The House of Broken Angels

Luis Alberto Urrea's latest book is about our better angels and how they guide us to purpose and meaning. "All we do, mija," the oldest brother, Big Angel, says, "is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death."

Miguel Angel de la Cruz - aka Big Angel - is dying and he wants one last big birthday party. His entire huge and rambunctious family, including Little Angel - the son from his father's second life and a stand-on for Luis Alberto Urrea - are there for the merging of celebration and impending death.

Complicated family dynamics are at play as the borders that separate us - literally and figuratively - are explored and resentments and secrets are revealed. The unruliness of the family - particularly at first - can sometimes seem overwhelming as many characters - sons, daughters, tios and tias - are introduced quickly, and I do believe that Mr. Urrea intended to create that effect. Mr. Urrea is a superb writer and he has captured a family at the precipice of a major transition and how, at the end of the day, love prevails.

Poignancy and humor interject here - as they do in life -for a most satisfying reading experience. Definitely recommended.

Big Angel doesn’t have much time. Cancer is eating away at him as he buries his mother and prepares for his own death.

An eye-opening look at life on the border of two very different cultures. A passionate story of family, life, love and loss and the regret of things done, as well as not done in one’s life. Told from several viewpoints, it was easy to follow and so well written I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to know more about this Mexican-American family and what would become of each and every one of them.

This should be a must read for 2018! March 6, 2018

This is the book that follows you-into each room of the house as you read, you carry it in your hands, not wanting to look up. This book will make you put your life on hold, (silencing the cellphone, ignoring the 158 emails arriving in your inbox, and definitely avoiding any housework) as you follow the family through the complicated dance of heartache and death-bed mending. In the end, it is always love and belonging in our families that brings us to our knees, and permeates our life's purpose. Luis Alberto Urrea captures this perfectly-and brings us to laughter...and tears...in a story that echoes the complexities of a family we all come to love, in all its imperfections.

Some books are a treat and such a joy to read. The House of Broken Angels is just that. Essentially about family and what you carry to other generations, this book is also about being human and relationships. For most part, I thought nothing is going on in the book and yet when you take a step back and see the book from an overall perspective, there is needed a lot going on – making the reader feel like a stranger to begin with and before you know it you are a part of the De La Cruz clan.

The House of Broken Angels is about family and the ties that bind us, over and over again, no matter the mistakes or the trials that family go through. At the end of the family is indeed family and one can’t deny that at all. The beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz has summoned the entire family for one last legendary party, in his final days. And in this time, his mother, nearly a hundred years old dies. In all of this there is Big Angel’s (as Miguel is fondly known) half-brother, Little Angel – almost an outsider’s perspective.

The book is really about Big Angel and his mother. The others are merely secondary characters but written brilliantly by Luis Alberto Urrea. The lore, the fantastical tales, the myths are weaved into the narrative so effectively that they become the story, without ever losing track of the bigger plot. The book has all of it – kindness, rage at being discriminated against, hope, zest and the spirit of togetherness which when you think about can only after all come from family.

At times, it may be overwhelming to keep track of so many characters and sub-plots, but you should allow the stories to take over and engulf you. There is chaos, confusion and people walking in and out of the narrative, but it is worth it as it all adds up wonderfully, lending itself to the primary focus. “The House of Broken Angels” is a highly gratifying and charged read – everything happens in a rush, at a break-neck speed and sometimes everything slows down, compelling you to look around.

”Big Angel was late to his own mother’s funeral.

“He tossed in his bed, the sheets catching his feet in a tangle. Sweat ticked his sides as he realized what was happening. The sun was up – it was bright through his eyelids. The burning pink world. Everybody else would be there before him. No. Not this. Not today. He struggled to rise.”

”Every morning since his diagnosis, he had the same thoughts. They were his alarm clock.
How could a man out of time repair all that was broken? And on this morning, as he was awakening to these worries, cursed by the light, cursed in every way by time, betrayed by his exhausted body while his mind raged, he was started to find his father’s ghost sitting beside him on the bed.”

Family gathers for the funeral, and then again for Big Angel’s birthday on the following day. An extended family including Big Angel’s half-brother, Little Angel, a child of his father’s and a different mother, cousins, Aunts, Uncles and all of the newest members.

There is the type of humour you’ll find in family gatherings, the subtle, or not so subtle ways that family has of putting you in your place, of reminding you of where you come from and who you are. Still, all the time there is that bond, that love that is always there, shining through even in those moments of not-so-gentle teasing. The men boasting amongst themselves, but becoming more reflective when alone, and when they are with their women.

Then there is the one that is missing, whose absence is felt more than if he were present. Surely he will not stay away, surely this is a time when he will return to his family, and then, like the parable of the prodigal son, the feast will be a joyous one, an embracing of their differences, as well.

”This is the prize: to realize, at the end, that every minute was worth fighting for with every ounce of blood and fire.”

”So you fill your hours with hubbub. Like now. The house seemed to be bulging elastically like an old cartoon—music and dust flying out through the gaping junctures of the bouncing, jiving walls.
“Big Angel surveyed his domain.”

