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Title: Clicheville
Review: I hoped this book would be good; Quinones has received a lot of acclaim for it. Unfortunately, this book is bad. Instead of subtlely or finely discussing the oppression, racism, and harsh reality his characters faced, Quinones preaches and divulges information in a totally unbeleivable way. There are the occasional well crafted phrases and sections, but they are drowned out by the horribly cliche plot and unbeleivable story line. I'm sure the numerous references to Spanish Harlem will ring true for those from that area, for me though, they didn't add much. Instead of just mentioning "la marqueta", why not reveal the nature of it? Reference after reference seemed to have only one purpose, "name dropping". As such, it grew tiresome. Notwithstanding the fact that my review is negative, I appreciate the fact that people are writing stories from the urban Latino perspective; I just think we can do better.
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