LEADER 03902nam 2200661Ia 450 001 9910964483803321 005 20250226110028.0 010 $a9781611924183 010 $a1611924189 010 $a9781611924282 010 $a1611924286 035 $a(CKB)2550000000100784 035 $a(OCoLC)794493785 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10556395 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000645345 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11386743 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000645345 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10682378 035 $a(PQKB)10785063 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3115215 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10556395 035 $a(OCoLC)922965602 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3115215 035 $a(MiFhGG)9781611924282 035 $a(Perlego)2968650 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000100784 100 $a20110624d2011 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aCrossing borders $epersonal essays /$fSergio Troncoso 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aHouston, Tex. $cArte Publico Press$dc2011 215 $a1 online resource (211 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 08$a9781558857100 311 08$a1558857109 327 $aIntro -- Cover -- Copyright -- Acknowledgements -- Table of Contents -- TEXT. 330 8 $a"On good days I feel I am a bridge. On bad days I just feel alone, " Sergio Troncoso writes in this riveting collection of sixteen personal essays in which he seeks to connect the humanity of his Mexican family to people he meets on the East Coast, including his wife's Jewish kin. Raised in a home steps from the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, Troncoso crossed what seemed an even more imposing border when he left home to attend Harvard College. Initially, "outsider status" was thrust upon him; later, he adopted it willingly, writing about the Southwest and Chicanos in an effort to communicate who he was and where he came from to those unfamiliar with his childhood world. He wrote to maintain his ties to his parents and his abuelita, and to fight against the elitism he experienced at an Ivy League school. "I was torn, " he writes, "between the people I loved at home and the ideas I devoured away from home." Troncoso writes to preserve his connections to the past, but he puts pen to paper just as much for the future. In his three-part essay entitled "Letter to My Young Sons, " he documents the terror of his wife's breast cancer diagnosis and the ups and downs of her surgery and treatment. Other essays convey the joys and frustrations of fatherhood, his uneasy relationship with his elderly father and the impact his wife's Jewish heritage and religion have on his Mexican-American identity. Crossing Borders: Personal Essays reveals a writer, father and husband who has crossed linguistic, cultural and intellectual borders to provoke debate about contemporary Mexican-American identity. Challenging assumptions about literature, the role of writers in America, fatherhood and family, these essays bridge the chasm between the poverty of the border region and the highest echelons of success in America. Troncoso writes with the deepest faith in humanity about sacrifice, commitment and honesty. 606 $aAuthors, American$y21st century$vBiography 606 $aInterfaith marriage$zUnited States 606 $aMexican American authors$vBiography 606 $aMexican Americans$xEthnic identity 615 0$aAuthors, American 615 0$aInterfaith marriage 615 0$aMexican American authors 615 0$aMexican Americans$xEthnic identity. 676 $a818/.5403 700 $aTroncoso$b Sergio$f1961-$01788258 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910964483803321 996 $aCrossing borders$94322836 997 $aUNINA