Review: Robert
Arellano. Curse The Names. NY: Akashic Books, 2012.
ISBN-13: 978-1-61775-030-4
Michael Sedano
Curse the Names,
Robert Arellano’s first novel since Havana
Lunar arrives a 21st century counterpart to doomsday literature
of the cold war era.There’s the same underlying dread from On the Beach and the frustrated inevitability of The End of the Dream. This end of the world comes by our own doing.
James Oberhelm, a forty year old misfit with a cushy job writing
at Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory, sees it coming, at first in
nightmares then slap–in-the-face reality. At the same time, Oberhelm’s life
goes wildly awry as he’s hunting down a story while washing down oxycodones
with booze.
The character comes to occupy parallel worlds, the quotidian
Los Alamos and a dystopia come into being from Oberhelm’s nightmare fueled
prescience. In the end, if thousands of drums of nuclear waste are to go off on
August 6, Hiroshima Day, that will be Oberhelm’s fault.
What’s a reader to do when a novel runs amok in the guise of
a plot and its first person character becomes increasingly untrustworthy? Arellano
tosses possibilities out to keep readers off-balance.
If Oberhelm has been victimized, Demon Core malevolence has lured
him to that tryst-place, fried his dog and laptop, exposed him to the slimy
hippie, emptied his bed and bank accounts. And his nightmares will take on a life
of their own on Hiroshima Day. Maximum Exposed Offsite Individuals parameters
would produce cognitive impairment for the eight to nine days radiation takes
to kill you. The MEOI would be 100%.
“In other words, that much radiation would pretty much cause
what happened in my nightmare. / I ate a couple more oxycodones, smoked more
pot, drank more coffee, watched more cable. I woke up the PC and tried to log
on at work”
But then, Oberhelm is in the process of frying this brain
and transition from jerk to total misfit. Arellano introduces his character in
the process of getting lured to “hook up” with a young woman at an abandoned
house 100 miles away. On the spur of the moment he drags his wife to a 4th
of July campground then waits until his wife sleeps from her pills to sneak out
of their tent to drive into night to find the tryst.
Oberhelm’s responsible for his domestic chaos, though his wife
Kitty piles it on. Kitty has fallen in with new age animal whisperers. Her
friends resent Oberhelm’s troglodytic manner. The couple carom off one another
at every domestic collision. When
beloved dog Oppie’s battered body turns up in the trunk of Oberhelm’s car, it’s
the last straw. Kitty abandons Oberhelm for the guru’s arms.
He has it coming, in other words—the no good end. Her choices
are hers, though with that name, perhaps less so. “Kitty” is the voice of One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding and
an e.e. cummings poem.
Curse the Names
isn’t a gloomy nuclear environmental disaster novel with a loud author’s
message. The impending end of the world comes with a bit of fun and a few
surprises tossed in, and no message other than have fun--except that nuclear
stuff sizzling below the fiction encourages a squirm of discomfort, even amid
the oddball fun.
Curse the Names is
anglo literature. That is, Arellano eschews ethnicity to the point Oberhelm
makes a point to distinguish himself as an outsider. Career-wise, he observes
he’s riding out the east coast recession on his way to big media on the west
coast. It’s a sly twist on the urgency of “Go West, young man.”
Given Arellano’s Edgar-finalist achievement with Havana Lunar and his earlier novels,
it’s surprising to find the only Latina Latino element in Curse the Names is its New Mexico locale and offhand remarks like
“some bitchy goth-Hispanic dissimulation.” It’s tempting to place Arellano into
the camp of Latina Latino writers aching to break out of a literary ghetto in
quest of being shelved with “United States Fiction” as opposed to “Latina
Latino Fiction.”
Not that that’s a bad thing but it is a thing. I’ll await
Arellano’s next book to see where he’s taking his art. For now, a reader’s got
hands full coming to terms with this character and story, and that squirm.
CRUISIN' CALIFAS: The Art of Lowriding
May 13 - September 30, 2012
Singh Family Gallery
La Bloga friend Naiche Lujan invites gente to a new exhibit along the Pacific coast. Naiche writes:
Toward the end of (our father) Magu's life, his artistic practice focused almost exclusively around his carrito-themed work. Perhaps it was because doing so took him back to simpler days of the 40s and 50s when his youthful eyes were imprinted by those vehicular icons with their voluptuous curves and shiny chrome accents. Or maybe it was because our present day culture is still so invested in the horseless carriage as an expression of personal identity and social status and he saw it as an opportunity to connect with people.
He called these works of art 'cultural vehicles' (pun intended!), as they carried with them embedded statements about culture. Whether his work bonked you on the head with a wittingly obvious notion or took you down the path of a nuanced and obscure reference; there is one thing we can be sure of: he loved to start a conversation and instigate debate. He always encouraged us, through his work, to take a deeper look at the world around us and explore the meaning we give it.
So, we hope you will join us as we continue to honor and celebrate his legacy by exhibiting a selection of his most car-centric artwork.
The first event of a series is the Saturday Preview Reception on May 12 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. The event is $10 to nonmembers of the Oceanside Museum of Art. Details at the event site.
