Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream

Sam Quinones's first book, True Tales From Another Mexico, was acclaimed for the way it peered into the corners of that country for its larger truths and complexities. Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream, Quinones's second collection of nonfiction tales, does the same for one of the most important issues of our times: the migration of Mexicans to the United States.

Quinones has covered the world of Mexican immigrants for the last thirteen years--from Chicago to Oaxaca, Michoacan to southeast Los Angeles, Tijuana to Texas. Along the way, he has uncovered stories that help illuminate all that Mexicans seek when they come north, how they change their new country, and are changed by it.

Here are the stories of the Henry Ford of velvet painting in Ciudad Juarez, the emergence of opera in Tijuana, the bizarre goings-on in the L.A. suburb of South Gate, and of the drug-addled colonies of Old World German Mennonites in Chihuahua. Through it all winds the tale of Delfino Juarez, a young construction worker, and modern-day Huckleberry Finn, who had to leave his village to change it.

"Sam Quinones is a border legend. For those in the know, his reportage has been cause for celebration. Now, with Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream he takes us behind the lines and undercover. He puts a human face on 'illegal
immigration' and he gives us stunning stories of survival and dread. However, he accomplishes something more valuable than a mere parade of sensational set pieces--Quinones starts to put the complex issues in the light of understanding and hard-won wisdom."--Luis A. Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway and The Hummingbird's Daughter

"Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream is journalism that doesn't replay or expand on the clichéd or stereotyped stories of the exotic border, of mystical or threatening mejicanos. Genuinely original work, what great fiction and nonfiction aspire to be, these are stories that stop time and remind us how great reading is."--Dagoberto Gilb, author of Hecho en Tejas

Sam also teaches a writing workshop -- TELL YOUR TRUE TALE -- based on his books and career as a writer of narrative nonfiction. Check out his storytelling experiment of the same name at his website: http://www.samquinones.com/tell-your-true-tale.html.