Word: quinonez
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Julio ("Chino") Mercado, the narrator of Ernesto Quinonez's fine debut novel, Bodega Dreams (Vintage Books; 213 pages, $12), knows the projects of Spanish Harlem in New York City. So he also knows that the best way to survive them is to get out. He and his pregnant wife Blanca are putting themselves through college at night. Their goals are the usual ones: to get nice jobs, to buy a house...
...Quinonez knows this 'hood--readers may have to remind themselves that this is a work of fiction and not a memoir. His prose, detailed and passionate, brings the tale to life. Though operating from different moral bases, Chino and Bodega share the same dream: to make Spanish Harlem a neighborhood where moving up doesn't have to mean moving...