The Mexican @ Tianguis

UPDATE:
SLOTS FOR THE READING ARE ALL FILLED, BUT MAKE SURE TO JOIN US FOR THE BOOKSIGNING--THAT IS OPEN TO ALL.

BOOKSIGNING BEGINS AT 8 P.M.


Gustavo Arellano, author of ¡Ask a Mexican! will be doing a reading and booksigning at Tianguis. I almost fell out when this opportunity came up. It was a no-brainer, we gave a resounding yes. For reasons beyond his entertaining column and coming to read at our humble nook in Pilsen, Gustavo has made it on our list of favorite people ever.


If you're interested in joining us, here's the official scoop:

What: Reading and booksigning with Gustavo Arellano author of ¡Ask a Mexican!

When: Wed. July 18, 2007
Please note: Reading: 7 p.m. RSVP required. Space is limited.
Booksigning: 8 p.m.Open to all.

Where: Tianguis: books. tea. cultura, 2003 S. Damen.

How to rsvp: Call 312.492.8350 or email info@tianguis.biz

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Arellano on the Colbert Report

July events @ Tianguis

Wednesday, July 11th @ 7 p.m.
Tianguis Bookclub A final opportunity to join the book club discussion on the award winning, and Pulitzer Prize finalist: The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. Free.

Thursday, July 12th @ 7 p.m.
Hooks and Needles Our stitching circle meets monthly on 2nd Thursdays. Open to everyone: Beginners and crochet/knitting veterans. Free.

Wednesday, July 18th @ 7 p.m.
Ask a Mexican! Gustavo Arellano author of the hilarious book Ask A Mexican returns to Chicago and will be doing a reading and book signing at Tianguis. RSVP required, space is limited.

Thursday, July 26th @ 7 p.m.
Reading featuring Raúl Niño and his exquisite new chapbook Book Of Mornings.

LUNATIC(A)S, Teatro Luna's new show

Our friends over at Teatro Luna are once again doing what they do best. We went to see this show last Friday. I cried, I laughed, and laughed so hard I cried.

Don't miss the CRAZIEST show of the season! Teatro Luna's LUNATIC(A)S. That crazy stuff you don't want to admit you do? We'll confess it for you - you can just sit back and RELATE! I promise.

LUNATIC(A)S
June 7-July 15
@Chicago Dramatists
Thurs @ 7:30, Fri/Sat @8pm, Sun @ 3pm
$15 general admission/$10 students
For tickets and info call 773-878-LUNA or e-mail info@teatroluna.org




update: REVIEWS ARE IN!

Don't miss Teatro Luna's latest show, LUNATIC(A)S. Audiences love it and the critics do too! Here's a sampling of what they have to say:

JEFF RECOMMENDED

THE TRIBUNE:
Few theatrical endeavors capture the essence of the modern-day female better than Teatro Luna... This is chick lit without the bad writerly flourishes; Cosmo magazine without the quizzes or the how-to-please-your-man confections. Teatro Luna, of course, brings a funky Latina point of view to the table, and its shows are executed with a precision and liveliness that is hard to resist...the show as a whole contains some of the strongest observational humor you will find this side of "Sex and the City,"

TIME OUT CHICAGO
funny feministas....blistering, hilarious honesty about the everyday insanities they experience as women and as Latinas...

EPOCH TIMES
...this is pure comedy with a capital "C"."

Bookclub: The Devil's Highway, recap

Our bookclub discussion for The Devil's Highway was last night. There will be one more opportunity to share thoughts on the book in July, stay tuned for the date and time.

For now, I want to take a quick moment and follow up on last night's book club discussion. We had a nice exchange of ideas, regarding the book and the immigration issues it touches on. Some shared personal stories, or family anecdotes, it was definitely a book that struck a chord with many. One participant said she appreciated how the book humanized the immigrants crossing and a few regretted not having a novel format because we were left wanting to know more. I wondered if perhaps this was Urrea's way of conveying that desperation and feeling of not knowing feelings that perhaps the families left behind still live with.

