Piri Thomas

In this collection of short stories, Piri Thomas (author of the bestselling autobiography, Down These Mean Streets) gives readers of all ages a vivid slice of the life in El Barrio--a place where people face their problems with energy, ingenuity and love. He draws vivid stories from his past experiences and makes us feel what it means to be poor and proud and generous; to be streetwise and full of bravado but frightened, too; to struggle to go straight; to be ashamed of being ashamed; to dream. Speaking in the voice of the streets and from his heart, Piri captures the spirit, the laughter and the hope of his people."Stories From El Barrio is a crystal clear reflection of the general facet of Piri Thomas's literary power. It is tender, powerfully compassionate, humanely provocative." Claude Brown, author of Manchild in the Promised Land"Piri has kept the secret of our survival close to his heart all these years, and now he gives it back...Poor we were, but deprived? -you've got to be kidding. Ask Piri." Ossie Davis, playwright, actor, activist"Piri has written a book we can all share. The power, tenderness, toughness and the caring are all there..." Nikki Giovanni, author of Racism 101.

Thirty years ago Piri Thomas made literary history with this lacerating, lyrical memoir of his coming of age on the streets of Spanish Harlem. Here was the testament of a born outsider: a Puerto Rican in English-speaking America; a dark-skinned morenito in a family that refused to acknowledge its African blood. Here was an unsparing document of Thomas's plunge into the deadly consolations of drugs, street fighting, and armed robbery--a descent that ended when the twenty-two-year-old Piri was sent to prison for shooting a cop.As he recounts the journey that took him from adolescence in El Barrio to a lock-up in Sing Sing to the freedom that comes of self-acceptance, faith, and inner confidence, Piri Thomas gives us a book that is as exultant as it is harrowing and whose every page bears the irrepressible rhythm of its author's voice. Thirty years after its first appearance, this classic of manhood, marginalization, survival, and transcendence is available in an anniversary edition with a new Introduction by the author.

An exploration of Latino-Caribbean literature written in the United States. Writers whose works are examined include: Julia Alvarez; Judith Ortiz Cofer; Victor Hernandez Cruz; Franklin Gutierrez; Cristina Garcia; Oscar Hijuelos; Carolina Hospital; Rosario Morales; and others.