Synopsis: THE GREAT TAMALE WAR AND OTHER TALES

The twenty short stories are set in Oaxaca, Mexico and the Hispanic Southwest, namely Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. The cultural similarities are underlined in poignant and often humorous narratives of family life, intergenerational relationships and the universal sense of longing for community. The style is direct and unadorned; yet the characters are etched in one�fs memory long after the reading. Pachamama, the aging hippie, Carlos, the ballet dancer in exile, Dona Marta and her bilingual parrot; the grandmother laid out in pink chiffon and rhinestones far from her kitchen and apron; these are only some of the personalities sculpted in the book. It is bilingual in Spanish and English with parallel text on facing pages with a CD which narrates four of the stories in both languages.

It is literature sabrosa; also efficient for language learning. The stories are brief and accessible for readers in both English and Spanish.

All the proceeds from the book go to two nonprofits. One is a day labor center in Denver, Colorado called El Centro Humanitario Para Trabajadores. The purpose of this center is to protect mostly undocumented workers from unscrupulous employers . The proceeds also go to a shelter in Oaxaca, Mexico called La Estancia Fraternidad. The Shelter houses the poorest of the poor whose family members are patients in the General Hospital. The cost, if they can pay, is less than a dollar a day.