¡Yo! by Julia Alvarez

Yolanda García--Yo for short--has proved she's a writer with a wildly successful first novel that makes "characters" out of her family, friends, and lovers. While Yo basks in the spotlight, her loved ones find their naked and very recognizable selves dangling in that same blinding light. the result? The "fictionally victimized" want to tell their side of the story. 

And so they do in Julia Alvarez's hilarious, poignant, brilliantly conceived novel about the collisions of art and reality, intellect and emotion, American acculturation and her own Dominican Republic roots. Here, Yo's three sisters, her Mami and Papi, grandparents, tias, tios, cousins, and husbands take center stage to tell their versions of the truth about Yo. Alvarez makes us believe in them all and in the irrepressible Yo, whose creative demiurge is rooted deep in her childhood memories and in two contrasting cultures. 

A full and true exploration of a woman's soul, a meditation on the writing life, and a lyrical account of the immigrant's search for identity and a place in the world, ¡Yo! is a dazzling, richly hued novel filled with zesty dialogue, beguiling warmth, and genuine insight that could only have come from the palette of Julia Alvarez. 

*Used in Very Good Condition. There are a few pages folded on their corners; no pen/pencil/highlighter marks