...y no se lo tragÑ la tierra

Tomàs Rivera

Jan 1996 · Arte Publico Press

About this ebook

ñI tell you, God could care less about the poor. Tell me, why must we live here like this? What have we done to deserve this? YouÍre so good and yet you suffer so much,î a young boy tells his mother in Tomàs RiveraÍs classic novel about the migrant worker experience, ƒ y no se lo tragÑ la tierra. Outside the chicken coop that is their home, his father wails in pain from the unbearable cramps brought on by sunstroke from working in the hot fields. The young boy canÍt understand his parentsÍ faith in a god that would impose such horrible suffering, poverty, and injustice on innocent people. Adapted into the award-winning film ƒ and the earth did not swallow him and recipient of the first award for Chicano literature, the Premio Quinto Sol, in 1970, RiveraÍs masterpiece recounts the experiences of a Mexican-American community through the eyes of a young boy. Forced to leave their home in search of work, they are exploited by farmers, shopkeepers, even other Mexican Americans, and the boy must forge his self identity in the face of exploitation, death and disease, constant moving, and conflicts with school officials.

About the author

TOMS RIVERA (1935-1984) was born to a family of migrant farm workers in the South Texas town of Crystal City. In spite of moving constantly to work the crops, Rivera managed to graduate from high school. He went on to obtain a degree in English from Southwest Texas State University. He then earned a masterÍs degree in Spanish literature and a doctorate in Romance Languages and Literatures. He became a university administrator, and in 1979 he was appointed chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, a position he held for five years until his sudden death in 1984. His books published by Arte PÏblico Press include The Harvest (1989), The Searchers (1990), the collection Tomàs Rivera: The Complete Works (1991), and ƒy no se lo trago de la tierra / And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1992).