Banned Books Update
The flag continues to tatter in Arizona. Old Glory frays every day that the US Constitution and force of law protect racism in Arizona. The List of banned books remains banned today, Tuesday, May 8, 2012. A day like any other day, except you are here and your books, your ideas, your history, our culture, remain banned in the United States.
Institutionalized pendejismo doesn't prevent good gente from publishing books that would be banned in Arizona and burned in Tucson. In San Antonio Texas, for example, independent press Gemini Ink brings the word to kids trapped for the moments in circumstances landing the kids in a public shelter.
These are the kids whose voices Tucson and the state of Arizona would prefer be neither seen nor heard. Here is one of those voices:
La Bloga has two copies of Ésta es mi palabra to give to the first two requests. Click and include a mailing adress.
On-line floricanto 3d of 5 in May
Odilia Galván Rodríguez, Jabez W. Churchill, Victor Avila, Tom Sheldon,
José Hernández Díaz
"Décimas Para Las Almas Con Alas / Décimas For Souls
With Wings" by Odilia Galván Rodríguez
"Un Día de Estos / One of These Days" by Jabez W.
Churchill
"Tierra Amarilla '67" by Victor Avila
"Desaparecidos" by Tom Sheldon
"Canto Azul" by José Hernández Díaz
Décimas Para Las Almas Con Alas / Décimas For Souls With
Wings
by Odilia Galván
Rodríguez
1
for Monica Alanís and
all the women of Juárez
So many daughters disappeared
After working long shifts at night
At las malquiladoras rife
With innocents to commandeer
Into a hell of hate and fear.
Kidnap, rape and tortures untold
Unpunished monsters remain bold
Hunt their prey with impunity.
As parents suffer the cruelty,
The trail of their children grown cold.
2
Juarez, where are our daughters?
Daughters are not disposable
They are born free to two parents
No, not on sale or for clearance
Bloomed in beauty from the cradle
And one day, when they are able
Like all children, they fly the nest
Hoping they'll always do their best
We worry, yet try and let go
Loving them and letting them know
We're for them until our last breath
3
Full of Grace
Llenas de Gracia
From their first smile, to their first dance
Our daughters fill us with new hope
Even when it's too hard to cope
We know someday they'll have a chance
At a better life, for romance.
We dream our grandchildren's faces,
Ancestors returned from those places
Surely we will visit one day.
Our daughters hold secrets of the Way
Creator blessed them with this grace.
4
¡Basta
Ya!
I'm going to sing you a story
it's so horrific, yet it's true
Be warned, these words will make you blue.
Parents guessed from very early
These killers for sport, were dirty
Police, or at least on their payroll.
Will they pay for the lives they stole?
Families demand their daughter's return
From where the killers have them interned.
Not one more woman! End the death toll!
Un Día de Estos / One of These Days
by Jabez W. Churchill
y que sea pronto
and I hope it´s soon,
no nos llamaremos adversarios,
invasores de Aztlán*,
ni forasteros indocumentados
We won't call one another adversaries,
usurpers of Aztlán
or illegal aliens.
Un día de estos,
one of these days,
y que sea pronto,
and I hope it´s soon,
no habrá que nos divida,
fronteras ni orillas,
sino compartiremos ambos lados
we won´t be divided
by borders or shores
but we will share both sides.
Un día de estos,
one of these days,
y que fuera pronto,
and it should be soon,
no andaremos extraviados,
rojos contra azules,
gabachos y mojados
we won´t be estranged,
red against blue,
white trash and wet backs
sino nos revelaremos el camino
y nos trataremos como hermanos.
But we will show one another the way
and treat each other like brothers.
Un día de estos,
one of these days,
y demasiado pronto,
and way too soon,
no habrá ricos gringolandeses
ni pobres latino, afro, y nativo americanos
there won't be rich Gringos
or poor Latin, Afro, and Native
Americans,
sino puros sobrevivientes
only survivors
y serán pocos
and just a few.
Un día de estos,
one of these days,
y ojalá pronto
and hopefully soon,
enfrentaremos lo que nos separa,
we will confront that which divides
us,
el avaricio y el miedo,
avarice and fear,
y repartiremos lo que queda
and we will share what's left.
One of these days,
un día de estos,
y debe ser muy pronto
and it better be soon,
dejemonos de ser mayoria y minorias,
homofobicos y machistas
y démonos paso al solidario,
we should cease being a majority and
minorities,
homophobes and sexists
and we should give solidarity a
chance
antes de que se nos venza el paso,
before our chance is gone.
*Aztlán: México ocupado/occupied Mexico.
Tierra Amarilla '67
by Victor Avila
The Supreme Court decides SB 1070
Now more than ever
the Children of the Sun
must stand together.
For no matter the decision
of the highest court
the law in Arizona is immoral and wrong.
How can you tell
by the color of my skin
if I am illegal
or a flag-waving American?
Will you arrest me
because you suspect-
is my crime that I look
a little too Mexican?
Tiburcio waits and so does Joaquin-
two warriors who aren't afraid
of a violent extreme.
