In which a young Latina writes of her days growing up in Chicago.
It's a fine, if too-short, book -- less than 100 pages -- that's deceptively well written, and introduces you to a way of life perhaps seen but seldom understood by many in America. It talks of poverty, and of getting by and living in a culture different from the majority.
It's not really a novel but a series of vignettes the author uses to introduce us to her characters. In tight but evocative writing, with some of the most compelling metaphors I have seen, Cisneros explains their motivations and desires. She is sympathetic, realistic, and non-judgmental about their actions and their decisions.
She writes like she has lived their stories. Because she has.
This book is one of two I bought this past weekend at my local half-price bookstore. The other is also about people struggling as they grow up and live in poverty.
Carolyn Chute writes about rural poverty in Maine. I've read three of her novels, The Beans of Egypt, Maine, LeTourneau's Used Auto Parts, and The School on Heart's Content Road. All three were excellent. So I am looking forward to delving into Treat Us Like Dogs and We Will Become Wolves.
Heck, even if I weren't a fan, I would have bought the latter book for its title alone.
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