Books like Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories

Last year I read Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street and felt an affinity toward her as I discovered that she grew up on the northwest side of Chicago and attended the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. Mostly an autobiographical account, Mango Street detailed the coming of age of a Mexican American girl in Chicago. Since debuting with her novella, Cisneros paved the way for a generation of Latin American women who I refer to fondly as las amigas. After moving to San Antonio, Cisneros rose to prominence as a Chicana writer. Woman Hollering Creek is her second novella collection and speaks of life as a Tejana woman on both sides of the border. As in Mango Street, Woman Hollering Creek is a series of interlocking vignettes that all talk of one theme, here being Tejana women. Most of the stories are as short as two or three pages yet all contain Cisneros combination of wit and humor. In Barbie-Q we return to Chicago, showing how some Mexican immigrants can barely afford luxuries and have to salvage for toys at flea markets. Mericans demonstrates how one speaks English or Spanish depending on how a situation warrants it and which language is more advantageous to the speaker at time. Later, in Never Marry a Mexican and Little Miracles, Kept Promises, Cisneros urges her comadres to get an education and a decent job and not just settle for the first Mexican man they lay eyes on, no matter how tempting it is. Two stories show Cisneros growth as a writer. The title story Woman Hollering Creek features a pregnant Mexican woman who came to Texas to have her baby. Her husband beats her and at a maternity appointment, her doctor and nurse urge her to have the courage to leave him, taking it upon themselves to drive her to San Antonio. On their trip into the city, the women cross La Gritona Creek-- Woman Hollering Creek. La Gritona for La Llorona touches on centuries of the double standards of Latina women and men dating from before Cortez. Cisneros couples this with Eyes of Zapata which take the reader back in time to the Mexican revolution and how peasants were falsely promised land that the government eventually took. Weaving in magical realism that I enjoy, Eyes of Zapata was a joy to read. Cisneros finishes her collection with Bien Pretty. In a story that could be construed as autobiographical, an artist has rented a house in San Antonio while she moves there on a year long fellowship. Here a Mexican American artist named Lupe meets a Mexican man named Flavio in a bar and a sensuous relationship ensues, complete with references to Latino culture from Carlos Gardel to telenovelas. While the story is one of love lost, it also contained Cisneros' humor as she fluidly switched from English to Spanish and back, including Spanglish phrases as well. In a story that shows the pressure to assimilate to mainstream American society while also hanging onto Chicano culture, Bien Pretty was my favorite story of the collection, even though it came at the end. Sandra Cisneros along with Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua are trailblazers as modern Latina writers. Known as las madrinas of the movement, they set the stage for many writers I read today. With an eclectic mix of cultural writing, wit, and humor, Cisneros in Woman Hollering Creek has demonstrated her growth as a writer since House on Mango Street. Her work is always a joy for me to read as I rate this collection 4.5 stars.