And the Earth Did Not Devour Him

by Tomás Rivera, Evangelina Vigil-Piñón

Overview

“I tell you, God could care less about the poor. Tell me, why must we live here like this? What have we done to deserve this? You’re so good and yet you suffer so much,” a young boy tells his mother in Tomás Rivera’s classic novel about the migrant worker experience. Outside the chicken coop that is their home, his father wails in pain from the unbearable cramps brought on by sunstroke after working in the hot fields. The young boy can’t understand his parents’ faith in a god that would impose such horrible suffering, poverty and injustice on innocent people.

Adapted into the award-winning film …and the earth did not swallow him and recipient of the first award for Chicano literature, the Premio Quinto Sol, in 1970, Rivera’s masterpiece recounts the experiences of a Mexican-American community through the eyes of a young boy. Forced to leave their home in search of work, the migrants are exploited by farmers, shopkeepers, even other Mexican Americans, and the boy must forge his identity in the face of exploitation, death and disease, constant moving and conflicts with school officials.

In this new edition of a powerful novel comprised of short vignettes, Rivera writes hauntingly about alienation, love and betrayal, man and nature, death and resurrection and the search for community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611929737
Publisher:	Arte Publico Press
Publication date:	06/30/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	184,811
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

TOMÁS RIVERA (1935-1984) was born to a family of migrant farm workers in the South Texas town of Crystal City. In spite of moving constantly to work the crops, Rivera managed to graduate from high school. He went on to obtain a degree in English from Southwest Texas State University. He then earned a master’s degree in Spanish literature and a doctorate in Romance Languages and Literatures. He became a university administrator, and in 1979 he was appointed chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, a position he held for five years until his sudden death in 1984. His books published by Arte Público Press include The Harvest (1989), The Searchers (1990), the collection Tomás Rivera: The Complete Works (1991), and …y no se lo trago de la tierra / ... And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1992).

EVANGELINA VIGIL-PIÑÓN, a widely published award-winning poet, is the author of Thirty an’ Seen a Lot (Arte Público Press, 1982) and The Computer is Down (Arte Público Press, 1987). Her work has been widely anthologized, including in Hispanic American Literature, An Anthology (McGraw-Hill, 1997), Floricanto Sí, A Collection of Latina Poetry (Penguin, 1998), The Hispanic Literary Companion (Visible Ink Press, 1996) and Chicana Creativity and Criticism: New Frontiers in American Literature (University of New Mexico, 1996). Vigil-Piñón is the translator of the classic novel of Chicano literature, ...y no se lo tragó la tierra / ... And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (Arte Público Press, 1995). She is also the editor of the first anthology of U.S. Latina literature, Woman of Her Word: Hispanic Women Write (Arte Público Press, 1983). She is the author of a bilingual children’s book, Marina’s muumuu/El muumuu de Marina (Piñata Books, 2001). A native of San Antonio, Vigil-Piñón lives and works in Houston, Texas.