Rudolfo A. Anaya

""Alburquerque" is a rich and tempestuous book, full of love and compassion, the complex and exciting skullduggery of politics, and the age-old quest for roots, identity, family."--John Nichols, author of "The Milagro Beanfield War"

Alburquerque

Liv Rockwell

Anaya's writing astounds. the language sweeps across the page like a wave, and you as a reader are brought in and out like a tide. Leaving this book is hard, not because I felt connected to the characters or the plot, but because I never wanted to step out from his ocean. 

Yet, I did. This is my second Anaya novel I have finished. Undeniably talented, this novel weaves personal growth, identity, and politics into a narrative about a boy discovering he is adopted. Anaya paints a beautiful picture of New Mexico here, depicting the mesh of Mexican, Spanish, and Pueblo Native American history that make up the city. It made me miss New Mexico all the more. 

That being said, the plot felt flat and I did not feel connected to the characters. So, upon leaving this book I was sad to leave but it's not a story that will take permanent residence in my memory. Life will go on and this book will leave my mind too.

Rudolfo Anaya

From the bestselling author of Bless Me, Ultima, the absorbing story of an adopted Mexican-American boxing champion’s quest for identity. Abrán González always knew he was different. Called a coyote because of his fair skin, the kid from Barelas found escape through boxing and became one of the youngest Golden Gloves champs. But the arrival of a letter from a dying woman turns his entire life into a lie. The revelation that he was adopted makes him feel like an orphan and sends him on a quest to find his birth father. With the help of his girlfriend, Lucinda, and Joe, a Vietnam veteran, Abrán begins a journey that hurls him from the barrio into a world of greed and political corruption spearheaded by Abrán’s manager, Frank Dominic, a con artist running for mayor with visions of building El Dorado on the Rio Grande. Rich in spirituality, and taking its title from the original spelling of the city’s name, Alburquerque casts a light on the importance of ancestry while cutting across class and ethnic lines to tell a story of hope and displacement, love and regret, and the power of identity.

Alburquerque

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