Talk:The Magic of Blood

Short Stories
I don't think you need such an extensive set of plot summaries for the short stories. Look at the page for Joyce's Dubliners - - this may be a good model for working up Gilb's MoB. Profhanley (talk) 15:08, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Empty sections
Hello. Please avoid adding empty sections. This is a live encyclopedia and as such, it should look as professional as possible. A short stub is preferable to having dozens of headings with no content. Viriditas (talk) 02:33, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I've placed the empty sections here for future use:


 * Shouldn't you at least keep the sections that have a description under them? And you could keep the rest of the stories but just as a list under 1 section. HotshotCleaner (talk) 07:23, 27 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Please be mindful of the edit history. The sections were blank when I moved them here. Viriditas (talk) 01:20, 28 October 2011 (UTC)
 * My mistake. Thanks for the clarification. HotshotCleaner (talk) 02:29, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Look on the Bright Side
An unnamed narrator refuses to pay his landlord when she raises the rent on him. In the end, his insistence upon maintaining his sense of "self-respect" results in the loss of his house. Consequently, he sends his family off to "visit" his parents, while he searches for a new job. Grahamhacia (talk) 23:00, 3 November 2011 (UTC)Grahamhacia (talk) 07:17, 27 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 06:36, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

The Death Mask of Pancho Villa
When an unnamed narrator is visited by an old friend and his companion, he is struck with an epiphany concerning the man he used to be versus the man he now is. Grahamhacia (talk) 07:17, 27 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 06:50, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Nancy Flores
Once Richie meets, and loses, his first love Nancy Flores, the protagonist revels in the ongoing debasement of the boy who stole her from him (Trey).Grahamhacia (talk) 07:18, 27 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 07:02, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I Danced with the Prettiest Girl
When two musicians, on their way to Austin, stop at a roadside bar, the narrator finds "true love." Grahamhacia (talk) 07:37, 27 October 2011 (UTC)Grahamhacia (talk) 07:20, 27 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 07:13, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

The Magic of Blood
A man meets his great-grandmother in Hollywood, only to then realize that her revered status as a great actress has largely been a fabrication, and that her previous glamor has dissipated with age. Grahamhacia (talk) 04:59, 31 October 2011 (UTC) 67.160.203.3 (talk) 04:57, 31 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 04:44, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Al, in Phoenix
Once a man's car breaks down near Phoenix, he tries to win the approval of his mechanic. Grahamhacia (talk) 04:59, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Romero's Shirt
A character named Romero asks an old gardener to trim the bushes in his yard. When Romero's shirt is stolen, he blames the gardener. Grahamhacia (talk) 04:59, 31 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 04:48, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Churchgoers
At a construction site, a man named Smooth rebels against his superintendent. Grahamhacia (talk) 05:00, 31 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 04:50, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Something Foolish
A son receives a phone call from his father who asks him to come pick him up. The father is afraid that his wife has committed suicide. Grahamhacia (talk) 05:00, 31 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 04:52, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

The Prize
A customer asks his barber to "wish" for a sack of money, which they will then split between themselves. Grahamhacia (talk) 05:00, 31 October 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.203.3 (talk) 04:56, 31 October 2011 (UTC)

Truck
When Alex is given the company truck, he mars his reputation via the influence of his friend Martínez.Grahamhacia (talk) 21:59, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Where the Sun Don't Shine
A construction worker tries to cope with an abusive foreman, while still keeping his job and maintaining his sense of self-respect.Grahamhacia (talk) 22:30, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Parking Places
Neighboring couples, in a duplex, fight over the parking places in front of their house. Grahamhacia (talk) 22:49, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Recipe
A man goes to a poetry reading in East L.A., meets another man and two young women. The four of them go to a party in West L.A. The narrator takes one of the women home while dreaming of the other one. Natashacorreia (talk) 23:05, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Photographs Near a Rolls Royce
An unemployed man and his wife decide to go to a concert. It will be their first big night out since having their child. The day before the concert they go to pick up the tickets and the narrator takes a photo of his wife and child in front of a Rolls Royce. The couple ask a neighbor who is a single mother to watch their child. The couple prepare for the night down to the last detail but the babysitter never shows up. Natashacorreia (talk) 23:11, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

The Desperado
A woman walks out on her husband and leaves him alone with their infant son. It is the first time the man is alone with his son.

Natashacorreia (talk) 23:18, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Down in the West Texas Town
Around midday, four construction workers get off of a job, go to one of the worker's houses to do heroin, and go to work on another job.

