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October 15, 2010 - Booked Solid by Terri Schlichenmeyer

Madre & I
by Guillermo Reyes
c.2010, University of Wisconsin Press
$18.95; 278 pages



You must have driven your mother crazy.

She went to the kitchen, you went with her. She tried to do laundry, you had to “help”; same with pretty much any household chore. She couldn’t even go to the bathroom without you banging on the door.

As a kid, you loved your mom to pieces and you followed her everywhere. It stands to reason, then, that you’d follow her to another country. That’s what author Guillermo Reyes did, and in his new book Madre & I, he writes a dual memoir.

Born in Santiago, Chile, Guillermo Reyes was a third-generation el hijo natural, a child “of nature” whose parents weren’t married. It wasn’t scandalous, but Reyes often wondered why there were so many surnames in his family. He wondered why he carried his father’s name.

A bookish, precocious boy, Reyes was bullied in school for being a “sissy.” His response was to become a know-it-all and teacher’s pet, which made the problem worse. Once, his mother stepped in to complain. At least once, she bullied him about it herself.

Maria Graciela Cáceres was a dreamer; her son says she strongly reminded him of the Julie Andrews character in The Sound of Music. Maria loved to entertain, and she loved a good adventure. It was no surprise, then, that she decided to follow a friend to America in 1970, to work as a nanny.

Reyes wasn’t worried. Left behind in the care of his extended, loving (and eccentric) family, he learned the truth about his father from a chatty “aunt.” Not long afterward, he joined his mother in Bethesda, Maryland. Later, together, they drove cross-country to California.

Reyes grew up a typical American teenager with attitude and a flair for the dramatic. Not shy, he longed for love and had crushes on several unattainable men, including one that eventually became his best friend.

Reyes mother, meanwhile, married a man who needed “papers.” It was a loveless marriage, but Maria accepted it and so did her son. It was with this man that Reyes forged what was perhaps the most meaningful father-figure relationship of his life. It was also from this unlikely stepfather that Reyes learned the most about his mother.

Oh, my, Madre & I is certainly a chatty book, and that’s not always a good thing.

Author and playwright Guillermo Reyes crams a lot of stories in this double memoir, but the problem is that he flits from tale to tale, year to year, and locale to city to nation. This had a whiplash effect on my attention span and I often fought to maintain focus.

The saving grace in this situation is Reyes’ sense of humor. He’s not afraid to garnish his tales with wit and light, and while it doesn’t erase the overwordiness of this book, it helps a lot.

Madre & I isn’t the best Mom-and-Me memoir I’ve ever read, but it’s not the worst, either. Tackle it if you will, enjoy it, but just be aware that it’s a little hard to follow.

Email Terri at bookwormsez@yahoo.com

‹ October 15, 2010 - Amazon Trail by Lee Lynch up October 15, 2010 - Before the Beach by Bob Yesbek ›

Past Issues

Issues Index

  • February 5, 2010 - Issue Index
  • March 12, 2010 - Issue Index
  • April 9, 2010 - Issue Index
  • May 7, 2010 - Issue Index
  • May 21, 2010 - Issue Index
  • June 4, 2010 - Issue Index
  • June 18, 2010 - Issue Index
  • July 2, 2010 - Issue Index
  • July 16, 2010 - Issue Index
  • July 30, 2010 - Issue Index
  • August 13, 2010 - Issue Index
  • August 27, 2010 - Issue Index
  • September 17, 2010 - Issue Index
  • October 15, 2010 - Issue Index
    • October 15, 2010 - Acknowledgments
    • October 15, 2010 - The Way I See It by Steve Elkins
    • October 15, 2010 - Speak Out - Letters to Letters
    • October 15, 2010 - In Brief - Boys In The Band
    • October 15, 2010 - In Brief
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMPmatters by Murray Archibald
    • October 15, 2010 - Volunteer and Sponsor Thank You
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Talk by Bill Sievert
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Out by Fay Jacobs
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Stories by Rich Barnett
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Chorus
    • October 15, 2010 - RBFF LGBT Guide 2010
    • October 15, 2010 - Amazon Trail by Lee Lynch
    • October 15, 2010 - Booked Solid by Terri Schlichenmeyer
    • October 15, 2010 - Before the Beach by Bob Yesbek
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Volunteer Spotlight by Chris Beagle
    • October 15, 2010 - We Remember
    • October 15, 2010 - View Point by Rich Rosendall
    • October 15, 2010 - High CAMP by Brent Mundt
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMPshots Gallery Index
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Arts by Doug Yetter
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Money by Chris Beagle
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Dates
    • October 15, 2010 - Ask the Doctor by Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D.
    • October 15, 2010 - Outfield by Dan Woog
    • October 15, 2010 - CAMP Fitness by Rick Moore
  • November 19, 2010 - Issue Index

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