A House of My Own: Stories from My Life

by Sandra Cisneros Narrated by Sandra Cisneros

Overview

From the author of The House on Mango Street, a richly illustrated compilation of true stories and nonfiction pieces that, taken together, form a jigsaw autobiography-an intimate album of a beloved literary legend.

From the Chicago neighborhoods where she grew up and set her groundbreaking The House on Mango Street to her abode in Mexico in a region where “my ancestors lived for centuries,” the places Sandra Cisneros has lived have provided inspiration for her now-classic works of fiction and poetry. But a house of her own, where she could truly take root, has eluded her. With this collection-spanning three decades, and including never-before-published work-Cisneros has come home at last.

Ranging from the private (her parents' loving and tempestuous marriage) to the political (a rallying cry for one woman's liberty in Sarajevo) to the literary (a tribute to Marguerite Duras), and written with her trademark lyricism, these signature pieces recall transformative memories as well as reveal her defining artistic and intellectual influences. Poignant, honest, deeply moving, this is an exuberant celebration of a life in writing lived to the fullest.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Dazzling . . . part artist statement, part declaration of independence.” —Los Angeles Times

“Delightful. . . . This memoir has the transcendent sweep of a full life. . . . [Cisneros’] prose reads like poetry, rhythmic and energetic; her poetry is as natural and effortless as plainspoken prose.” —Houston Chronicle

“[A] spirited collection. . . . [A House of My Own] puts a gifted storyteller at your fingertips, one who offers a panoply of life in apartments, rented rooms and borrowed houses, a journey with a curious, lively mind and reflections on cultures, families and traditions.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
“Resonant. . . . A complex, nuanced picture of the writer emerges—think of a mosaic, a collage.” —Chicago Tribune

“A fierce talent. No one writes like Cisneros. . . . A House of My Own is a compilation of true stories and non-fiction pieces that form a ‘jigsaw autobiography’ of the author’s life." —Jezebel

“An extraordinary and magical journey. Sandra Cisneros makes me so happy that I am a reader, so joyful that she is a writer, and even more exhilarated that she is part of our world. Read this book and laugh, cry, and rejoice!" —Edwidge Danticat

“Cisneros is right there in the room, fiercely candid, warm and gracious, talking about everything. . . . A literary salon steeped in storytelling and writers, [A House of My Own] honors her process and influences and draws attention to crucial and difficult points of her development. Like a manifesto, it reasserts Cisneros’s artistic credo." —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“In a tone that is intimate and inviting—indeed, we feel we are sitting right next to [Cisneros] as she sips tea (or chugs tequila) at her home in Mexico, and recounts her adventures with a laugh and a shake of the head: Ay Dios mio." —Los Angeles Review of Books

“[Cisneros] has documented her life through a mélange of essay, poetry, and battle cry." —Oprah.com

“Cisneros . . . has here written what may well be the best memoir of the year thus far. . . . A fierce portrait of an artist and her quest, and the roads taken and not taken to find a home of her own." —Library Journal (starred review)

“[Cisneros] opens wide the doors to the house of her life, and we are all privileged to cross the threshold." —The Austin Chronicle

“Throughout each story, though written for a diverse smattering of purposes and people, is Cisneros’s constant molding of words like clay. . . . [Her] words will make existing fans love her more, and drive new readers to reach for her previous works after closing this one." —The Washington Times

“Cisneros’s earnest but casual voice resonates throughout, rich with humor and a sense of urgency." —Pasatiempo (Santa Fe)

“Welcoming and deeply gratifying." —NBC News

“Gorgeous." —The Rumpus

“Frank, accessible examinations of multiple subjects braided together in Cisneros’s personable, self-examining style." —Albuquerque Journal

Kirkus Reviews

2015-07-07
The making of a Latina writer. Award-winning novelist, poet, and MacArthur Fellow Cisneros (Have You Seen Marie?, 2012, etc.) describes her first novel, The House on Mango Street (1983), as a series of discrete vignettes that could be read as a whole "to tell one big story…like beads in a necklace." That description is apt, as well, for this warm, gently told memoir assembled from essays, talks, tributes to artists and writers, introductions, and poems, most previously published over the last several decades. "I am the only daughter in a family of six sons. That explains everything," Cisneros once wrote as a contributor's note. But she admits her identity has been shaped, as well, by her proud, stern Mexican father, "intelligent, self-taught" Mexican-American mother, and by her childhood in working-class Chicago. Although she exalts in her identity as a Latina, she realized on a trip to Mexico, when she was 30, that like other "naive American children of immigrants," she was "filled with nostalgia for an imaginary country—one that exists only in images borrowed from art galleries and old Mexican movies." Cisneros chronicles the creation of her first novel, begun in graduate school at the University of Iowa, when she was 22, and completed on the Greek island of Hydra in a whitewashed house with "thick walls, gentle lines, and rounded corners, as if carved from feta cheese." Homes feature in many pieces: the apartments her family moved into, always looking for cheaper rent; the house they finally bought, where the author had a closet-sized bedroom; her house in San Antonio that she painted purple, raising objections from the city's Historic and Design Review Commission. Besides reflecting on her writing, Cisneros discloses a period of severe, suicidal depression when she was 33; a tantalizing family secret; and eulogies for her parents. A charming, tender memoir from an acclaimed Mexican-American author.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172050176
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/06/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

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