...,......------:':"---:~":::'- .....--------------------------- .....------------~-~~--------~-B6 THE SUNDAY JOURNAL BOOKS ALBUQUERQUE, MARCH n,2018

Words to live byA piece of timely advice from Rudolfo Anaya setsaward-winning writer Luis Alberto Urrea on his life's course

rBY DAVID STEINBERGFOR THE JOURNAL

Author Luis Alberto Urrea has takenadvice from Albuquerque's RudolfoAnaya, and it's paid off.

"He was one ofthe first celebrityauthors I'd met, and he told me if you canmake your abuelito in Tijuana the grand-mother of a reader in Iowa or in Chicago,then you have committed the most profoundpolitical and religious act," Urrea said in aphone interview. "I just loved that. That'sbeen one of my prime writing rules foreverything."

"Everything" includes "Nobody's Son,"which won an American Book Award; "TheDevil's Highway," which was a finalist forthe 2007Pulitzer Prize; "The Hummingbird'sDaughter" "Into the Beautiful North" and"The Hou;e ofBroken Angels," his ne~novel about an American family with rootsin northern Mexico. The book will appeal toanybody, really, not just Hispanics.

"Broken Angels" is a tender, sprawling,funny, violent family saga centered on aging,ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz,who lives in the fictional barrio Lomas Dora-das in San Diego.

He's nicknamed Big Angel, and thebreadth of his family influence would becomparable to that of Don Corleone, onlybenevolent and blue-collar.

The saga's scenes explore the intrtgues andaffections of a flock offamily members - sib-lings, children, grandchildren, cousins andeven his parents in La Paz, Baja California.The story also explores themes ofimmigra-tion, the ways there are to be an Americanand the power of culture as a reflection of

BOOK OF tHE WEEK REVIEW

identity and expressed through food andlanguage.

English is the dominant language ofthebook, but characters also drop in with phras-es of proper Spanish, street Spanish, "folksySpanish" and Spanglish,

Urrea said the character of Big Angel washeavily inspired by the death three years agoof his own big brother, Juan.

The scenario was the same as what thereader fmds in the book. "Juan had beenfighting cancer, and he knew he was goingto die, so his grandkids and nieces, the armyof young people who circulated around him,came out for his birthday. Like Big Angel,Juan knew what others suspected ~ thatthis would be his last birthday," the authorsaid.

Urrea's family fretted that it would be a sadevent. I!wasn't. "But Mexicanos, man. Musicand fiesta, and for some reason everyonewanted KFC and, of course, drink and joy. I!was just this overwhelming day of the good-ness of a family and people coming to termswith their histories and watching peoplethank my brother for all he had done," Urreasaid.

Juan died a week later.Big Angel passed seven days after his at-

home birthday party. After his death, Urreawrites, Big Angel's family would find the"details trailing any good story. Like tin canson the back bumper of a newlywed's car.

"Rattles and pings and wonderful smallmoments spinning in the wake of a greatlifi"e.

Urrea lives outside Chicago and is a distin-guished professor of creative writing at theUniversity ofIllinois-Chicago.

Luis AlbertoUrrea gives atalk about "TheHouse of BrokenAngels" at 7:30p.m. Tuesday,March 13, at theASNMSUCen-ter for the Arts. ---Urrea is New Lu,. AI.IlJ'RTC'tMexico State " _ RIAUniversity's ---spring keynote speaker. The event isfree. And at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March14, Urrea will speak at the KiMo The-atre, 423 Central NW. Tickets are $35for general seating and $45 preferredseating. Admission includes a signedhardcover copy of "The House ofBroken Angels." Tickets are availablein advance at Bookworks, 4022 RioGrande NW, at bkwrks.com or at thedoor.

Houn"BUKEN

AIGELS

BEST-SELLERSFICTION

1."An American Marriage," by Tayari Jones.Algonquin. .2."Asymmentry," by Lisa Hallida. Simon & Schuster.3."Liltle Fires Everywhere," by Celeste Ng. PenguinPress.

~-...,. 4."The Woman in the Window," by A.J. Finn. Morrow.5."The Great Alone," by Kristin Hannah. St. Martin's.6.liA Gentleman in Moscow," by Amor Towles. Viking.7."The Immortalists," by Chloe Benjamin. Putnam.8."Manhaltan Beach," by Jennifer Egan. Scribner.9."The Power," by Naomi Alderman. Littie, Brown.10."Stlll Me," by Jojo Moyes. Pamela Dorman Books.

NONFICTION

•• 1."Fire and Fury," by MichaeiWolff.Hoit.

2."12 Rules for Life," by Jordan B. Peterson. Random Housel',Qu."-l~~3."Educated," by Tara Westover. Random House.

4."Astrophysics for People in a Hurry," by NeilDegrasseTyson. Norton.5."The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***,"by Mark Manson.HarperOne.

6."Hillbilly Elegy," by J.D. Vance. Harper.7."Barking to the Choir," by Gregory Boyle. 5&5.8."The Healin9 Seit," by Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi. Harmony.9."Leonardo da Vinci," by Walter Isaacson. Simon & Schuster.10."Feel Free," by Zadie Smith. Penquin Press

.NEWMEXICO BOOK NOTESHistorical account detailsa slave's rise to power

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BOOKWORKS: LesliePeirce will read from"Empress of the East: How a

uropean Slave Girl BecameQueen of the Ottoman Empire" at 6p.m. Thursday, March 15.

Peirce tells the remarkable storyof a Christian slave girl, Roxelana,who was abducted by slave tradersfrom her Ruthenianhomeland and takento the harem ofSultan Suleymanthe Magnificent inIstanbul. Suleymanbecame besotted withher and foresworeall other concubines.Then, in an unprecedented step, hefreed her and married her. The boldand canny Roxelana soon became ashrewd diplomat and philanthropist,who helped Suleyman keep pacewith a changing world in whichwomen, from Isabella of Hungary toCatherine de Medici, increasinglyheld the reins of power.

Bookworks is at 4022 Rio GrandeBlvd. NW. Call 344-8139.

AT COLLECTED WORKS:Pam Roy, executive director of theSanta Fe nonprofit Farm-to-Table,will discuss why Santa Fe needsa food plan at 11 a.m. today. Roy iscoordinator of the city's Food PolicyCouncil. With Journey Santa Fehosts Alan Webber and Bill Dupuy.

Collected Works Bookstore is at 202Galisteo St., Santa Fe. Call 505-988-4226.

IN THE SID CUTTER PILOTS'PAVILION AT BALLOON FIESTAPARK: The 2018 AlbuquerqueAntiquarian Book Fair brings 31exhibitors from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Friday,March 16. and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Saturday, March 17.The fair featuresbooksellers from the Four Cornersstates (New Mexico, Arizona, Utahand Colorado) and California withsuch items as fine and collectiblebooks, art prints, autographed novelsand nonfiction books, postcards,maps, photographs and other printedcollectibles. A food truck will be onsite for lunch on Saturday.

Sid Cutter Pilots' Pavilion is at4900 Balloon Fiesta Parkway NE.Entry fee is $5 for both days, $2for Saturday only. See 345-1945 orabqbookfair.com.