Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club

By Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Sometimes the border is a mirror, sometimes it’s an escape, and sometimes it’s just the bridge you cross to go home.

Description

All borders entangle those who live on either side, resulting in many a tale. Take, for instance, these seven evocative stories coming out of the Kentucky Club on Avenida Juárez two blocks south of the Rio Grande. It’s a touchstone for all who walk by or go in for a drink or to score. The border on which it sits is really no border at all. Like all special watering holes, it is a liminal space, undefined and unclaimed. It welcomes Spanish and English, Mexicans and gringos, poor and rich, gay and straight, drug addicts and drunks, laughter and sadness, and even despair. It’s a place of rich history and good drinks and cold beer and a long, polished mahogany bar. Some days it smells like piss. “I’m going home to the other side,” folks say. That’s a strange statement, but you hear it all the time at the Kentucky Club.

About the Creators

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an award-winning novelist, poet, and writer of children's books. His many acclaimed titles include the picture books A Gift from Papá Diego, The Dog Who Loved Tortillas, and A Perfect Season for Dreaming; the young adult novels Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood and Last Night I Sang to the Monster; and the adult story collection Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club, all from Cinco Puntos Press. His Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe won the Printz Award, young adult literature's highest honor. Ben lives and works in El Paso, Texas. Visit his website at benjaminsaenz.com.

Awards

  • Lambda Literary Award Winner

    Lambda Literary

  • PEN America Literary Awards Winner

    PEN America

  • Stonewall Book Award Honor

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • Southwest Book Awards Winner

    Border Regional Library Association

Reviews

  • "Sáenz's moving collection of short stories hinges on the intergenerational clientele of the titular borderland watering hole just south of the U.S.-Mexican divide on Avenida Juárez. . . There's much to enjoy in these gritty, heartfelt stories."

    - Publishers Weekly
  • "Sàenz writes prose that is tender, occasionally fierce, and always engaging. Read every word of his stories lest you miss some clever twist, some subtle irony, some gentle nuance of poetic imagery that he has labored to create."

    - Booklist

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781935955320
  • Publication Date Oct 30, 2012
  • Trim Size 9 × 6 in
  • Weight 0.6875 lbs
  • Page Count 224
  • Interests

  • Audience Adult
  • BISAC Category 1 FICTION / LGBTQ+ / Gay
  • BISAC Category 2 FICTION / Hispanic & Latino
  • BISAC Category 3 FICTION / Coming of Age
  • Themes Fiction, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, LGBTQIA+, Realistic Fiction
  • Reading Levels

  • Guided Reading Adult
  • Interest Level Adult
  • Reading Level Adult
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

    • 23
      Adult Fiction
      Collection of 23 books: $398.85

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      Sometimes the truth is not the truth, but murder is always murder. Which of the brothers carries the bloody knife?

      White Panties, Dead Friends

      "Byrd writes poems like a novelist. Epic ones. His lines are full of fiction, bullshit and beauty."--E.Myles

      The Price of Doing Business in Mexico

      The Mexican Border stands at the soul's edge with a port-of-entry leading directly into Byrd's poems.

      Otherwise, My Life is Ordinary

      Spoken plainly, all of us get born, then we go away. What shall we do in the meantime, huh?

      My Marriage A to Z

      A prose poem written in dictionary form, My Marriage A to Z is a unique chronicle of life within marriage.

      Letters to Goya

      Internationally acclaimed artist James Magee (alleged doppelganger of equally acclaimed artist Annabel Livermore) reinvents himself one more time as poet.

      The Last Cigarette on Earth

      A gay Latino's intimate journey through addiction, human desire and broken love.

      Elegies in Blue

      Saenz speaks from inside the skin of himself--Chicano, political being, spiritual seeker, family man and lover.

      Incantations

      Mayan women sing sacred magical woman poems.

      As Far As I Know

      Remember the poetry of William Stafford? Stafford's quiet wisdom? Good. Now listen up. Joseph Somoza wanders the same territory. Differently.

      The Right Way to Be Crippled and Naked

      When you're disabled, you don't have to be naked to be naked.

      The Death of Bernadette Lefthand

      Twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Ron Querry's haunting first novel about the mysterious death of a young Indian dancer is a stunning portrayl of the spirit and struggles of the Southwest's native peoples.

      When a Woman Rises

      Two Zapatista women, bound by cultural expectations, struggle to express the truth of their lives in the highlands of Chiapas.

      The Amado Women

      Four women, connected by birth, separated by secrets.

      Sofrito

      A Cuban-American travels to Havana searching for a secret recipe where he finds love and the truth about his father.

      Make It, Take It

      Witty and insightful, this isn't the college basketball we hear about on TV. And Bradburd knows what he's talking about.

      Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club

      Sometimes the border is a mirror, sometimes it's an escape, and sometimes it's just the bridge you cross to go home.

      Conquistador of the Useless

      Sex is fun, but a baby? Why climb a mountain? What's your favorite band? A Grunge Generation novel of answers.

      Cold Type

      "You mean, you crossed the picket line right past your daddy and he took a swing at you?"

      A Woman, In Bed

      Simone sleeps with strangers. The most important stranger? Her husband Jacques. A love story spanning WWI to WWII in Paris.

      A Tightly Raveled Mind

      A psychoanalyst's sanity unravels when several patients die and she falls for the private investigator she's hired to help.

      Nobody's Pilgrims

      No Country for Old Men meets Contagion in this story of three teenagers on the run, carrying a great menace, and chased by a greater evil.

      A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son

      A collection of short stories where Mexican-Americans grapple with their roots as their ambitions take them far from home.

      1367 in stock

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