The Plight of Rudy "Gordo" Sanchez and Other Short Stories

Author

David Andrew Rubalcava-Talamantes

Publication Date

8-28-2012

Abstract

The Plight of Rudy 'Gordo' Sanchez and Other Short Stories' is a collection of one novella and nine short stories dealing with a broad range of themes like borders, immigration, race, sex, sexuality, violence, religion, spirituality, food, obsession, fetishes, and death. The stories range from sad and serious to sarcastic and darkly humorous to happy and joy-filled to really quite disturbing. They are meant to be raw, sexual, grotesque, violent, beautiful, sweet, delicious, and painful. The characters are gay men in love, a reality television show judge, a bench, feminine little boys, a sadistic group therapy leader, a man dying of AIDS, Frida Kahlo, a piñata maker, a female prostitute with supernatural powers, and an overweight taco truck chef with a special soul. The Stories are set in diverse places like Ciudad Juárez, El Paso (TX), Gun Hole (a fictional city in the Texas Bible Belt), Denver (CO), St. Louis Park (MN), Minneapolis (MN), San Francisco (CA), Barcelona, Albuquerque (NM), and Trinidad (CO). The stories all speak to the human condition as well as what it is to be human physically, biologically, and genetically. Love is at the core of most of these stories, not just romantic love but familial and also the love of self. Craft wise, the stories use the idea of central image, some play with form and structure, some use magical realism, the point of view varies from story to story, and the novella plays with time, setting, plot, and footnotes. Several pieces are still works in progress, but the idea behind this collection is my sincere attempt to affect my reader, to make my reader feel some specific emotion from the characters and language of each story.'

Degree Name

MFA Creative Writing

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

Warner, Sharon Oard

Second Committee Member

Rebolledo, Tey Diana

Third Committee Member

Ciabattari, Jane

Language

English

Keywords

Short stories, Gay men -- Fiction, Mexican Americans -- Fiction

Document Type

Dissertation

Recommended Citation

Rubalcava-Talamantes, David Andrew. "The Plight of Rudy "Gordo" Sanchez and Other Short Stories." (2012). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/engl_etds/42