From Labor to Letters: A Novel Autobiography

Autobiography. Latino/a Studies. This English translation of Entre letras y ladrillos (Bilingual Press, 1996) , an autobiographical novel written in the best of Miguel Mendez's baroque and conceptually intense style, evokes one of the most remarkable life histories of this century. Using his own "status as a Mexican Indian, wetback, and Chicano" as a yardstick, he takes us on a personal and collective voyage that culminates on a remarkable day in 1986 when he exchanged his job of full-time construction worker for that of a full professor at the University of Arizona. "Keep on writing, Miguel, because all us Chicanos need your thoughts and talent"--Tomas Rivera. Translated from the Spanish by David William Foster.