![]() ![]() Daughter of a Mexican teacher/mother and half-Mexican school administrator/father, she and her siblings enjoy a middle-class life. Guilt ties in to the multiple meanings of privilege Gurba shows us. ![]() ![]() It’s what the two women have in common that allows readers to connect the strands Gurba weaves into a larger picture, especially in the chapter “Strawberry Picker,” where we see race, misandry, and class. Gurba finds out this woman’s name is Sophia (Torres) like Sophia the capital of Bulgaria, like Sophia Loren, like the Sophia in the Bible she’s 5’2” and Mexican, and the young migrant worker had already had a rough life before it came to a close there in Oakley Park, not far from Gurba’s house. News reports leave her nameless, call her a transient. A man follows her, chases her then bludgeons and rapes her. The story begins with a young, petite Latina with long clothing walking in a Little League baseball diamond at night. Once we’ve connected enough strands we see patterns emerging: racism, misandry, class, and sexuality. ![]() Gurba weaves topics together in the forms of found poems, prose poetry, news reports, memoir, and lists. Instead she engages our intellects, which makes an altogether enjoyable experience. She compels the reader through her nonfiction novel without letting us merely settle into the book as entertainment. Her dark sense of humor? Her unique perspective as a queer Chicana from California? It could also be her structure. It’s hard to say which quality makes Myriam Gurba’s Mean such a stellar read. ![]()
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