{"product_id":"dispatches-from-puerto-nowhere-an-american-story-of-assimilation-and-erasure-hardcover-2","title":"Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere: An American Story of Assimilation and Erasure - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRobert Lopez\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThat I was born Puerto Rican was happenstance, but that I have no connection to what it means is no accident. My grandparents made conscious decisions and so did my father as part of the first generation born here in the States. And none of it bothered me until recently, which is probably why I can't quite put my finger on any of this. I'm still grappling with what I've lost and how I can miss something I've never had.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRobert Lopez's grandfather Sixto was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in 1904, immigrating to the United States in the 1920s, where he lived in a racially proportioned apartment complex in East New York, Brooklyn, until his death in 1987. The family's efforts to assimilate within their new homeland led to the near complete erasure of their heritage, culture, and language within two generations. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Little is known of Sixto--he may have been a longshoreman, a painter, or a boxer, but was most likely a longshoreman--or why he originally decided to leave Puerto Rico, other than that he was a meticulously slow eater who played the standup keyboard and guitar, and enjoyed watching baseball. Through family recollection, the constant banter volleyed across nets within Brooklyn's diverse tennis community, as well as an imagined fabulist history drawn from Sixto's remembered traits, in \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDispatches From Puerto Nowhere: An American Story of Assimilation and Erasure\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, Robert Lopez paints a compassionate portrait of family that attempts to bridge the past to the present, and re-claim a heritage threatened by assimilation and erasure.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert Lopez\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of three novels, \u003ci\u003ePart of the World\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKamby Bolongo Mean River\u003c\/i\u003e, named one of 25 important books of the decade by \u003ci\u003eHTML Giant\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAll Back Full\u003c\/i\u003e; two story collections, \u003ci\u003eAsunder\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGood People\u003c\/i\u003e, and a novel-in-stories titled \u003ci\u003eA Better Class of People\u003c\/i\u003e. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry has appeared in dozens of publications, including \u003ci\u003eBomb\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Threepenny Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVice Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew England Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Sun\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eNorton Anthology of Sudden Fiction - Latino\u003c\/i\u003e. He teaches at Stony Brook University and has previously taught at Columbia University, The New School, Pratt Institute, and Syracuse University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 280\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 7.7 x 5.8 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 14, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47411815448797,"sku":"9781953387240","price":28.08,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/9867\/8237\/files\/3Yb8PJT3jR9781953387240_cb3db1c6-f24b-4263-9a6a-01fde7c0aa49.webp?v=1771175781","url":"https:\/\/handfulofbooks.com\/products\/dispatches-from-puerto-nowhere-an-american-story-of-assimilation-and-erasure-hardcover-2","provider":"Handful of Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}