The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories, by Manuel Ramos
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The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories, by Manuel Ramos
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Legend has it that Pancho Villa s grave was robbed and his head stolen in 1926. A gringo is credited with the theft, but Gus Corral s great-grandfather was there too. As often happens to Chicanos, his role was given short shrift. But the Corral family has taken care of the skull for as long as Gus can remember. It s a jolt when Panchito is stolen from his sister s house. It s the only connection to the old-timers of the family, so Gus knows he will have to get to the bottom of the disappearance, even if it means tangling with thieves and thugs.A variety of characters writers, attorneys, Vietnam vets, cops, soldiers populate these stories in which situations frequently aren t what they seem. An old man knows more about the disappearance of a neighbor than he lets on. A barber is involved in something that brings a ski-mask wearing, gun-toting hoodlum into his shop. And a cop accused of using excessive force hasn t told his family the whole truth. Many stories in this gripping collection feature Mexican Americans struggling with their circumstances as an ethnic minority in the United States. Others cover historical events, from the Mexican Revolution to an encounter with Jack Kerouac. All spotlight Ramos artistry and dexterity as he shifts from noir to historical and even ficcion rapida, or flash fiction. Spanning his acclaimed writing career, this volume includes Ramos first story published in 1986, White Devils and Cockroaches, which features an attorney who served as the prototype for Luis Montez, the protagonist in five of his award-winning novels. Manuel Ramos has a well-earned reputation for writing gritty stories about Latinos, stories that grab you by the throat. The richness of Ramos' work is evident in The Skull of Pancho Villa, a collection of previously published short stories. They range from an encounter with the mythical La Llorona to the rescue of a shoeshine boy by Jack Kerouac. The characters are a collection of seedy lawyers, drug dealers, hired hands, writers and ordinary people. The stories are clever and sometimes funny, but their real strength is the way they capture today's Latinos the talk and humor, the swagger and irony. The stories bring to life the contemporary culture of north Denver, the Southwest and Mexico. Ramos has a rich voice. He nails it.The Denver Post
The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories, by Manuel Ramos - Amazon Sales Rank: #468143 in Books
- Published on: 2015-03-31
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.40" h x .60" w x 5.40" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 208 pages
The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories, by Manuel Ramos Review The Godfather of Chicano noir hits us hard with this collection. Great range, dark visions, and lots of mojo much of it bad to the bone. A fine book! --Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Into the Beautiful NorthA very impressive debut. --Los Angeles Times on The Ballad of Rocky RuizA seamlessly entertaining novel. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Blues for Buffalo
About the Author MANUEL RAMOS is the recipient of several literary awards and the author of numerous novels, including Desperado: A Mile High Noir (Arte Publico Press, 2013), King of the Chicanos (Wings Press, 2010), Brown-on-Brown: A Luis Montez Mystery (University of New Mexico Press, 2003) and The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz (St. Martin s Press, 1993; Northwestern University Press, 2004), an Edgar Award finalist. He lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Chicano noir...and more! By Si Dunn Seemingly mundane moments in life quickly spin out of control in this engaging collection of short stories. And Manuel Ramos frequently comes up with some surprising endings for his tales.Some of his short stories can be labeled “Chicano noir.” They get dark and gritty as they move along through the struggles and ragged edges of Mexican-American life in the United States. Meanwhile, other stories in the collection explore different themes, such as the thoughts of a young Mexican-American soldier as he lays dying in Vietnam, and what happens when a Mexican-American shoeshine boy gets pulled into a barroom fight and is defended by the writer Jack Kerouac.In this collection, Ramos's stories are entertaining and easily accessible at a universal level. And he writes with a smooth clarity that looks simple on the page, yet is very difficult for most authors to achieve.(My thanks to Arté Público Press for providing a review copy.)