Burro Genius: A Memoir

by Victor Villaseñor

Book Overview

Standing at the podium, Victor Villase or looked at the group of educators amassed before him, and his mind flooded with childhood memories of humiliation and abuse at the hands of his teachers. He became enraged. With a pounding heart, he began to speak of these incidents. When he was through, to his great disbelief he received a standing ovation. Many in the audience could not contain their own tears.

So begins the passionate, touching...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060526130
• ISBN13: 9780060526139
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Rayo
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Victor Villasenor's life. I can't say that I completely relate to the many things that he had to endure, but I've noticed that people from my parents generation still express themselves in such a way that you clearly see the repression that they went through during those times. "English Only, Espanol No" is not as prevalent as it used to be given that people "Latinos - including Mexican" have learned to appreciate themselves and culture/background, without fearing reprimand. It's just progress in my opinion. I completely agree with Victor Villasenor that a person that's limited to a single language is short-changing themselves. Knowing more than one language not only opens communication with others, but also our understanding and views in life. It makes us see and feel through other senses that we didn't know existed. I just finished the book and have recommended to at least 5 other people that ask me about it on my train ride to work. I loved it!!!

The Transcendence of a Burro Genius

This is book is a touching memoir of an American man of Mexican descent growing up in 1940's San Diego County. The author takes us through many themes of his childhood, and like a good storyteller weaves these stories into an account of a childhood that was both harrowing and often uplifting. The story takes us from when Victor Villasenor was a child till the time he published his first book after an astounding 265 rejections from publishers. It is the story of one mans ability to transcend beyond the small minds and ignorance that experienced growing up. The opening chapter has Mr. Villasenor being hastily chosen as the main speaker for a conference of English teachers. He takes the opportunity to wail at a racist educational system that not only marginalized him as a student, it also tried to crush his spirit of creativity and rob him of his identity. This event sets off the author reminiscing about his childhood experiences, going beyond his school experiences, and how he was able to not only survive but was able to thrive. The book contains several themes, one of which is racism. The author describes for us how as a child in elementary school he was psychologically and physically abused by racist teachers in the school he attended. There are times that the reader may feel themselves becoming overwhelmed by the sheer amount of abuse the author is the brunt of. It is repeated so often and sometimes with such intensity the reader begins to feel the helplessness that the author felt as a child and as disempowered. The author writes of the repeated and escalating abuse so often that is sometimes clouds the rest of the story. The abuse becomes so bad that the author fantasizes about killing his teachers. This book is not only a story of growing up in a racist system; it is a powerful and moving story of a loving family. It is when Mr. Villasenor writes about the accounts of his family is when his ability to weave a tale and tell a story becomes the strongest. It is the family that is one of the saving graces of his childhood. The family is guided by the spirit of the grandmother who has passed on, the wisdom and love of his father, the concern of his mother and the guidance from his brother and sister. He writes in a manner that his family becomes very real in the way he describes them and his interactions. It is ultimately family that it is the saving grace for this man who could have easily gone down many different paths had it not been for the love of a good family like he had. There are many young men that grew up the same way Mr. Villasenor did; however, the results of their lives have been different. All too often people of color or anyone perceived as different or outside the norm, are not born into families that have love and strength still intact to get them through to adulthood. The love and strength having been worn down long ago in the parents themselves so that they don't have much to pass on but their own pain and fear of a sys

This is about ALL OF US!

I was born in America, like Victor. I am not Hispanic. I relate to this book because my ancestors were from Italy. They came to America with very little, and with no knowledge of English. They built businesses, some of which flourish to this very day! They worked hard - often much harder than the people for whom they worked. They educated their children, often with very little help from the American school system. They survived drought, hunger, abuse, unfeeling teachers, uncaring political leaders. This is about Victor. And it is about all the people who built America. It is about you, me, our friends and relatives, our neighbors. Please read this. And please read WALKING STARS with your children. You are, after all -- each and every one of you -- a Burro Genius Miracle Maker!

Villasenor does it once again.........

Burro Genius has been added to my list of favorite books, along with some of his previous work....Learning about the way his teachers abused him and the way his classmates disrespected and hated him because he was Mexican made me feel helpless.....it made me wish many times through out the book that it would've been me who they'd disrespected and slapped around just so that I could do something about it.It's an experience that makes him feel out-of-place and turns him into an angry child who, at one point, becomes ashamed of who he is and where his family comes from. It's crazy how Villasenor, along with other Mexican kids, was forced to speak "English Only" and now that's all changed. America encourages and almosts expects of people to learn more than one language. Like a slap in the face....

Something very special

Victor Villasenor has written well before, but this is something completely new and special. It's his story, compelling, heartbreaking, and funny. You want to keep reading just to find out what happens to this kid, who is at once precocious, confused, and angry.Victor's voice rings through the pages. Even if you have never heard him in person, you will know his voice by the words he writes. And you'll know him, in a more personal way than you probably know your neighbors.The book is definitely psychologically and politically challenging. You can't help but wonder why his world is the way it is, and what you can do, years later, to change it.