the events except by rationalizing that "we don't control our culture, it controls us." These entertaining pieces transcend pure multicultural parameters. Highly recommended.
Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Tijuana and tacos couldn't begin to sum up the magical, mystical place south of the border served up in these nine novelas. The collection tells tales of Tecate, Baja California, a town where everybody connects with everybody and left-turn-only lanes lead to nowhere. But residents hardly notice, as they are busy living, loving, and solving world problems at the corner caf{‚}e. "The Aperitivo" whets the appetite for Reveles' Mexico, a place full of love, laughter, irony, and tears, populated not by stereotypical muchachos but by fascinating characters who welcome the serendipitous and the miraculous into their lives. In "The Miracle," farmhands are blessed with a bottomless, miraculous source of food, clothing, and mezcal--and no motivation to work. Harvest can only be saved with the help of Do{¤}na Lala, the local sorceress, who shows what can happen if you don't believe. "The Day the Duck Sang" is an astounding fable of marriage and human nature, and one woman's inspired use of magic to save her family. And in the seriocomic "The Man in White," the town discovers that Rodolfo Fernandez's word is irrevocable, even when keeping it causes slightly absurd situations and a lifetime of sacrifice and heartache. These are picante stories, full of zest and bite, exposing the human condition with a uniquely Latin American blend of comedy and magic. Feast your eyes and enjoy. Deanna Larson-Whiterod