The writer Jovita González was long a member—and ultimately served as president—of the Texas Folklore Society, which strove to preserve the oral traditions and customs of her native state. Many of the folklore-based stories in this volume were published by González in periodicals such as the Southwest Review from the 1920s through the 1940s but have been gathered here for the first time.
Sergio Reyna has brought together more than thirty narratives by González and arranged them into Animal Tales (such as “The Mescal-Drinking Horse”); Tales of Humans (“The Bullet-Swallower”); Tales of Mexican Ancestors (“Ambrosio the Indian”); and Tales of Ghosts, Demons, and Buried Treasure (“The Woman Who Lost Her Soul”). Reyna also provides a helpful introduction that succinctly surveys the author’s life and work and considers her writings within their historical and cultural contexts.
“The collection is significant both as a remarkable literary work… and as a contribution toward understanding the historic framework of the storyteller genre surviving in Mexican-American lore.” -Library Journal
“This collection is recommended for both public and academic libraries.” -Counterpoise
JOVITA GONZÁLEZ (1904-1983) was born in south Texas to a family of teachers. In the summer of 1925 she had “the far-reaching experience” of meeting folklorist J. Frank Dobie, who became an enduring friend and mentor. At his urging and with his encouragement, she began publishing tales of the Texas-Mexico border such as those she knew from her childhood. With her husband, Edmundo Mireles, she also co-authored two popular series of textbooks for learning Spanish. Two novels written by her were published posthumously: Caballero (Texas A&M University Press, 1996) and Dew on the Thorn (Arte Público Press,1997).
SERGIO REYNA is a doctoral candidate in Spanish at the University of Houston and a bilingual teacher with the Alief Independent School District. He previously served as co-editor of the journal Difusión Educativa of the National Pedagogical University in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Counterpoise writes, “This collection is recommended for both public and academic libraries.”
