Alex Espinoza Alisa Valdes Alma Flor Ada Antonio Skarmeta Arte Publico Benjamin Alire Saenz Caridad Piñeiro Carlos Fuentes Carolina de Robertis Cesar Aira Cristina Garcia Dagoberto Gilb Denise Chavez Diana Gabaldon Diana Lopez Duncan Tonatiuh Esmeralda Santiago Francisco Goldman Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gary Soto Guadalupe Garcia McCall Gustavo Arellano Gwendolyn Zepeda Hector Tobar Isabel Allende Joe Hayes Jorge Luis Borges Jose Saramago Joy Castro Juan Felipe Herrera Juan Ramon Jimenez Judith Ortiz Cofer Julia Alvarez Junot Diaz Justin Torres Kami Garcia La Casa Azul Bookstore Librotraficante Lorraine Lopez Luis Alberto Urrea Luis J.Common information about name Alex Espinoza Full Name. Source: I received a review copy from the publisher. He was born in Tijerina, Mexico, grew up near Los Angeles and now teaches creative writing and literature at California State University, Fresno. A twist at the end didn’t hit me as much I thought it would, but it may surprise others.ĭeigo León shows how Hollywood and humans are such a mystery.Įspinoza’s first novel was the 2007 Still Water Saints. He smoothly weaves in historical details with the plot, and the book never feels like a textbook.īut Diego still seems a mystery to the readers – I enjoyed the book, but I never seemed to make an emotional connection with him – and maybe to himself. This was where he wanted to be, where he needed to be.”Įspinoza writes in simple language, with a fast-moving plot and frequent dialogue, so the book is easy to zip through. And yet he felt at home there, among the costumes and extravagance, among the chaos and commotion. 
It was all absurb and funny and dizzying. “Diego wanted to stay there, in that magnificent studio lot where French cancan dancers walked alongside nurses, where police officers mingled with criminals, where barons in fancy top hats and tuxedos shared cigarettes with homeless men in rags. Little wonder he feels most comfortable on the movie set. Diego has to struggle to find work as the Great Depression hits, and he begins to struggle with who he is, both personally – when he has to betray some friendships – and romantically – when he falls in love with someone unexpectedly. And, of course, nothing is what it seems. While the war rages on in Mexico, Diego moves to Hollywood.
But Diego – who found joy in performing folk dances and theater in his youth – yearns for something more. Now an adult, he would have a well-off, if dull, life if he stayed there. Diego eventually moves to a larger town to live with his wealthier maternal grandparents.
León begins with Diego as a child, when his father is gone from their small village to fight in the Mexican Revolutionary Ward. And that’s the premise of Alex Espinoza’s The Five Acts of Diego León (Random House). But real life can be the greatest illusion of all.
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