Calle 10: A Novel

By Danny Romero

In his first full-length novel, oft-anthologised short-story writer Romero does a good job of portraying the trials associated with an impoverished life. But simply because a novel showcases a Chicano protagonist in a barrio setting does not mean it is necessarily moving or powerful. Calle 10 introduces us to Zero, a college-educated 30-year-old headed nowhere in a rooming house on "Calle 10" -- Tenth Street -- in Ciudad Jimenez, near Oakland, Calif. With no prospects, drug-addled companions, addictive tendencies of his own and little hope for his own future, Zero often dreams of ways to escape his situation, but rarely does a thing, save ingesting drugs. Romero provides little insight into Zero's true motivations or lack thereof. It is both the lack of self-examination on Zero's part and the absence of a definitive conclusion to the work which makes Calle 10 a frustrating and disappointing novel. Despite some compelling writing, brazenly realistic at times, it reads like only a fraction of a much larger piece. As an author Romero has talent to spare, but one only wishes that in a novel-length book he had worked longer and more thoughtfully on his characterisations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1562790900
• ISBN13: 9781562790905
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Mercury House
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

If I Ruled the World

Over the last decade, I've read the novel 'Calle 10' by Danny Romero at least four times. I finally got around to looking it up on the web and discovered that it hasn't gotten any of the credit it deserves. Not one of the reviewers seems to comprehend how hysterically funny it is ( a friend and I were reading it to each other and crying with laughter). And that's only the beginning. Its unsentimental portrayal of 'low-life' in Oakland is pitch perfect and undistorted by pieties or agendas, liberal or conservative (the opening scene on a bus in California is a small masterpiece and there are Beckett-like absurdities throughout). In a better world, 'Calle 10' would be required reading. It makes me wonder, and not for the first time, about the life experience of those writing book reviews for major publications. Mostly semiotics majors from Brown University, I'm afraid. I tried to find Romero on the web but he proved pretty hard to track down. I hope he knows that some people out there appreciate him.

A California Novel In The Spirit Of Fante And Steinbeck

Danny Romero's debut novel, CALLE 10, is a humorous, lyrical update of the single, working class, California bachelor theme explored in earlier books by John Fante and John Steinbeck. Romero uses his contemporary, Mexican-American voice to relate the pleasure, pain, and boredom of daily existence on the grimy borders of Southern California's largest and wealthiest city, Los Angeles.Zero, the novel's protagonist, is a college-educated young man surrounded by downwardly mobile influences. His girlfriend and flophouse roommates spend the majority of their free time talking, drinking, and taking drugs. Dreams, however, keep Zero going, and his long walks and odd encounters inspire the possibilty of escape.A bus trip to Oakland and visits to his neighborhood taco truck add flavor to Zero's day in, day out existence as a printer's apprentice. As the novel progresses, events add up, layer upon layer, building his desire to move up and away.Romero's humor is consistent, and his use of Mexican-American slang is as educational as it is effective. At one point, Zero and his roommate attempt to catch a mouse that has boldly exposed itself in their kitchen. The dialogue here is comic and perfectly timed. The description of the decrepit kitchen and their bumbling attempt to catch the rodent is nothing less than laugh out loud.Plot is not the concern of this novel; the reader dips into Zero's life at the beginning and dips out at the end, leaving him older and more experienced. Romero's work succeeds as an in-depth portrait of a man-in-progress. Rendered in clear and excellent writing, CALLE 10 makes a fine new addition to the "California novel" and to Mexican-American literature.

well written and true to life

The main character of Zero was very real. I liked the fact that he never resorted to violence and never gave up his job or dreams. I felt that he wanted to be released from his current life but never was able to do so. The book was well written and understandable. I got the book last night and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

A California Novel In The Spirit Of Fante And Steinbeck

Danny Romero's debut novel, CALLE 10, is a humorous, lyrical update of the single, working class, California bachelor theme explored in earlier books by John Fante and John Steinbeck. Romero uses his contemporary, Mexican-American voice to relate the pleasure, pain, and boredom of daily existence on the grimy borders of Southern California's largest and wealthiest city, Los Angeles.Zero, the novel's protagonist, is a college-educated young man surrounded by downwardly mobile influences. His girlfriend and flophouse roommates spend the majority of their free time talking, drinking, and taking drugs. Dreams, however, keep Zero going, and his long walks and odd encounters inspire the possibilty of escape.A bus trip to Oakland and visits to his neighborhood taco truck add flavor to Zero's day in, day out existence as a printer's apprentice. As the novel progresses, events add up, layer upon layer, building his desire to move up and away.Romero's humor is consistent, and his use of Mexican-American slang is as educational as it is effective. At one point, Zero and his roommate attempt to catch a mouse that has boldly exposed itself in their kitchen. The dialogue here is comic and perfectly timed. The description of the decrepit kitchen and their bumbling attempt to catch the rodent is nothing less than laugh out loud.Plot is not the concern of this novel; the reader dips into Zero's life at the beginning and dips out at the end, leaving him older and more experienced. Romero's work succeeds as an in-depth portrait of a man-in-progress. Rendered in clear and excellent writing, CALLE 10 makes a fine new addition to the "California novel" and to Mexican-American literature.