Different passages stood out for a few of us. For me it was page 32, its a meager list of effects found on the victims that reads like a poem, for another person it was the top of page 165 that names the GPS coordinates that identifies where the journey ends for some victims, for another person it was page 128 that describes how walkers strip nude to escape the heat and how the clothing is found,"eerily neat, carefully folded and left in nice little piles."

Did you read the book and didn't have an opportunity to join us? Are there any thoughts you would like to share before the next book club discussion. We encourage you to post a comment here or send it to info@tianguis.biz.

On La Bloga

Lisa Alvarado, our featured performer for the next Proyecto Latina is the Thursday columnist for La Bloga. Her column today features Tianguis, Proyecto Latina and a profile on yours truly.

La Bloga is a blog that covers Chicana/Chicano Literature, Writers, Fiction, Children's Literature, News, Views, Reviews . My favorite feature is the extensive link list to author websites. No more wondering if your favorite Chicano author has a website. :)

Finally, make sure to mark your calendars and join us Monday, June 18th @ 7 p.m. for the next Proyecto Latina with Lisa Alvarado who will be sharing from a new body of work. As always there will be chismes and an open mic.

--Irasema Gonzalez

Tea Time: new hours and specials

NEW HOURS:
Mon. through Sat.: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sun: 10a.m. to 5 p.m.

The tea bar is finally open. That means that in addition to tasty drinks, we are introducing new hours. Please note that we are now open earlier and on Sundays. And to celebrate we are featuring a morning special:

MORNING SPECIAL:

$1.00
small coffee/tea*
7 a.m.-9 a.m.
*(select tea options)

We have organic loose leaf teas --our current favorite is the King Crimson blend--and we can make it a hot or iced tea. Indulge in one of the chais, we have four flavors for choose from. And for a sweeter, hot weather treat, try one of our bubble teas--with or without tapioca pearls. And finally, we also have coffee, and we promise that we can make a mean cup of cafecito.

Our primary mission is to celebrate Latino literature from established authors but also to help nurture emerging voices that are also telling our stories. Buying a drink or snack at Tianguis is a great way to support and help the book selection grow.

We invite you to swing by next time you're in the neighborhood. We are conveniently located across the CTA Pink Line, Damen stop. We can make our space available after hours for meetings or other events, contact us for details.

New bookclub selection: The Devil's Highway

The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea is our next book club selection! It's the first book that we pick that I have not actually read first. But I think its a safe gamble since it's a national bestseller and a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

The book recounts a true story about a group of Mexican immigrants that got lost in May of 2004, along the Arizona desert on a deadly stretch known as The Devil's Highway or La Carretera del Diablo.

I'm already half-way through the first chapter. I've also thumbed through different parts of the book, including the table of contents, the interview and readers questions at the back of the book. One item that stands out is the timeline summarizing the deadly five day journey these men went on. It begins and ends during the month of May. I'm beginning to feel that perhaps the timing of this book as our book club selection for the month of May is serendipity. In the last couple of months, we had considered a couple of titles by Urrea and just recently and unaware of this coincidence picked The Devil's Highway. The thought of that timing coincidence lingered as I began to read the first few pages, making Urrea's descriptions of desert and desolation all the more surreal.

In light of the ongoing immigration debate we think its a timely read for individuals on both sides of the argument. At the interview at the back of the book, Urrea is asked about how he kept his account objective, he responds, "If I was going to write a book hoping to deal with this issue fairly, how could I write with prejudice...I have to trust my readers to make up their own minds. Even if that means reaching decisions I didn't intend for them to reach."

We invite you to read along with us. If you have already read this book, we encourage you to revisit it and share your thoughts with us. You can do this either through the comment feature on this blog or by joining our book club discussion. Immigration affects us all at many levels, we hope this book can help spark some healthy dialogue in our community and perhaps inspire action leading to changes that ensure that tragedies like this no longer occur.

There are four weeks to read the book. The next book club discussion gathering will be Wednesday, June 6th at 7 p.m. Can't wait to see you.

The Devil's Highway (Bay Back Books, 13.99) is for sale at Tianguis.

--Irasema Gonzalez