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Variety Pack By Mark Stevens The Skull of Pancho Villa And Other Stories is a full-flavor variety pack of styles and moods. One story might pack a punch, the next might move your heart.This collection is a Manuel Ramos master class in effortless, engaging prose—no pretensions, all story. The scenes are frequently downbeat—but not all. The characters hang or thrive on the fringes and in the shadows—but not all. Most are set in Denver—but not all. L.A. shows up and El Paso, too. Most of these stories move in a world of green chile and sausage sandwiches, bar tops and back alleys, Tecates and Coronas.A few examples:In “No Hablo Inglés,” disbarred lawyer Manolo is hungover in a town he hates “but that wasn’t El Paso’s fault. I hated myself and that meant I hated wherever I woke up.” Manolo’s world is about to go south.In “White Devils and Cockroaches,” González is “damn good legal aid lawyer” but finds himself representing “crazies, weirdos, misfits, losers and plain folks who got taken.” His latest client works as a dishwasher at the White Spot. González, in short, is not the slick wolf of Wall Street. He’s the scraggly coyote of Capitol Hill—and he’s pretty damn close to his breaking point.“When the Air Conditioner Quit” (funniest short story title ever?) starts with a gunshot but that isn’t the only violence in this taut seven-page story of street rules, deception and nasty surprises.There are 23 three stories in four sections—Basic Black, Outlaws, Lovers and Chicanismo. One of the 23 is a poem (“The Smell of Onions”) but It starts with a line that is pure short story: “Shorty stumbled from the Rainbow Inn/Jenny would give him hell again.” That is a great opening couplet with a wonderful rhyme: and how can you not read more?I particularly enjoyed Ramos’ first-person stories, like the whole chunk (Chapter 5) from “Desperado—A Mile High Noir” that is a stand-alone tale in the title story here, “The Skull of Pancho Villa.” In first-person mode, Ramos goes into ultra-glide mode with his prose, so smooth and unassuming and laid-back. “You’ve heard the story, maybe read something about it in the newspaper or a magazine. How Pancho Villa’s grave was robbed in 1926 and his head taken.” This one is rife with the wry humor of Gus Corral, who may or may not be telling the truth.Many of the stories contain a few delectable noir touches, like this one from "If We Had Been Dancing:"“She licked the wet edge of her glass with a tiny pink tongue and did a move with her shoulders that could have been a dance step, if we had been on the dance floor, if we had been dancing.”Ramos makes it look easy.There’s no way to wrap these stories in one box with a neat bow, and that will keep you turning the pages. Some feature writers and lawyers (particularly in the “Bad Haircut Day,” a wonderful tale of street ethics) from mainstream society and several are creative, brisk sketches that show a poet’s heart. But when Gus Corral turns to the audience for a comment in “The Skull of Pancho Villa,” he sums up the feeling I get from many of the stories in this anthology, which gathers gems from nearly 20 years of Ramos’ works.“Okay,” says Corral, “right about now you’re thinking, call the cops, Gus. Don’t be a pendejo. Let the law handle it. But see, you don’t live in my world, man. Where I come from, the cops aren’t your first line of defense. You didn’t grow up constantly squaring off against cabrones like Jessie. You never had to accept that every lousy week another clown would challenge your manhood and you would have to beat or be beaten.”True fact—I don’t live in these worlds. But Ramos is our tour guide. And for that we can all be thankful. With extra hot green chile on top.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Revolutionaries, Jack Kerouac, and Killers By Mona AlvaradoFrazier Some unusual characters (Jack Kerouac, vets, cops, soldiers, tagger) show up in Manuel Ramos most interesting short story collection, including a mystery about the theft and subsequent whereabouts of Pancho Villa's head.I've enjoyed Ramos' four fiction and mystery/noir novels, so I was eager to read this collection. From the legend of La Llorona, and the robbery of Pancho Villa's grave in 1926 to the contemporary stories of a cop, burned-out attorney, a screenwriter, and gentrified neighborhoods, these stories capture the history, culture and language of the Chicano/Mexican in the U.S., specifically set in Denver, Colorado.The stories range from 'flash fiction,' to longer pieces and short or not, they all pack a scene with authenticity and interest.A copy of this collection was sent to me for an honest review by Arte Público Press.
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