The Silver Cloud Cafe

Rating:
Summary: Magical realism meets racial relations in the USA
Review: A tale of migrant farmers and mystery workers, discrimination and dignity, mishap and miracle. Pasts that are forgotten and puzzles that are explained. Excellent.

Rating:
Summary: thank you
Review: After I finished "la Maravilla", I was sure it would be a long time before I read a book that moved me, entertained me, and improved me as much. But within a few months I came across a copy of "Silver Cloud Cafe" , which turned out to be, in some ways, an even better book. I am in awe of the talent of Alfredo Vea, and I am deeply thankfull for the books he has written. The humanity of his characters, and the beauty of his language make him, in my opinion, the best writer of our time.

Rating:
Summary: Silver Cloud Cafe
Review: Mr. Vea weaves a fasinating tale full of symbolism. It is a unique view of of the world as seen through the eyes of tis observer of latino culture in California. His writing is more an epic poem than strictly a novel. A highly exciting work.

Rating:
Summary: A Melting Pot of Magic
Review: Vea has written a masterpiece with Silver Cloud. Addressing the very serious issue of immigration in America and the search of many for their place in the nation, Vea manages to show his readers the beauty and the ugliness of our country with characters who are magically real. The novel urges the reader to identify his/her own feelings about their own culture as well as the blending of many in attempted assimilation. Interwoven with this challenge to culture is a beautifully written story that allows the reader to suspend his/her assumptions about reality and let their imaginations run wild.

Rating:
Summary: A Melting Pot of Magic
Review: Vea has written a masterpiece with Silver Cloud. Addressing the very serious issue of immigration in America and the search of many for their place in the nation, Vea manages to show his readers the beauty and the ugliness of our country with characters who are magically real. The novel urges the reader to identify his/her own feelings about their own culture as well as the blending of many in attempted assimilation. Interwoven with this challenge to culture is a beautifully written story that allows the reader to suspend his/her assumptions about reality and let their imaginations run wild.

Rating:
Summary: Melting pot at a boiling point?
Review: Vea's book looks at the issue of immigration from an unusual viewpoint, using mysticism, religion, and simple slight of hand magic to tell a story that incorporates not only the struggles that immigrants to the U.S. endure, but also the daily events that permeate the lives of all people. The story is centered around an evening of inexplicable occurrences, ranging from a mysterious murder to several fires started in the surrounding area, and expands to tell the story of several immigrants, whose unique experiences led them all to San Francisco in the "present." I thought that the use of mystery and the issues of faith and magic were extremely interesting, but what I found even more intriguing were the stories and experiences Vea's characters related through various methods. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and appreciated the opportunity to enter into a world that I have little experience with.

Rating:
Summary: You are invited
Review: Vea's fiction requires you, the reader, to make it complete. It is maybe the most personal popular writing that you will read. That isn't to say it is sentimental in the least, and this review isn't meant to dissect plot, theme, or characterization. Just know that all those things are there and presented with a high degree of skill and competence. You could use labels like "magic realism" or "post modern" narrative to describe this fiction, but labels are never enough to describe art. Vea is the rare writer who empties his heart and it just happens to touch you personally.

Maybe it's because I read this book over a few days on the beaches of Sanibel island in perfect weather, or it could be that this is one of the most overlooked pieces of fictional art of the last ten years. Whatever. Just read it if you love poetic, sprawling fiction.