Jackson Heights Chronicles
When Crossing the Border Isn't Enough
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From his small travel agency tucked away in an area of New York City known as Little Colombia, the "Godfather of Jackson Heights" does far more than make travel arrangements. Fernando Padrón is a social service fixer to many of the tens of thousands of Latino immigrants living in his neighborhood. Tax accountant, job hunter, fund-raiser, and missing persons detective are just some of his roles. Fernando also earned the title of Undertaker for the Mules after helping families repatriate the remains of the dozens who die every year smuggling drugs into New York when drug-filled capsules in their stomachs explode. The riveting experiences shared in this collection of connected stories are based on the author's life. In scenes at once fascinating, inspiring, and heartbreaking, Orlando Tobón reveals not only what it means to be an immigrant, but also what it means to be an American.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tobon paints a gripping picture of life and loss in the mean streets of New York's Jackson Heights, a multi-ethnic neighborhood in Queens with a large Colombian population. Known as the "Mayor of Little Columbia" (a character in the film Maria Full of Grace is based on him), Tobon is a New York City travel agent and community leader who aids the families of "mules"-Colombians who risk their lives by transporting drugs to the U.S. In this series of short fictions, Tobon-like protagonist Fernando deals with the mafia, the cruel "coyotes" paid to smuggle humans (and their drugs) into the U.S., daily neighborhood hardships and devastating family betrayals. Using deceptively straightforward prose, Tobon weaves suspense, nuance and drama into disquieting situations, with dialogues that interlace broken English and simple Spanish. The result is a grim, vivid mosaic.
