Assumption and Other Stories

de Daniel A. Olivas

Daniel A. Olivas is a rising voice in Chicano fiction whose talents are showcased in this collection of eighteen remarkable short stories set in Southern California. He populates the urban landscapes of his stories with characters that mirror the complex and multifaceted nature of class, gender, and ethnicity in modern Latino communities. In the suspenseful "Summertime," the parents and grandmother of nine-year-old Jonathan Cohen-Ramirez are confronted with their greatest fears when a deranged white supremacist opens fire on a Jewish children's day camp. Shifting effortlessly between pathos and wry comedy, Olivas is able through his character-driven stories to explore how a married couple deals with miscarriage, how a young lawyer explains her lesbian sexuality to her traditional parents, and how the staff and students of a Catholic school experience the suicide of a popular young priest amidst swirling rumors of his sexual improprieties. Olivas writes in a variety of styles, and the colorful characters and unusual situations addressed in Assumption and Other Stories reflect a community that defies easy categorizations and stereotypes.