Alvarez, Julia

Chapel Hill. 1997. Algonquin Books. 1st Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket . 1565121570. 309 pages. hardcover. Cover: Illustration by: Robbin Gourley. Design by: Gwen Petruska. Author photo: Daniel Cima. keywords: Literature Dominican Women Caribbean America. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Yolanda Garcia - Yo, for short - is the literary one in the family. Her first published novel, in which she made ‘characters' out of her three sisters, her Mami and Papi, her grandparents, tias, tios, cousins, housemaids, and husbands was a big success. Now she's famous and basking in the spotlight while her ‘characters' find their naked and very recognizable selves dangling in that same blinding light. So what happens? Turnabout is fair play. Yolanda Garcia's family and friends get their chance to tell the truth about Yo: how she's always had to be center stage; that she's been telling lies since the day she was born; about the year she went into therapy with her best friend and how Yo swore off sex; how her college professor kept trying to keep her from ruining her life and throwing away her talent; how she stole a plot for a short story from one of her students; how she fills the house her third husband built for her with voodoo offerings-'little things he mustn't touch'-we]l, you get the idea. Everyone, from her sisters to her fame-obsessed stalker, rips into her. In the process, they create endearing self-portraits, while Yo (which also means ‘I') is herself denied the privilege of speaking in her own defense. This zesty, daring novel is about what happens when an author really does ‘write what she knows.' At once funny and poignant, intellectual and gossipy, lighthearted and layered in meaning, Yo! is, ironically and above all, a portrait of the artist. And with its bright colors, passion, and penchant for controversy, it's a portrait that could come only from the palette of Julia Alvarez. inventory #24553 ISBN: 1565121570.