The Latin Deli: Prose and Poetry - Hardcover

Cofer, Judith Ortiz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820315567 ISBN 13: 9780820315560

Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr, 1993

Synopsis

Reviewing her novel, The Line of the Sun, the New York Times Book Review hailed Judith Ortiz Cofer as "a writer of authentic gifts, with a genuine and important story to tell." Those gifts are on abundant display in The Latin Deli, an evocative collection of poetry, personal essays, and short fiction in which the dominant subject―the lives of Puerto Ricans in a New Jersey barrio―is drawn from the author's own childhood. Following the directive of Emily Dickinson to "tell all the Truth but tell it slant," Cofer approaches her material from a variety of angles.

An acute yearning for a distant homeland is the poignant theme of the title poem, which opens the collection. Cofer's lines introduce us "to a woman of no-age" presiding over a small store whose wares―Bustelo coffee, jamon y queso, "green plantains hanging in stalks like votive offerings"―must satisfy, however imperfectly, the needs and hungers of those who have left the islands for the urban Northeast. Similarly affecting is the short story "Nada," in which a mother's grief over a son killed in Vietnam gradually consumes her. Refusing the medals and flag proferred by the government ("Tell the Mr. President of the United States what I say: No, gracias."), as well as the consolations of her neighbors in El Building, the woman begins to give away all her possessions The narrator, upon hearing the woman say "nada," reflects, "I tell you, that word is like a drain that sucks everything down."

As rooted as they are in a particular immigrant experience, Cofer's writings are also rich in universal themes, especially those involving the pains, confusions, and wonders of growing up. While set in the barrio, the essays "American History," "Not for Sale," and "The Paterson Public Library" deal with concerns that could be those of any sensitive young woman coming of age in America: romantic attachments, relations with parents and peers, the search for knowledge. And in poems such as "The Life of an Echo" and "The Purpose of Nuns," Cofer offers eloquent ruminations on the mystery of desire and the conflict between the flesh and the spirit.

Cofer's ambitions as a writer are perhaps stated most explicitly in the essay "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria." Recalling one of her early poems, she notes how its message is still her mission: to transcend the limitations of language, to connect "through the human-to-human channel of art."

About this title

About the Author

Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952―2016), a native of Puerto Rico, was a long-time professor of English at the University of Georgia and the author of many books including The Latin Deli, Silent Dancing, and The Line of the Sun.

From Kirkus Reviews

A compassionate, delicate rendering of Puerto Rican life in America--told in poetry and 15 short stories--as Cofer continues to explore territory first described in her debut novel, The Line of The Sun (1989). In ``El Building,'' a noisy barrio tenement teeming with life in Paterson, New Jersey, the joys and tragedies of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood unfold in separate vignettes. Young love is nipped in the bud by mothers protecting their studious sons from dark-skinned neighbors (``American History'' and ``Advanced Biology''), while the fragile relationship between a girl and her father appears in several variations, as in ``Not for Sale,'' where parental tyranny over a 16-year-old's willfulness is transformed by a disturbing encounter with Middle Eastern traditions. Grandparents and siblings are portrayed from the same forgiving perspective, but in addition to loving family portraits, sharply etched sketches of women in crisis also emerge. In ``Coraz˘n Caf‚,'' the young widow of a deli owner mourns his sudden death by recalling the innocent romance the two of them had on ``the Island,'' finding in the recollection--and realization that she has become a vital member of the Paterson community--the strength to carry on without him. A darker side of immigrant life surfaces in ``Nada,'' however, when a mother's loss of her only son in Vietnam, shortly after the death of her husband, unhinges her: she gives away all she owns, throwing the remainder out the window in a frenzy, before killing herself. With the poetry accenting and enhancing themes revealed in the prose: a remarkably cohesive, moving collection--a tribute both to Cofer's considerable talent and her heritage. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0820315567
• ISBN 13: 9780820315560
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 172