Happy Birthday Jesus - Softcover

Ruiz, Ronald L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1477692703 ISBN 13: 9781477692707

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012

Synopsis

Happy Birthday Jesús is an insightful and spell-binding novel of and about our times, when the relationship between race and violence dominates the news and threatens not only our personal security but our confidence in our social processes. This novel recreates the making of a sociopath. It is written by a criminal defense lawyer whose extensive experience has been representing individuals such as the protagonist Jesús Olivas. Whether Jesús is a victim or the bane of society is left to the reader’s judgment in this novel which details the painful recollections of Jesús himself. What is clear, however, is that the boiling pot of Jesús’ emotions that finally erupts in senseless violence has ben cooking for years on the flames of religious fanaticism, poverty and race hatred. All of the social institutions that should have nurtured and protected Jesús – family, school, church, the court – ultimately failed him, leading him to strike back uncontrollably, irrationally.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Ruiz’s successful probing into the anatomy of madness and despair combines a lyrical rendition of the most abject aspects of the human situation with keen irony.

About the Author:

After reading Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment at the age of 17, Ronald L. Ruiz says he knew he wanted to be a writer, but knew nothing about the craft. His first novel, Happy Birthday Jesús, was published 36 years later to good reviews. Ruiz practiced criminal law for over 36 years in California, and at the end of his legal career was the District Attorney of his county. One of only six Mexican-American lawyers in Northern California during his early years, he saw a transformation in the criminal justice system that would make anyone wonder whether there had been "progress." Appointed by California’s Governor to the Agriculture Labor Relations Board from 1976-1980, Ruiz saw first-hand the labor strife in California’s agricultural industry between César Chavez’s UFW and the growers. What he saw and experienced throughout his career serves as a basis for his writing. He always managed to find time to write while working and now retired, Ruiz continues to write every day, saying he feels fortunate to have found something in writing that sustains him.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1477692703
• ISBN 13: 9781477692707
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320