From Publishers Weekly
Novelist ( Macho ) and screenwriter Villasenor recounts the adventures and struggles of three generations of his family in this earthy Mexican American saga. His father, Juan Salvador, who fled a Mexico torn by revolution, was imprisoned at the Arizona state penitentiary at age 12 for stealing $6 worth of ore from the mine where he worked. He escaped. The author's mother, Lupe, was born in an exploitative U.S.-run gold mine in Mexico, where her brother was narrowly saved from hanging by their gutsy mother, a Yaqui Indian. Juan and Lupe bought a pool hall in the barrio of Carlsbad, Calif., the year Prohibition ended. Villasenor is a born storyteller, and this Latino Roots , though marred at times by sentimentality and cliches, is a gripping, inspirational epic full of wild adventure, bootlegging, young love, miracles, tragedies, murder and triumph over cultural barriers. 30,000 first printing; $60,000 ad/promo; TV rights to PBS. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Advertised as the Hispanic-American Roots , Rain of Gold is the story of three generations of the author's family's migration from revolutionary Mexico in the 20th century to California. But Rain of Gold is no Roots and Villasenor is not Alex Haley. His style is naive and disturbing--he ranges back and forth between his family's historical past and a more contemporary setting. Nevertheless, there is good material in this oral history. Villasenor blends family stories and tales handed down through generations into an uneven narrative but a text which is credible social history. The most visible persona is the author's mother Lupe, who grew up among soldiers and moved North from her native La Lluvia de Ora, the Mexican gold mine operated by omnipresent American economic colonial interests. The final episodes concern the family's transformation from rural Mexico to heavily Hispanic-populated California. The result is a narrative which reflects the true social fabric of Mexican Americans. Not all the publishers claim, but still recommended for most libraries. A six-hour Corporation for Public Broadcasting series is planned for 1993.- Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
A writer of Mexican-American heritage (Jury, 1977) tells the engrossing saga of his family's immigration to, and subsequent life in, California in the wake of the Mexican revolution. A sort of Hispanic Roots, the book focuses on three generations as they struggle with poverty and prejudice, love and life. When Villasenor was first contracted to write Rain of Gold, it was to be a ``major'' work of fiction. As he began interviewing his relatives for background material, however, he realized that there was a much more important story to tell: the nonfiction account of his family's history. Unable to convince his publisher to go along with his new plans, Villasenor gave back his $75,000 advance, took a $1,500 advance from a lesser-known house, and set about writing ``a history of a people--a tribal heritage, if you will--of my Indian-European culture as handed down to me....'' It was a brave and rewarding decision. From beginning to end, the chronicle is filled with one remarkable story after another. All have the simple warmhearted quality of family tales told around the kitchen table, yet all are eminently believable. Many episodes have to do with overcoming hardships: A daughter is brutally raped and goes blind; a proud mother is forced to become a beggar to support her children; a son admits to a murder he didn't commit in order to collect money for his family. Others deal with love and God and the ``meaning of life.'' The book is heavy-handed and sketchy at times, and bogs down in the second half, but, overall, it's a page-turner. Perhaps not the definitive Hispanic family epic, but an inspiring, fast-paced tale with a simple, fable-like quality that's often surprisingly moving. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Novelist ( Macho ) and screenwriter Villasenor recounts the adventures and struggles of three generations of his family in this earthy Mexican American saga. His father, Juan Salvador, who fled a Mexico torn by revolution, was imprisoned at the Arizona state penitentiary at age 12 for stealing $6 worth of ore from the mine where he worked. He escaped. The author's mother, Lupe, was born in an exploitative U.S.-run gold mine in Mexico, where her brother was narrowly saved from hanging by their gutsy mother, a Yaqui Indian. Juan and Lupe bought a pool hall in the barrio of Carlsbad, Calif., the year Prohibition ended. Villasenor is a born storyteller, and this Latino Roots , though marred at times by sentimentality and cliches, is a gripping, inspirational epic full of wild adventure, bootlegging, young love, miracles, tragedies, murder and triumph over cultural barriers. 30,000 first printing; $60,000 ad/promo; TV rights to PBS. (Aug.)

Library Journal