Snapping Lines: Stories (Camino Del Sol)

By Jack Lopez

A construction worker takes up with the pregnant daughter of an acquaintance and finds he doesn't control the relationship as much as he thinks he does . . . A couple searches for a lost dog along the beach because the dog is more important than their relationship . . . A drunken man picks up a girl hitchhiker and remembers what it once felt like to have feelings for someone else . . . What does it mean to be male in a world in which old borders no longer exist? How can a man have a relationship if he doesn't even know who he is--and what better way to find out than by committing to a woman? Snapping Lines brings familiar and new stories together in a collection that explores the lives of loners searching for love. Jack Lopez writes about people who have adopted a stoical indifference to a world in which they always seem to find themselves on the losing end. These stories explore Latino male identity and the forces that shape it: friends, family, and lovers; culture, place, and relationships. They focus on men--often working men in the building trades--who construct their lives through their work and live in perpetual limbo because they don't know who they are. Men who stumble onto the relationships they need almost by accident. Men who try to control their relationships but fail. Written in spare, electric language and energized by memorable scenes, these stories enlighten as much as they entertain. When you have read Snapping Lines, you will come to see the faces of strangers in new and familiar ways.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816520763
• ISBN13: 9780816520763
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 137 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great collection

If you enjoy stories by the likes of Carver, this book is definitely for you. These stories are like quiet explosions, sneaking up on you with a surprising punch, even though the language is spare and low-key. The segues are a particular treat, tying the stories together into a coherent whole. More than just a collection, this book is a complete piece of work that works together beautifully. "La Luz" and "A Place in France" are my best picks.