Tag Archives: Ernesto Quinonez

THE SCOUNDREL AND THE OPTIMIST

a novel by Maceo Montoya

Nothing is easy when you are thirteen, and it’s especially challenging when everyone thinks you’re eight because you are tiny; your father is an abusive, tyrannical lout; your siblings are determined to strike out on their own to escape constant drunken rages; and your mother is deeply depressed. In THE SCOUNDREL AND THE OPTIMIST we meet Edmund, a hapless but irrepressible redhead teen whose magnificent strength of spirit makes him a gaint among men. Despite roadblocks and bad advice, Edmund is determined to win the heart of Ingrid General and to become a great guitar player. But his most notable accomplishment is teaching his father, Filastro, the value of integrity and optimism. After a prolonged episode of debauchery, Filastro discovers just how horrifying abuse is. Edmund nurses him back to health and in the process teaches him that love is mightier than fists and is worth great sacrifice. At once humorous and touching, THE SCOUNDREL AND THE OPTIMIST is a delightful read.

Maceo Montoya grew up in Elmira, Calfornia. He comes from a family of artistis, including his father, Malaquias Montoya, a renowned artist, activist, and educator, and his late brother, Andres Montoya, whose poetry collection THE ICEMAN SINGS AND OTHER POEMS won the American Book Award in 2000. Maceo graduated from Yale University in 2006. He lives in Woodland, California, where he paints and writes. This is his first novel, and it features one of his own works of art on the cover.

“Human and humorous from page one, this tale is full of riotous energy and unexpected universal truths. Dostoyevsky has crossed the border in the pen of Maceo Montoya.”- Ernesto Quinonez, author of BODEGA DREAMS

272 pp. Cloth. $28.oox. ISBN 978-1-931010-65-8

Paper. $18.00. ISBN 978-1-931010-67-2

http://www.asu.edu/brp

Bilinual Review Press
Hispanic Research Center
Arizona State University
PO Box 875303
Tempe, Az 85287-5303

(480) 965-3867
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