We took over one courthouse
and can take over another.
Tijerina where are you-
my revolutionary brother?
Cesar and Dolores
what should we do?
How do we face this evil
and strike at it's root.
They might win this battle
but will lose the war.
They're unprepared
for the sleeping giant's roar.
Do they think we'll stand down
on this hateful matter?
No, RAZA will rise
in ways Arizona...
...could not have imagined!
desaparecidos© Copyright
by Tom Sheldon
The ghosts of immigrants prowl the hills
They are not wholly forgotten,
they do not die but remain
within the soft folds of the earth,
amidst the ash of twilight fires
seperation and longing
Unsure of the way home,
whispering down a dusty alley
wind blowing trash in the dawn
A voice sounds from the desert
a soulful reminder of how alone they are,
cradled in the safety of death.
Canto Azul
by José Hernández
Díaz
No one has seen us. We have seen
no one, blind as we are from seeing.
-Miguel Hernández.
Capitalism is exploitation
is human trafficking is
maquiladoras are
feminicides are bloody
rivers are Cuidad Juárez
is not for
sale. If we
speak if we write if
we act if we fight
if
we i m
a g i n
e
if we unite: Cuidad Juárez
Will not be sold.
* * * *
* * * * *
* *
Canto Azul
Nadie nos
ha visto. Hemos visto
A nadie,
ciegos como estamos de ver.
-Miguel
Hernández.
El capitalismo
es la explotación
es el
trafico humano es
las maquiladoras son
los
feminicidios son los ríos
sangrantes
son Ciudad Juárez
no está de venta. Si
hablamos
si escribimos si
actuamos
si luchamos si
lo i
m á g i n a
m o s
si nos
unimos: Ciudad Juárez
No será vendida.
BIOS
"Décimas Para Las Almas Con Alas / Décimas For Souls
With Wings" by Odilia Galván Rodríguez
"Un Día de Estos / One of These Days" by Jabez W.
Churchill
"Tierra Amarilla '67" by Victor Avila
"Desaparecidos" by Tom Sheldon
"Canto Azul" by José Hernández Díaz
Odilia Galván
Rodríguez, poet, writer, editor, and activist, is the author of Migratory
Birds: New and Noted Poems. She has worked as an editor for Matrix Women's News
Magazine, at Community Mural's Magazine and most recently at Tricontinental
Magazine in Havana, Cuba. She facilitates creative writing workshops through
Red Earth Productions, and is a moderator of Poets Responding to SB 1070.
Jabez W. Churchill.
Celebrating 15 years as a bilingual poet teacher with CIPTS in the public
schools of California, mainly with youth ar risk in County schools and
primarily Spanish speaking junior and senior high schools. Currently a language
instructor at both Santa Rosa and Mendocino Colleges. Four books, to date, and
one on-line. Read regularly at Vancouver, B.C's poetry festival, mid August, and
the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Featured in University of San Antonio's
upcoming release. Just checked out Mama Coatl's event in San Francisco on
Friday. Last time I read there, I had to win a fistfight outside to get a turn
at the mic. Other than that, I'm civilly disobedient
Victor Avila is
an award-winning poet and a California educator. Two of his poems were
recently included in the anthology Occupy SF-Poems From the
Movement.
I’m Tom Sheldon.
I was born in New Mexico on 9 Dec 1958, and come from a large Hispanic family.
As far as my own personal history in Art goes, it is brief. I have always
appreciated the gift of creating since I was young. I like all mediums and love
(Southwestern) nature and organic based topics. While I have had little in the
way of formal training and education, I've enjoyed a modicum of success, mostly
in drawing/drafting. I teach students on occasion, and have also illustrated
for (HWI) Hawk Watch International. I enjoy photography as a tool for
composition and as an aid in drawing and painting, though now I'm beginning to see
photography as a medium rather than just a tool.
My work has shown in local galleries, as well as the Museum
of Natural History here. I have won art competitions at the State Fair level. I
also love to write poetry; my poetry was featured in La Bloga, Monique's
Passions e-magazine, Poets Supporting SB1070 on Facebook, and also, Writers in
the Storm (October,1992)....
José Hernández Díaz
is a first-generation Chicano poet with a BA in English Literature from UC
Berkeley. José has been published in The
Best American Nonrequired Reading Anthology 2011, La Gente Newsmagazine of UCLA, Bombay
Gin Literary Journal, The
Packinghouse Review, Revista
Contratiempo, Blood Lotus Journal,
among others. He has forthcoming publications in HUIZACHE, The Progressive,
and in the anthologies, El Norte que
Viene, and Tan cerca de EE.UU.
(poesía mexicana en la frontera norte). In addition, he is an active moderator
of the online group, Poets Responding to
SB1070, where he has contributed more than 40 of his own poems. On September
1, 2012, he will host a poetry recital in Los Angeles in support of Ciudad
Juárez. This event is part of an international day of reflection on the region
organized by Escritores por Ciudad
Juárez which will consist of simultaneous poetry recitals in 119 cities,
24 countries, and 4 continents.
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