Stories filled with wonder and the haunting beauty of his culture have helped make Rudolfo Anaya the father of Chicano literature in English, and his tales fairly shimmer with the lyric richness of his prose. Acclaimed in both Spanish and English, Anaya is perhaps best loved for his classic bestseller ... Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people, and discover himself in the pagan past, in his father's wisdom, and in his mother's Catholicism. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world-and will nurture the birth of his soul.
This book has been chosen by Vicki for the Folk and Fairy Tale Genre.
Bless Me, Ultima is the first book on The Big Read's list of must-read books.
The Book Snobs Gathering
The Snobs gathered at Vicki's house on Monday, October 26. We began with Tequila Sunrises followed by dinner of chicken enchiladas, lime black beans, jicama salad and chocolate-cayenne mousse.
Reviews of this book were mixed. Some of the Snobs really enjoyed it and others thought it wasn't very interesting. We discussed the conflicts between Catholicism and traditional Hispanic culture. We also discussed the changes that the World Wars of the early twentieth century brought to America.
