Product Description
A daring memoir of love, magic, adventure, and miracles, Victor Villaseñor's Thirteen Senses continues the exhilarating family saga that began in the widely acclaimed bestseller Rain of Gold, delivering a stunning story of passion, family, and the forgotten mystical senses that stir within us all.
Thirteen Senses begins with the fiftieth wedding anniversary of the aging former bootlegger Salvador and his elegant wife, Lupe. When asked by a young priest to repeat the sacred ceremonial phrase "to honor and obey," Lupe surprises herself and says. "No, I will not say 'obey'. How dare you! You don't talk to me like this after fifty years of marriage and I now knowing what I know!" After the hilarious shock of Lupe's rejection of the ceremony, the Villaseñor family is forced to examine the love that Lupe and Salvador have shared for so many years -- a universal, gut-honest love that will eventually energize and inspire the couple into old age.
Amazon.com Review
A good story, Victor Villaseñor writes in the opening pages of this sequel to Rain of Gold, can save your life. Consider, he continues in this memorable portrait of Latino family life, the case of his grandparents, who fled from civil-war-torn Mexico to the United States in 1910. As they traveled north, his father told Villaseñor, "Cannons were blasting. People were screaming and dying. The creeks ran red with blood." But Villaseñor's grandmother's stories about "the stars, the moon, the she-fox" kept the children's minds off the terrors around them, guiding them to their new homeland and shaping family history. That history provides the grist for Villaseñor's exuberantly spinning mill, yielding a sprawling narrative shot through with touches of magical realism and homespun philosophy, and tinged occasionally with regret--as when, for instance, Villaseñor's mother confesses, "I miss your father so much ... but I'm the one who could never bring myself to tell him that I loved him."
But sorrow is rare and humor plentiful as Villaseñor affectionately recounts his relatives' travails and improbable dreams, some of which, like a grandfather's quest for gold in a hidden Mexican canyon, come true. As he writes, Villaseñor underscores the importance of tradition, faith, forgiveness, and, yes, good stories in making life livable, and this good story will please many readers. --Gregory McNamee
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Loved It!, 2007-12-31
Started out a little slow, but became one of my favorites by the end. The second time I read it, it was much better. It is definately on the top of my recomindation list.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Villasenor is Magnificent!, 2003-07-13
I was truly excited to hear Villasenor had written a continuation to Rain of Gold! I could hardly wait to get my hands on a copy of Thirteen Senses, and I'm so happy I did. Rain of Gold did so much to change my perspective on the Mexican experience in this century, and I felt a longing to know what happened to Lupe and Salvadore after their marriage ceremony. This story really came through, showing their growth as a couple along with their individual spiritual growth. This story is about growing into real adulthood and loosing our childish self centeredness. It's about discovering how incredible a person can be, and how far limits can be pushed.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Daughter-in-Love, 2002-10-20
I think the sequence where Lupe is talking with her mother-in-law an Idigeneous Mexican Indian was very moving. Finished the book on our way to San Francisco were we visited our daughter-in-love" and our son and grandchild. Have been struggleing with the "Thirteenth Sense" all my life, and if I can't make it on a beautiful barrier island on the Gulf of Mexico, with my husband of 37 years, there is no hope for the rest of us. Buying the book for Christmas gifts to give all the people who give meaning to my life. Beautifully written and with such sensitivity it makes you want to invite Victor for dinner.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A MEXICAN LIFE IN THE ROARING 20'S, 2002-03-22
I would suggest reading "Rain of Gold" first as it lays the background for Thirteen Senses and I, personally, thought Rain of Gold was the better story which pointed out the meaning of LOVE in a myriad of ways that was better than most other descriptions I have ever read.The weakness of this story is the overuse of the Almighty's powers and Salvador's mother's retelling her philosophy of life page after page after page. If 50 to 75 pages of this type dissertation was edited out, it would be a much better story. The religious nature of both primary familys' is very important to the story, however, it is overdone. While reading I was comparing the American Indian's religious beliefs (which I love) along with the Mexican Indian's outlook. Quite the same in many ways, particularly when actually changing from human to animal form and then back to human. Fascinating.
I read this book out loud to my wife and she also enjoyed it and would most certainly recommend this being a fine reading experience, however, she also agrees there is too much philosophy given by Dona Guadalupe, Salvador's mother. Her meanderings are important to the story, but you can pass by many paragraphs when she gets too wound up.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
The Masterful Victor Villasenor does it again!, 2002-03-14
I am an avid reader. There are few books that can lead me into a matrix of wisdom and forever change my world. Villasenor has a universe of wisdom to share through his captivating stories. I have read Rain of Gold which is superb and now Thirteen Senses which is every bit as marvelous. I just found out about Wild Steps of Heaven and
plan on partaking in yet another masterpiece. Everyone I have loaned one of his books to has become a true fan. I would highly reccommend Thirteen Senses! For that matter you can't go wrong with any of his books.