A Natural Man

By Gary Soto

Book Overview

In this new collection of poetry, National Book Award finalist Gary Soto tackles the shabby reality of the world around him and turns it into vivid poetry. Drawing on the Chicano slang of the barrio, Soto gives authentic voice to portraits of life set mostly in California's San Joaquin Valley, where he was born and raised. The theme of the poet as troubadour runs throughout the book there is a wry humor in Soto's description of the drunken narrator of "The Mariachi Suit," who, with "spurs jangling music" and a "guitar like a small coffin in my arms," serenades an audience of cats, "Who yawn, lick the clover pads/Of their salty paws, and prance away." A delightful poem to Soto's wife of 23 years ("Meat and Potatoes") playfully contrasts a miserable bachelor meal with the exotic cooking of the woman next door: "Love was at her table,/A fork going to her mouth and the noodles,/How delicious, easy to swallow." These new poems will please Soto's many admirers, and the edgy voice of A Natural Man is sure to convert even more.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811825183
• ISBN13: 9780811825184
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Perhaps not for 1,000 years but certain fun and excellent

I've enjoyed Gary Soto's work since Who Will Know Us? Each new volume shows a more confident and nuanced voice. While this volume continues his emphasis on his Fresno Chicano background with its hard, down to earth, poor Hispanic Catholic background, this volume occasionally shows his educated, academic side. But how creatively: "Blind Tiresa, pagan god of no importance/ ... / You were booted out of town by Christians, / Their bottoms gnawed by lions and such." Absolutely splendid images and language.I won't claim that his concrete poetry will be highly values in 1000 years ... but he should he considered a major poet of the century if the basis is the quality of his work. (Yes, I know, "major" often means influential rather than excellence.)

A Natural Winner

National Book Award finalist Gary Soto proves that he is well deserving of the acclaim with his latest installment of poems titled A Natural Man. The collection of poems takes the reader on a journey through the life of a young man in California's San Joaquin Valley, and then relates stories of an older man's trials and tribulations as he enters mid-life. The book is peopled by characters such as big talkers, lazy souls, drunken mariaches, job seekers with no skills, and teenage werewolves, among others. All the characters and events are relative to Soto's experiences as a Chicano in California. Soto rarely misses a chance to glaze his phrases with humor and simultaneously relate the reality and sometimes poignancy of the situation at hand. As a novice to Soto's work, I was quickly drawn in and enlisted as a huge fan of his work. Soto has a down-to-earth approach to his work that has become an anomaly in the often high-blown existentialism of today's poetry. Soto takes us back to his roots as a Chicano, but also expresses universal themes of the male experience. The local color and regional voice took me back to my memories growing up in a small Texas town with an abundant Hispanic population. In the first poem of the book (my personal favorite), "The Mariachi Suit," Soto describes the drunken mariachi narrator with "[his] spurs jangling music / [his] guitar like a small coffin / in [his] arms." The mariachi player "work[s] [his] fingers / Over D and A, the drunken chords / Of every Mexican bar song." This poem introduces us to the scene and the tone for which most of the collection will reverberate. The second poem is about Soto's experiences teaching Mexican immigrants Spanish at night school. The voice in this poem is particularly realistic and funny. One of the women in the class asks, "Teacher, what is 'tally-ho'." The images that Soto conjures up throughout the book are amazing. He juxtaposes words brilliantly to evoke the always-proper response in the reader. In "Teaching English From an Old Composition Book," Soto describes an instance when the narrator has taught the class through body language and spoken language how to do various daily tasks. Soto describes how "Suddenly the class is alive- / Each one putting on hats and shoes, / Drinking sodas and beers, cutting flowers / And steaks-a pantomime of sumptuous living. Soto touches on almost every aspect of his male evolution. We see his boyhood memories and innocence in "The Blue Cavalry and the Falling Indians." We see his adolescent escapades in "Werewolf Friends." His college experience is related in "Economics." The sexual urge of his young bachelor life is apparent in "Chitchat With the Junior League Women." Soto's male-bonding and Mexican heritage is prevalent in "Mexican Folktales." Every poem has something special to offer, and I rarely became distracted and/or bored. One interesting component of this collection of Soto's work is that the form is overall consistent. All of his

an entertaining and glorious read!!!

Graced with Soto's characteristic humor and wit, this is one book of poems you don't want to miss. This guy is a laugh a minute! Situation after situation, poem after poem, Soto's eye for the crazy and sublime produce many memorable pieces. ADELANTE!