House Built on Ashes

José Antonio Rodríguez has written a classic. Gently poetic, utterly authentic, packed with rich scenes, House Built on Ashes invites us into the author's worlds of growing up in a big family in the borderlands of Mexico and South Texas. Read this brilliant book by a true maestro - hold his many worlds with reverence and curiosity - you will never be the same."" - Naomi Shihab Nye, author of Transfer and You and Yours

""In House Built on Ashes, José Antonio Rodríguez has gifted us a luminous coming-of-age memoir, a tender, searching exploration of what it means to be a resident alien in more ways than one. Rodríguez is an intimate guide to the hoops of allegiance that a boy-becoming-man must leap."" - Rob Nixon, author of Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor and Dreambirds: The Strange History of the Ostrich in Fashion, Food, and Fortune

""A beautiful portrayal of a world seldom seen in American letters, House Built on Ashes is needed, especially now."" - Sandra Cisneros, author of A House of My Own: Stories from My Life and The House on Mango Street

""House Built on Ashes is labeled a memoir, but could just as easily be considered a collection of creative nonfiction shorts. Rodriguez writes beautifully, and his prose conveys the transition from his early
childhood in rural Mexico to his life on the ""other side"" once he moves across the Texas border. The short-story structure works well, reflecting the way individual anecdotes combine to form memory. . .told in a way that makes the seemingly simple feel truly meaningful."" - Foreword Reviews

""Rodriguez writes beautifully, and his prose conveys the transition from his early childhood in rural Mexico to his life on the ""other side"" once he moves across the Texas border. The short-story structure works well, reflecting the way individual anecdotes combine to form memory. . .told in a way that makes the seemingly simple feel truly meaningful."" - Foreword Reviews