The Short Stories of Fray Angelico Chavez

by Angélico Chávez, Angelico M. Padilla, Anglico Chavez

Book Overview

Fray Ang lico Ch vez (1910-1996) was one of New Mexico's leading men of letters, and this anthology is the first collection of his fiction to be published since 1957. These stories, dismissed in the past as quaint and charming, actually represent the same serious cultural and socio-historical concerns that marked Ch vez's more recent nonfiction. Although largely social allegories, they are also humorous evocations of life in New Mexico from colonial...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082630950X
• ISBN13: 9780826309501
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 159 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

History-in-Fiction of the New Mexico people and their struggles

This edition does not collect all of Chavez's stories, but it does contain the full contents of both of Chavez's earlier collections, with some uncollected stories added in. In these stories, Chavez writes a history of his beloved New Mexico people, telling of how their proud Spanish heritage and God's blessing helps them through difficult times. Chavez may or not be a Chicano writer -- partly because New Mexicans were only briefly part of Mexico and partly because Chavez sees them as bearers of their Spanish lineage -- but he is certainly an important writer in the New Mexico literary tradition (Momaday, Silko, Castillo, Vea, et al.), especially as he uses his stories to combat early 20th century Anglo racism against Latinos. He is also an interesting Christian writer (he was a Franciscan priest and historian), weaving Spanish mysticism into his stories and connecting New Mexico itself with the Holy Land.