Editors’ Note: The House of Broken Angels by Mexican American author Luis Alberto Urrea is this year’s selection by Seattle Reads, a citywide book group by The Seattle Public Library. Urrea will be in Seattle Oct. 19–20 to participate in a series of Seattle Reads discussions. Register for these events — including an author discussion in Spanish at El Centro de la Raza — at the official Seattle Reads website. Copies of the book are available in English and Spanish at the library.
Luis Alberto Urrea writes from the heart about a Mexican American family in “The House of Broken Angels.” (Photos courtesy of The Seattle Public Library)
“… if you don’t see yourself represented outside of yourself you just feel fucking invisible.”
—John Leguizamo, Latin History for Morons
I have felt invisible for most of my life.
I have never immersed myself in a story where someone Filipinx American was the main character. I have never watched a show that was led by a Filipinx American protagonist. I have never read a book by a Filipinx American author. I haven’t ever had a Filipinx American neighbor, not even one, in the 15 years I have lived in Seattle.
