Assumption is a collection of 18 short stories that revolve around Latinos in Southern California. The characters are so varied, that they defy easy stereotypes: converted Jews, lesbians, lawyers, newscasters, Catholic schoolchildren — just to name a few. 
In the suspenseful "Summertime," the parents of nine-year-old Jonathan Cohen-Ramírez are confronted with their greatest fears when a deranged white supremacist opens fire on people at the Jewish children’s day camp that Jonathan attends. 
"Weatherman" tells the amusing tale of Castro Ramírez, a Los Angeles media personality who builds his fame by using the correct Spanish pronunciation of California city names during weather broadcasts. When a ruthless competitor attempts to beat Ramírez at his own game, the results are startling—and hilarious. 
Shifting effortlessly between pathos and wry comedy, Olivas is able through his character-driven stories to explore how a married couple deals with infertility, how a lawyer reconciles her lesbian sexuality with the expectations of her traditional-minded parents, and how the students of a Catholic grammar school come to terms with the suicide of a popular young priest amid swirling rumors of his sexual improprieties.

Assumption and Other Stories

Literature & Fiction

Daniel A. Olivas

United States

Bilingual Pr (Bilrp)

Anywhere But L.A., Daniel A. Olivas's latest collection of short stories, ranges from contemporary narratives to more traditional cuentos de fantasma, giving us a vivid and honest portrait of modern Latinos in search of their place in the world. Funny yet poignant, Olivas's characters frequently amuse, sometimes disturb, and often remind us of our own vulnerability. People who on the surface appear to be ordinary and uncomplicated reveal their deepest secrets and anxieties related to a variety of issues, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and the human condition in general. We are given a glimpse into the complex emotions and attitudes of characters who are trying to cope with the mysteries of life. These stories ring with humor, insight, and power, and like the cities they describe, they shift and slide and refuse to be pinned down as they drive the reader to the very core of human existence through the colorful mural of a thriving Latino community.

Anywhere But L.A.: Stories

Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingue

Things We Do Not Talk About is a natural companion to the study of Latino/a literature. In this candid, wide-ranging collection of personal essays &amp; interviews, Daniel A. Olivas explores Latino/a literature at the dawn of the 21st century. While his essays address a broad spectrum of topics from the Mexican-American experience to the Holocaust, Olivas always returns to queries that have no easy answers—questions about writing and Chicano identity; literature; and the politics of everyday life, among others. Olivas has explored similar questions through almost a decade’s worth of interviews with Latino/a authors. Olivas dives deep to discover how these authors create prose and poetry while juggling families, facing bigotry, struggling with writer’s block, and deciphering a fickle publishing industry. Interviewees include: Aaron Abeyta Daniel Alarcón Francisco Aragón Gustavo Arellano Gregg Barrios Richard Blanco Margo Candela Susana Chávez-Silverman Sandra

Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature Through Essays and Interviews by Daniel A. Olivas (2014) Paperback

Contemporary

San Diego State University Press

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Books by Daniel A. Olivas