The Mexican Man in His Backyard

Ralph Bowden. Rev.The Mexican Man in His Backyard: Stories & Essays by Stephen D. Gutierrez. Sacramento, CA: Roan Press, 2014.

The Mexican Man in His Backyard: Stories & Essays contains twelve short pieces that span the story-essay continuum. Some are memoir-like, some are extended slice-of-life vignettes, some are probably mostly fiction, though based on events or places in Gutierrez’s life. These are not traditional narratives with clear beginnings, expositions, and endings. Structure is loose or undefined. Gutierrez writes in fragments, some of them poetically lyrical and richly metaphorical. They do not flow together linearly, however, in time or subject. Readers are challenged to supply their own structure, if they must have it.

Plenty of justified angst motivates Gutierrez’ writing. He fears his genetic destiny, with a father who suffered and died early from Alzheimer’s disease, a brother who is not quite right in the head, and ancestors who also display mental problems. He and his wife, also a writer, evidently suffered academic stresses and, resulting from those, severe emotional upsets. His life has not been easy, though he has enjoyed some recognition.

While he is American and his Spanish is admittedly poor, his heritage is Mexican, and he lives in neighborhoods–Los Angeles and Fresno–full of Latinos, whom he uses liberally in these pieces. For most readers, the people, events, and settings, while not exactly exotic, will be unfamiliar enough to sustain much deserved interest.