Audio only
Length5h 9m
About this audiobook
Seminal moments, rites of passage, crystalline vignettes—a memoir about growing up brown at the US/Mexico border
The tradition of retablo painting dates back to the Spanish Conquest in both Mexico and the US Southwest. Humble ex-votos, retablos are usually painted on repurposed metal, and in one small tableau they tell the story of a crisis and offer thanks for its successful resolution.
In this uniquely framed memoir, playwright Octavio Solis channels his youth in El Paso, Texas. Like traditional retablos, the rituals of childhood and rites of passage are remembered as singular, dramatic events, self-contained episodes with life-changing reverberations.
Living in a home just a mile from the Rio Grande, Octavio is a skinny brown kid on the border, growing up among those who live there, and those passing through on their way north. From the first terrible self-awareness of racism to inspired afternoons playing air trumpet with Herb Alpert, from an innocent game of hide-and-seek to the discovery of a Mexican girl hiding in the cotton fields, Solis reflects on the moments of trauma and transformation that shaped him into a man.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.3 (707)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length5 hrs 9 mins
Narrated byRecorded Track
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateApr 16, 2019
LanguageEnglish
The Way of RoninTu Lam12h 9m4.9 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
Matters of the HeartJacinta Nampijinpa Price9h 35m4.8 (359)$29 · $0.00
The StepsSylvester Stallone9h 4m4.8 (635)$29 · $0.00
How to Test Negative for StupidJohn Kennedy8h 13m4.7 (9.7K)$28 · $0.00
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m4.7 (2.8K)$24 · $0.00
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m4.7 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m4.7 (1.1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (385)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
You may also like
Forty RoomsOlga Grushin9h 13m3.9 (2.1K)$20 · $0.00
A Personal OdysseyThomas Sowell10h 56m4.5 (2.7K)$21
CarameloSandra Cisneros15h 57m4.0 (16.5K)$25
The House of Hidden MeaningsRuPaul7h 7m4.1 (34.3K)$24 · $0.00
The Angel on the RoofRussell Banks17h 54m4.0 (1.5K)$40 · $0.00
A Song Called HomeSara Zarr7h 37m4.1 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
Homeland and Other StoriesBarbara Kingsolver3h4.0 (11K)$18 · $0.00
Childhood - Boyhood - YouthLeo Tolstoy14h 16m4.0 (15.8K)$4 · $0.00
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce6h 53m3.8 (199.4K)Free
To Be a ManNicole Krauss7h 2m3.6 (4.7K)$24 · $0.00
My InventionsNikola Tesla2h 56m4.1 (17.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
The UnsettledAyana Mathis11h 30m3.7 (4.9K)$29 · $0.00
Dust Tracks on a RoadZora Neale Hurston11h 23m4.2 (12.8K)$29 · $0.00
MisophoniaDana Vowinckel11h 17m4.2 (3.2K)$29 · $0.00
Darling DaysiO Tillett Wright10h 45m4.3 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
Highways and Byways: Tall tales and short stories from the long way roundJimmy Barnes4h 44m4.3 (344)$20 · $0.00
Stop-TimeFrank Conroy11h 22m4.0 (3.4K)$20 · $0.00
The Getting of WisdomHenry Handel Richardson7h 19m3.6 (2.3K)$17
The Autobiography of Mark TwainMark Twain20h 19m4.2 (15.3K)$32
Happy As: a memoir of the magic of family from one of Australia's most popular TV personalities and Gold Logie award winner 2024Larry Emdur8h 39m4.4 (337)$26 · $0.00