A House of My Own: Stories from My Life (Vintage International)

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I met Sandra Cisneros on the page in college, like many young people do, having been assigned The House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. This is good but a bit repetitive because it's a collection of essays, speeches and introductions written over the years. Cisneros has found a place in the world of letters, but longing for a home has kept her spirit restless . Perhaps most importantly, she wrote her life, a life many of us didn't know was an option as 'nobody's mother and nobody's wife' .

Cisneros is brilliant but the book is a bit long and feels occasionally disjointed, as a patchwork collection can.A House of My Own takes readers to many places Cisneros has traveled, from Chiapas, Mexico to Hydra, one of the Saronic Islands of Greece and where she finished writing The House on Mango Street. Winner of the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction • From the celebrated bestselling author of The House on Mango Street: "This memoir has the transcendent sweep of a full life. As in her fiction and poetry, Cisneros blends family stories from Chicago and Mexico with lively storytelling, rich details, and good humor. And we can celebrate our culture and experiences through our writing, and that's what Cisneros did without worrying about how her work would be perceived by those who didn't know, or didn't care to understand, her culture and experiences.

Let the game run (on maximum speed) for a while (within a few in game years I believe) until the requirement above is met. One of the options in the task list at the top of the screen informed me I could Create a Cadet Branch as soon as it became available. When I finally got around to reading A House of My Own, I expected a collection of deep cuts for fans like me and random essays from other sources clipped together into a book.

This brings me back to 1985 and 12 years old me standing on a step of Javier's house on 84th and Brandon (Bush Neighborhood on South East side of Chi Town) with Gus and Duwella when a car drives by playing house music. She seamlessly weaves 'memories' from her life from 1984-2014 (some written for specific audiences and expanded in this volume). Written with her trademark lyricism, in these signature pieces the acclaimed author of The House on Mango Street and winner of the 2018 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature shares her transformative memories and reveals her artistic and intellectual influences. And its all told in that very distinctive Sandra Cisneros voice of hers that I can hear as I read the words on the page.