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Stories from the Border of Mexico and America
By flashgordonweb | August 31, 2008
Imaginary Lines: Stories of Physical, Cultural, and Culinary Frontiers
National borders are abstract lines that take root as physical barricades and divides. Cultural differences create people whose differences from others stem entirely from their minds. Lovers, societies and families are bound together with bonds as fragile and ephemeral as the mooring lines of great ships. And inside each person is a map or similar boundaries, frontiers, and alliances. This book turns the visible differences at the border of two nations into a mirror, a metaphor for the human condition.
When these stories first appeared in San Diego periodicals, Baja Week and Harpers, they were acclaimed as more than just “border fiction” by writer friends: critics praised the blending of Linton Robinson’s craftsmanship and transparent style with Ana Maria Corona’s clear-eyed witness and charming voice. Now they are collected in book format for readers outside of the border area… but within the eternal no-man’s land of their humanity.
Lines and shades shift, blur and disappear as gigolos, street hustlers, gamblers, smugglers, pioneers, magicians, and members of Ms. Corona’s large, border-straddling family illustrate the blending influences of food, love, family, and time. Cooking becomes another sort of metaphor in several of these pieces, sex and love take on mirror-image qualities in others. Did Mexican women and chile peppers conquer the world by being plundered and consumed? Is “Magical Realism” real? Or even magical? Is the difference between American and Mexico best seen in the difference between sheep and goats? Can a gigolo love and be loved in return? Can a matador or cockfighter love his family through bloodshed? What do illegal maids think when they are cleaning your bedroom? What do men do in those dins of iniquity?
Read more about Imaginary Lines: Stories of Physical, Cultural, and Culinary Frontiers here.
Topics: Culture, Food, Books |
