The Dark Side of the Dream - Hardcover

Grattan-Dominguez, Alejandro

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1558851402 ISBN 13: 9781558851405

Publisher: Arte Publico Pr, 1995

Synopsis

The Dark Side of the Dream is Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez's epic of immigration, war, labor organizing and the struggle for human rights by Mexican Americans.
To fulfill the dreams of their dying father, two brothers - Jose Luis and Francisco - set out with their young families to improve their futures in the surging economy of the U.S. during World War II. Jose Luis's family settles in an El Paso barrio to face the bitter reality of low wages and discrimination. Francisco becomes just another exploited farmworker in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
On this humble foundation, it is their children who build productive lives and participate in the grand process of not only transforming themselves but also the "nation of immigrants" as a whole. They stake their claims on the American Dream, proving themselves on European battlefields and later in advancing the struggle for civil and labor rights in factories, fields and schools.

About this title

About the Author

Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez was born in El Paso, Texas, the old-est son of an Irish father and a Mexican mother. After flunking out of college twice, he finally made good at Texas A& M, before going on to SMU, (a transfer he likens as going from a concentration camp to a luxury resort) where he earned a BA in English Litera-ture. Relocating to Los Angeles, he worked as a claims adjuster, and amused by the fact that so many claimants experienced miracu-lous recoveries after receiving a settlement check, he wrote up a short synopsis—which somehow found its way to the famed di-rector, Alfred Hitchcock, who over a very brief telephone call, en-couraged Grattan to make a movie based on the story. After two long years, he had done exactly that—and thus his career in the movie business was born. That career reached its zenith in 1979, when the filmmaker wrote, directed and co-produced the first major movie about the Mexican-American experience. The film, Only Once in a Lifetime, was invited to premier at the Kennedy Center, and later selected as one of a few films to represent the United States at the Deau-ville Film Festival in France. Thereafter, Grattan’s luck soured, as in his words, he developed a “reverse case of the Midas Touch.” Finally, figuring that if he could not change his luck, he would at least change his location, he moved in 1987 to Mexico. In 1988, he founded the Ajijic Writers’ Group (which still exists today), and began writing novels. The next several years saw the publication of seven novels, (most of which are on amazon). The screenplays he adapted from some of his books have won several awards at film/script competitions in Mexico and the United States. In 2007, he was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who in Mexico. For the past 17 years, Grattan has been the Editor-in-Chief of El Ojo del Lago (Chapala.com), the most widely-read English-language maga-zine in Mexico. His mother’s country has proved lucky for him.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arte Publico Pr
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1558851402
• ISBN 13: 9781558851405
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 434