Natashacorreia (talk) 23:28, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Love in L.A.
Jake gets into a fender bender with Mariana. He lies about his name, address, and insurance. He tells Mariana he is an actor and walks away with her phone number. Natashacorreia (talk) 23:43, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Winners on the Pass Line
A man named Ray goes to Las Vegas after getting a divorce and getting laid off. A woman named Sylvia takes a trip to Las Vegas with her husband and son. Natashacorreia (talk) 00:11, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

The Señora
Jesse and Jesus are two undocumented Mexicans who work for their landlady, a wealthy Mexican woman. Natashacorreia (talk) 00:25, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

Ballad
Cowboy Mike Duran is a construction worker convinced he has a reoccurring illness that prevents him from work. He has his photo taken at work for California magazine. Natashacorreia (talk) 00:40, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

The Rat
The narrator is bothered by living in the city and the presence of a rat in his and his wife's apartment begins to bother him. He sends his wife and child away. There is a big storm and a power outage. The narrator kills the rat, decides his wife and child should come back, and the city begins to recover from the storm. Natashacorreia (talk) 00:43, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Was a Democrat
FDR Was a Democrat is a story that discusses the old/young dynamic of two workers on a construction job and the validity of judging things at face value. Natashacorreia (talk) 06:04, 23 November 2011 (UTC)NatashaCorreia

Hollywood!
A family takes a trip to Hollywood with their young son and argues over what will be valuable and important memories for him. Natashacorreia (talk) 06:10, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Vic Damone's Music
Vic Damone's Music is the story of a young teenager's job in a laundry plant and his first romantic experience with a co-worker. Natashacorreia (talk) 06:16, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Getting a Job in Dell City
Getting a Job in Dell City is the final story in The Magic of Blood collection. It begins with a man looking for work in El Paso, Texas. He finds work on a farm outside of town. The story discusses the fragility of relationships between workers, bosses and coworkers. Natashacorreia (talk) 06:34, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Publication
Dagoberto Gilb's short story collection was first published by the University of New Mexico Press in 1993. The paperback edition was later released by Grove Press in 1994. Grahamhacia (talk) 00:24, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

Critical Reception
The Magic of Blood was released to rave reviews from various critics and authors. It was also the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award in 1994 and was a PEN Faulkner finalist. Grahamhacia (talk) 23:42, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Praise
“Gilb’s fiction is the most exciting and emotionally draining since Raymond Carver’s.” —The Nation

“These are lovely, heartbreaking, finely crafted stories dealing with a portion of society literature scarcely ever reaches.” —Jim Harrison

“Gilb’s fiction is brutally realistic. Yet his characters are imbued with a wry sense of humor—and hope.” —Newsweek

“In stories both harsh and lovely, hopeful and heartbreaking, of men on the fringes of America, Dagoberto Gilb reveals a powerful new literary voice.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

“The vast stretch of desert between LA and El Paso is a migration route for workers who move back and forth in search of work. In these artfully written stories, Dago introduces us to this world and its workers. This is a sharp, realistic view from la frontera!” —Rudolfo Anaya

“Nobody but Dagoberto has the information and the talent to write these stories. He reminds me of the best of Russian literature. Chekhov writes Gogol. Fresh and funny and sad.” —James Crumley

“Gilb tells these stories almost matter-of-factly, but behind this casualness is a talent that delivers. He offers a fierce and relentless eyeballing of people who are not going to make it. . . There is no exit in these pages.” —Gary Soto

“Neither narrowly ethnic nor fashionably minimalist, these are Chekhovian stories about very un-Chekhovian lives: those of construction workers, bums, day laborers, month-to-month tenants, on-the-edge families, and other people who led marginal existence during the Reagan-Bush years.” —Wendy Lesser

“A powerful, necessary voice in American literature whose emergence defies any pigeon-holing.” —Rick DeMarinis Grahamhacia (talk) 23:45, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Genre
Dagaberto Gilb's The Magic of Blood is a collection of short stories about proletarian life from a Chicano perspective. Natashacorreia (talk) 06:44, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Themes
Major themes prominent throughout Gilb's collection include: proletarian work and love, vacations, the family, friendships, youth and aging.

E. Annie Proulx mentions many of the collection's themes, "a Southwest world of bills and debts and being laid off, of old trucks, paychecks that bounce, greedy landladies, fights, cheap girls, drugs, unemployment compensation, difficult bosses, color of skin, language games, a hunger for work," in her citation for PEN's Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award. Natashacorreia (talk) 07:05, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Style
Gilb writes in a clear and simple style. Natashacorreia (talk) 07:11, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Feedback
I see you have added the blurb about the comparison to Carver that's on the cover. Carver has/had a reputation of being a working class writer. You also may want to take a look at some comparisons to works by Bukowski. Particularly "Factotum" & "Post Office". Probably two "working class" authors that may have influenced/informed the writing of MOB. I know Gilb's bio page mentions his intitial connection to Carver. Well anyway, good luck and I hope this helps some. MattHeitland (talk) 23:31, 9 November 2011 (UTC)