I Can Hear the Cowbells Ring is Lionel G. García’s collection of autobiographical vignettes reconstructing life in a small rural village in South Texas after World War II. With characteristic fine humor and occasional brushstrokes of nostalgia, the author succeeds in portraying a multitude of characters — from his, crazy uncle Merce, to the long suffering village priest and the town dog — brought together by warmth, tolerance and caring that binds them into an extended family. Throughout, the joy of life that pervades this remarkable collection dazzles the reader into a reaffirmation of all that is good and courageous in human beings struggling to eke out an existence with little more than hope and the sweat from their unending toil.
“[A] raucously funny portrait of an extended family.”—Publishers Weekly
LIONEL GARCÍA is the author of four award-winning novels, Leaving Home (Arte Público Press, 1994), A Shroud in the Family (Arte Público Press, 1994) , Hardscrub (Arte Público Press, 1994) and To a Widow with Children (Arte Público Press, 1994), and a collection of autobiographical sketches, I Can Hear the Cow Bells Ring (Arte Público Press, 1994). He is the recipient of the Texas Institute of Letters Best Novel Award and the Southwestern Booksellers Association’s Texas Literary Award. His work has received considerable critical praise, including comparisons by the Los Angeles Times to Gabriel García Márquez. Born and raised in San Diego, Texas, he currently practices veterinary medicine in Seabrook, Texas.
