What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth: A Memoir of Brotherhood (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780299316907)

Burdened by poverty, illiteracy, and vulnerability as Mexican immigrants to California's Coachella Valley, three generations of Gonz lez men turn to vices or withdraw into depression. As brothers Rigoberto and Alex grow to manhood, they are haunted by the traumas of their mother's early death, their lonely youth, their father's desertion, and their grandfather's invective. Rigoberto's success in escaping--first to college and then by becoming a writer--is blighted by his struggles with alcohol and abusive relationships, while Alex contends with difficult family relations, his own rocky marriage, and fatherhood.

Descending into a dark emotional space that compromises their mental and physical health, the brothers eventually find hope in aiding each other. This is an honest and revealing window into the complexities of Latino masculinity, the private lives of men, and the ways they build strength under the weight of grief, loss, and despair.

Author: Rigoberto Gonz疝ez
ISBN-10: 0299316904
ISBN-13: 9780299316907
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Language: English
Published: 03/13/2018
Pages: 208
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.70w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2018
Booklist 02/01/2018 pg. 19