First published 1985
Dagoberto Gilb presents eleven stories set in the American Southwest, focusing on working-class Latino characters navigating daily struggles and small victories. The collection's title story follows gamblers testing their luck at casino craps tables, where the pass line represents both betting strategy and life philosophy. Other stories feature construction workers, mechanics, and laborers dealing with economic uncertainty, family tensions, and cultural displacement. Characters move between English and Spanish, between traditional values and American dreams, often finding themselves caught between worlds that don't fully accept them. Gilb writes with spare prose that captures the rhythms of working-class speech and the harsh realities of manual labor. The stories reveal moments of dignity and resilience amid financial pressure and social marginalization, showing how ordinary people find meaning in small gestures of pride and connection.
Genres: fiction, short-stories, american-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resilience
Setting: American Southwest
Period: Contemporary
Paperback · Cinco Puntos Pr