ISBN 1-931010-00-5
144 pp. | paper only | $13.00

fiction by Ricardo Pimentel

Señor and Señora Gaeta have seven daughters with the first name María, so they joyously welcome the birth of a son, Ruti. But a freak accident when he is five leaves Ruti retarded. In their small Mexican village, tradition and superstition direct the course of daily life, and Ruti becomes the village outcast, more at home with animals than people, except for his family, which he staunchly defends. The vicious attempted rape of his favorite sister, María María, forces the family to move to the United States, where they settle in San Bernardino, California. Here the Gaeta family struggles to assimilate to life in the barrio during World War II. Their experiences reflect those of a generation of Mexican immigrants welcomed as cheap labor and yet hated and mistrusted as outsiders.

Ricardo Pimentel was born in San Bernardino, California. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in California, Washington, D.C., and Arizona and is currently a columnist for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix. His first novel was House With Two Doors (1997), also published by Bilingual Press.