GAUCHO

by Gloria Gonzalez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 1977

This is one of those superficially realistic but essentially undisturbing slum stories, about a poor Puerto Rican boy in New York and his attempts to earn money to take his mother ""home."" Gradually Gaucho realizes that his somewhat childlike mother prefers New York, welfare and all, but meanwhile there is his hard work at the grocery store and, in a different vein, his other delivery job which ends in a hairy chase through Chinatown and a shoot-out in which his shady employer (a counterfeiter, Gaucho learns later from TV) is killed. A straight but friendly policeman brother-in-law and a kind, flashy uncle in the numbers racket help Gaucho come through the experience sobered and wiser, while Mama provides food, love, and parties with a Spanish flavor. Likable, of its kind.

Pub Date: Sept. 5, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1977

Categories: FICTION