Some are born under a star
Subtitle: Unos nacen con estrella : a northern New Mexico novel
By: by Jim Sagel ; edited by Michael L. Trujillo ; foreword by Denise Chávez
Contributors: Trujillo, Michael L., 1971- editor; Chávez, Denise, writer of foreword
Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Press
Published: 2018
Place of publication: Santa Fe
Language: eng
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780890136393
Copyright date: 2018
Other titles: Unos nacen con estrella
Description: "This posthumously published bilingual novel by Jim Sagel re-enacts the traditional Christmas play, Los pastores, as the backdrop for a parallel story set in the fictional New Mexican village of San Buenaventura where a young woman has just given birth to a baby boy. The infant is Jesús (Jesus in Los pastores) and his biological mother is Marta (Mary). Sagel informs the reader in the first paragraph that the mother has only twenty-three days to live. In this Nativity narrative, Sagel invokes a guiding star that shines over Bethlehem and foreshadows the tragedy of this holy mother's death. But the story is not really about that. Instead, it is about the residents of the town who form the cast of Los pastores. Each chapter opens with a scene from the single December performance. In particular, we follow the romance of María Elena Mascareñas (born Chacón) and Francisco Mascareñas, as well as the travails of the Chacón and Mascareñas extended families and friends. Sagel's story is written with a dark and biting humor that evokes tears of laughter and stings of recognition. Ultimately, Sagel spins a tale intended to make us laugh even as we cry--much as life does. San Buenaventura's people suffer brutal blows that sometimes (or often) knock them senseless, struggling to regain their footing, and seeing stars. They do so even as they live under a guiding star"--
Notes: Text in English and Spanish.
Table of contents: title: Some are born under a star; title: Blessed earth, do not remove; title: The violin of the just; title: The world champion of laziness; title: Slow and easy; title: Each pill knows where to go; title: Only the hermit remains vigilant; title: A mountain of lies; title: Too big story; title: The ski king; title: Others are born seeing stars; title: Unos nacen con estrella; title: Tierra bendita, no se permite llevar; title: El violín de los justos; title: El campeón de los perezosos; title: Slow and easy; title: Cada píldora sabe su lugar; title: Solo el ermitaño queda vigilante; title: Montón de mentiras; title: Too big story; title: El rey del esquí; title: Otros nacen estrellados.