Explorations in Sights and Sounds
Orginal Publication Date
1989
Journal Title
Explorations in Sights and Sounds
Volume
9
Issue
ess/vol9/iss1
First Page
84
Last Page
85
Abstract
This slim, superb collection is Soto's second foray into the field of prose (Living Up The Street: Narrative Recollections was the 1985 American Book Award winner). The thirty-one vignettes in Small Faces, written in December, 1983, and between June and August, 1984, are imbued with warmth, charm, and nostalgia. They touch subjects such as human nature, human relationships, and love, all from a very personal viewpoint that of the author. During the course of the book, we come to know the poet, his wife and daughter, and his friends. Selections treat the narrator's college days, travel, poetry and philosophy, as well as the mundane episodes of his daily life. The sketches are not presented chronologically, nor are they arranged thematically, so readers can deal with them out of sequence if they so desire. They are short -- from one to four pages -- and because each is an individual unit, one need not set aside a large block of time to read the collection. ( However, the book is so charming that this reviewer read the entire volume in one sitting.)
Rights
Copyright, ©EES, The National Association for Ethnic Studies, 1989