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lukenotjohn's review against another edition
2.5
I sought out "In Nueva York" after reading [b:Now We Will Be Happy|21945041|Now We Will Be Happy|Amina Gautier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403740176l/21945041._SY75_.jpg|41249137] last year and absolutely loving it. The premises are nearly identical; both are collections of short stories following intersecting Puerto Rican characters living in New York City (with a bit more geographic and character diversity from Gautier). As someone who lives in a neighborhood of Philadelphia with a significant Puerto Rican population, I was blown away by the amount of resonance and reflection I found from reading Gautier's stories, and when I heard that another collection written a few decades prior had the same focus I decided to give it a go.
Unfortunately, these stories didn't hold up nearly as well. I found there to be a general lack of artfulness or intentionality with the writing; everything is discussed in a very straightforward manner that's definitely easy to read but pretty unmemorable. The dialogue is what hurt it the most for me, though. While I appreciated the frequent inclusion of Spanish colloquialisms ("Ave Maria" is probably said more than any other phrase in the book), there was a stiffness, formality, and blandness to all of the conversations in spite of that and they never felt like authentic interactions. Furthermore, I think what made Gautier's stories work so well was the recurring inclusion of different Puerto Rican meals and dishes as a sort of anchor that helped to establish and root the characters in their cultural identity (and simply as a compelling sensory detail) whereas that just wasn't the case here (in spite of quite a few stories being centered around meals/taking place at a luncheonette). Truthfully, without the sensory-dense storytelling, there was far less resonance and familiarity for me while reading through these, in spite of nearly identical settings.
With that said, I didn't mind reading the stories and even enjoyed them overall. Thinking of the collection as a whole, I do think that something interesting and really thoughtful was being said about the experience of disapora (all of the characters, but especially the recently relocated Lali and William who we watch assimilate while simultaneously longing for PR) by connecting it with more general experiences of being a cultural outsider (William being a dwarf, the inclusion of a gay and a lesbian couple) and a feeling of grieving what's been lost (literally, a mother grieving her son after he's been killed or the story of the young girl who goes missing). The stories themselves don't offer too much to chew on, but the characters were likable enough and I think Mohr was wise to keep the cast pretty interconnected and even cycle through a core few while still using a short-story format. We really get the sense that we have a deep connection with one unique block of the Lower East Side (the one haunted by that damn orange cat) and I found that rewarding by the end.
Unfortunately, these stories didn't hold up nearly as well. I found there to be a general lack of artfulness or intentionality with the writing; everything is discussed in a very straightforward manner that's definitely easy to read but pretty unmemorable. The dialogue is what hurt it the most for me, though. While I appreciated the frequent inclusion of Spanish colloquialisms ("Ave Maria" is probably said more than any other phrase in the book), there was a stiffness, formality, and blandness to all of the conversations in spite of that and they never felt like authentic interactions. Furthermore, I think what made Gautier's stories work so well was the recurring inclusion of different Puerto Rican meals and dishes as a sort of anchor that helped to establish and root the characters in their cultural identity (and simply as a compelling sensory detail) whereas that just wasn't the case here (in spite of quite a few stories being centered around meals/taking place at a luncheonette). Truthfully, without the sensory-dense storytelling, there was far less resonance and familiarity for me while reading through these, in spite of nearly identical settings.
With that said, I didn't mind reading the stories and even enjoyed them overall. Thinking of the collection as a whole, I do think that something interesting and really thoughtful was being said about the experience of disapora (all of the characters, but especially the recently relocated Lali and William who we watch assimilate while simultaneously longing for PR) by connecting it with more general experiences of being a cultural outsider (William being a dwarf, the inclusion of a gay and a lesbian couple) and a feeling of grieving what's been lost (literally, a mother grieving her son after he's been killed or the story of the young girl who goes missing). The stories themselves don't offer too much to chew on, but the characters were likable enough and I think Mohr was wise to keep the cast pretty interconnected and even cycle through a core few while still using a short-story format. We really get the sense that we have a deep connection with one unique block of the Lower East Side (the one haunted by that damn orange cat) and I found that rewarding by the end.
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