Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American Stories

By Katherine Vaz

Book Overview

The stories in this prize-winning collection evoke a complete world, one so richly imagined and finely realized that the stories themselves are not so much read as experienced. The world of these stories is Portuguese-American, redolent of incense and spices, resonant with ritual and prayer, immersed in the California culture of freeway and commerce. Packed with lyrical prose and vivid detail, acclaimed writer Katherine Vaz conjures a captivating blend of Old World heritage and New World culture to explore the links between families, friends, strangers, and their world.

From the threat of a serial killer as the background for a young girl's first brush with death to the fallout of a modern-day visitation from the Virgin Mary; from an AIDS-stricken squatter refusing to vacate an empty Lisbon home to a mother's yearlong struggle with the death of her synesthetic daughter, these deft stories make their world ours.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803217900
• ISBN13: 9780803217904
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Portuguese soul

As the daughter of Azorean immigrants, I loved reading stories with all these familiar themes and cultural references. While that particular immigrant experience is so well-captured, I think the stories are also beautifully written and would have broad appeal to any lover of good fiction.