El Deli Latino

by Cofer, Judith Ortiz

• ISBN13: 9780820328409
• ISBN10: 0820328405
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr

Summary

This is a Spanish-language edition ofThe Latin Deli, Judith Ortiz Cofer's prizewinning collection of short stories, personal essays, and poems. A work rich in longing, love, and remembrance,El deli latinoopens a door into the lives of the Puerto Rican immigrants who live in or near an urban New Jersey tenement known as "El Building." The book was selected by Rita Dove, Ashley Montague, and Henry Louis Gates Jr. to receive the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, which recognizes work that has made "important contributions to our understanding of racism or our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures."In the poem from which the book takes its title, a "woman of no-age" presides over a small store whose wares--Bustelo coffee, jamon y queso, "green plantains hanging in stalks like votive offerings"--must satisfy, however imperfectly, those who hunger for their island home. In the story "Nada," an anguished mother whose son has been killed in Vietnam refuses the consolation of her neighbors and the medals offered by the government ("Tell the Mr. President of the United States what I say: No, gracias."). Cofer's essay "The Paterson Public Library" recalls how, in books, she found refuge and solace from the outside world.El deli latinotranscends the particulars of the expatriate experience to speak universal truths about the mysteries of desire, the quest for knowledge, and the struggle to reconcile opposing selves.

Author Biography

Judith Ortiz Cofer is a Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia.

Table of Contents

Reconocimientos	xi
El deli latino: Un arte poética	3	(4)
Del Libro de los sueños en español: Cuentos y poemas
Historia de los Estados Unidos	7	(10)
No se vende	17	(7)
Twist and Shout	24	(2)
Traicionada por el amor	26	(5)
De «Algunos verbos en español»	31	(4)
Orar	31	(1)
Dividir	31	(2)
Respirar	33	(1)
Volar	34	(1)
Un misterio prematuro	35	(2)
Fiebre	37	(1)
La lección de la caña de azúcar	38	(1)
Una legión de ángeles oscuros	39	(1)
La niña cambiada por otra	40	(2)
Absolución en el Año Nuevo	42	(2)
Del Libro de los sueños en español	44	(1)
El esposo de la bruja	45	(8)
Nada	53	(12)
Carta desde una isla del Caribe	65	(2)
De guardia	67	(2)
El propósito de las monjas	69	(2)
El juego	71	(2)
La leeción de los dientes	73	(1)
Nunca envejecieron	74	(3)
Nada se desperdicia	77	(2)
Mujeres que aman Angeles	79	(1)
Para Abuelo, ahora desmemoriado	80	(3)
El sombrero de mi abuelo	83	(2)
La sangre	85	(1)
La vida de un eco	86	(1)
Juana: Una vieja historia	87	(1)
El lamento del campesino	88	(1)
Las Magdalenas	89	(1)
Olga	90	(1)
Onerido Joaquin	91	(2)
Lydia	93	(2)
Vida	95	(2)
Pacicncia	97	(2)
Viejas	99	(2)
El Café de Corazón	101	(28)
La carga de la médium: Otras narraciones y poemas
Cómo conseguir un bebé	129	(1)
Biologia avanzada	130	(10)
La Biblioteca Pública de Paterson	140	(6)
La historia de mi cuerpo	146	(14)
El camaleón	160	(1)
El mito de la mujer latina: Acabo de conocer a una chica llamada Maria	161	(8)
Santa Rosa de Lima	169	(2)
Contando	171	(1)
Sin palabras	172	(1)
¿Quién no sera derrotada7	173	(3)
Hipotecar el futuro	176	(1)
Para una hija a quien no puedo consolar	177	(1)
Aniversario	178	(2)
5:00 de la mañana: La escritura como ritual	180	(3)
La carga de la médium	183