Eat the Mouth That Feeds You
گزارش تخلف
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
January 25, 2021
Fragoza’s debut collection delivers expertly crafted tales of Latinx people trying to make sense of violent, dark realities. Magical realism and gothic horror make for effective stylistic entryways, as Fragoza seamlessly blurs the lines between the corporeal and the abstract. In “Lumberjack Mom,” the narrator’s father nearly destroys the family’s beloved lime tree, and her distraught mother takes up a ruthless form of landscaping. In “Sabado Gigante,” a young man competes on a variety show in hopes of leaving his family’s past behind him. Fragoza’s characters are earnest while remaining complicated and conflicted. They speak to diverse immigrant experiences, stand up to patriarchal structures, and ground themselves in hope for a better future. In one of the most effective stories, “Tortillas Burning,” the protagonist describes her state of poverty with depth and clarity: “There’s a way to make room for hunger, to hold it, embrace it. But this was a lonely hunger, the kind that separates you from others, and that’s what hurts the most.” With haunting prose and an aptitude for the surreal, Fragoza emerges as a distinctive voice.
March 15, 2021
This collection of visceral, often bone-chilling stories centers the liminal world of Latinos in Southern California while fraying reality at its edges. This slim volume's brevity belies its heavy punch, with a focus on each character's often violent yearning to exist on their own terms. The title story is unforgettable in its horror, with a young mother who allows herself to be physically consumed by her young daughter: "She asks me things I don't know how to answer. She accuses me of things that don't make sense." "The Vicious Ladies" splays open the intricate, insidious inner politics of female gangs in Los Angeles, with the narrator a seemingly unwilling participant, a so-called "smart" girl who was drawn into the Vicious Ladies' web in middle school and who has ideas beyond the parties and mini drug empire she continues to participate in. It is the Ladies' leader, Samira, who exposes the narrator's double standards and the darkness of her true self. The crown jewel of the collection is "Ini Y Fati," in which Ini, a long-dead child, saves the life of F�tima, who's been struck by lightning, wanting a playmate to alleviate her immortal boredom. The girls' innocent fun turns foreboding as Ini slowly reveals her history, rooted in patriarchal violence, to Fati, who begins to notice sharp glimmers of that same darkness in her own home. At times utterly fantastical but deeply rooted in lived experience, these stories will reach a hand inside and yank out your insides--in the best way. Full of horror and wonder.
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