Victor Villaseñor to Speak in Santa Ana, CA

From Victor Villaseñor, one of America’s most beloved writers, author of Rain of Gold and Burro Genius, comes Crazy Loco Love (September 2008, $26.95, 416 pages, clothbound, ISBN-13: 978-1-55885-315-7), a compelling memoir of his adolescent search for meaning and identity.  In this new work, Villaseñor deftly undermines the macho stereotype so often associated with Latinos, while exposing the tender vulnerability and naiveté of a young man grappling with his own sexuality and spirituality.  Kirkus Reviews says, “Readers will find Crazy Loco Love a departure in a new direction, for now the author, revisiting his late-adolescent self, becomes exceedingly interested in matters of the flesh.”

Victor’s youthful misadventures chronicled in this intensely revealing memoir will elicit sympathy, laughter, and tears as he recounts attempts to divine the mysteries of the opposite sex.  And it’s during those formative years that Villaseñor sets upon a painful quest to find his place in a world he didn’t fit into.  His journey takes him to Mexico, where he learns that Mexicans are smart and successful; they are architects, professors, and artists.  Most importantly, he meets an older woman who cultivates in him a deeper understanding of his own intellectual capacity and helps him see the world—and his place in it—in a whole new way.  This revelation allows him to appreciate his own potential and realize his dreams of making a difference in the world through writing. 

Crazy Loco Love marks Villaseñor’s return to Arte Público, the independent press that published the best-selling Rain of Gold, which established the author as a literary force.

Villaseñor will launch his latest work at the Latino Book & Family Festival in Houston on September 20, 2008, and then set course for a national tour to promote Crazy Loco Love.

VICTOR VILLASEÑOR is a writer whose works have brought Mexican-American culture and literature to a wide audience. He is the author of the highly acclaimed best-sellers, Burro Genius (Rayo, 2004); Rain of Gold (Arte Público Press, 1991), which details the saga of his family’s immigration to the U.S. from Mexico; and Thirteen Senses: A Memoir (Rayo, 2002).  His other non-fiction works include Wild Steps of Heaven (Delta Books, 1995), Jury: The People vs. Juan Corona (Little Brown and Company, 1976), and the screenplay for the award-winning film The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez. Villaseñor lives in Oceanside, California, where he continues to write.