Sorrow. The sorrow of losing loved ones, the sorrow of facing the end of life. Sorrow, so well balanced in this story by the joys of life, the joys of love. Family. The good, the bad, the ugly, at the end we are still family. Sometimes, things happen and we’d like to change that, CTRL-ALT-DEL people from our lives, but it isn’t that easy with family. America / Americans and becoming Americans, a process, much like life. We are all always becoming, becoming something different from what we were, and hopefully a better version, without leaving our “old” selves behind. And there is the humour, of course, it’s a family gathered together, and stories are told, memories are shared. Stories that are teasing, meant to embarrass, in the way which families manage to excel, but shared with love.

”There is a minute in the day, a minute for everyone, though most everyone is too distracted to notice its arrival. A minute of gifts coming from the world like birthday presents. A minute given to every day that seems to create a golden bubble available to everyone.”

There is a moment in this book, nearing the end, that felt like that to me, a present. Well, more than one moment, but one between Big Angel and Ookie that stood out from the rest and melted my heart.

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Little, Brown and Company

"The entire history of his family, the world itself, the solar system and galaxy, swirled around him now in weird silence, and he felt blood dribbled down inside his body and the clock, the clock, chipped away at his existence."

4.5 stars

Big Angel (Miguel Angel De La Cruz) has invited his family to his home in San Diego to celebrate his last birthday. His Mother passes away a few days before his birthday, so the family has her funeral one day and his birthday party the next. Two very different farewells for this dynamic family who gather together in celebration of life, to say goodbye, and to tell their favorite family stories and bare their souls.

"Big Angel stood in the shadows of the living room, buffeted by stories of the past, things he remembered and thing he had learned. Or maybe thing he had dreamed. He could no longer tell the difference. The stories flew in like wind through an open window and whirled around him. He could feel them almost pull him off his feet. They seemed to come by their own volition, leaping over years, ignoring the decades. Big Angel found himself in a time storm."

The writing in this book was quite beautiful. This book is sweet, it's funny, it's sad, it's dramatic and gives us a glimpse into the lives of this first generation Mexican-American family living across but near the border. The family is full of interesting characters and has interesting family dynamics (which family doesn't?). Through their interactions and conversations, the reader learns their personalities, thoughts, emotions and fears. Big Angel and his brother, Little Angle have great conversations full of sarcasm and wit which they use to sugarcoat their pain and love for each other.

“I know you hated me for leaving. I know you thought I looked down on all of you. Well, maybe I did. All my life I thought of you. All my life I thought I had to escape to survive. Maybe even to escape you. And now you are leaving me, and I can’t imagine the world without you. I always thought I didn’t really have the father I wanted. And all this time it was you. To be here now, to see what you have made, humbles me. The good parts and the bad. It doesn’t matter. I thought I was going to save the world, and here you were all along, changing the world day by day, minute by minute.”

Like most family gatherings, there is laughter, tears, music, food, dancing, and people. There are some Spanish words through in here which make the book feel more authentic. Even if you do not speak Spanish, I think most of the words are self-explanatory due to the English which is said both before and after the word. Initially I gave this book 4 stars but moved it up to 4.5 due to the writing being so wonderful. The beginning of this book started off with a bang and then the Author does a step back and takes us back in time to when Big Angel met his wife. This was a little bit of a rough transition for me for many reasons: I wanted to keep the present-day story going because I was enjoying it so much and because it interrupted the flow of the story. I liken this to when you are walking behind someone and they suddenly stop fast for no reason and you almost run into them. This is what the transition felt like to me. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was my first book by Urrea and I am certain I will be reading more of his books in the future.

Thank you to Little Brown and Company and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A couple weeks ago, on a night when I couldn't sleep, I decided to listen to that week's episode of Fresh Air. Terry Gross was interviewing the author Luís Alberto Urrea about his newest novel, The House of Broken Angels. From the moment Mr. Urrea began to speak, I was captivated. I listened to him tell his story, and that of this book, and knew I needed to read it. And I did. And I absolutely loved it. This novel is so rich in imagery and often reads like a flowing poem, and so perfectly captures Mexican American life without it becoming a cheesy caricature. I forced myself to take the book in small bits, because I knew it I devoured it in one sitting, I would regret not having more to savor. I am now collecting Mr. Urrea's other books, and am so looking forward to getting lost again in the colorful stories he shares, in addition to his more serious nonfiction works.

Oh, my--this book! I was overwhelmed by this boisterous, complicated, colorful family gathered for the funeral of their matriarch and the last birthday of her son Big Angel, who is dying of cancer.

As I read, this family took residence in my heart. They were not so unlike my own family. I remembered the large family gatherings of my childhood; we have our 'colorful' characters, too. My cousins and I are are too quickly becoming the oldest generation--the next to die.

Through the story of one particular Mexican-American family, The House of Broken Angels recalls what it means to be family. Through the life and death of one man, we grapple with the purpose of our own life and death.

Big Angel's grandfather came to America after the Mexican Revolution, tried to enlist for service during WWI, then in 1932 the family was deported back to Mexico. He was First Angel.

Big Angel's deceased father, a cop, is still a powerful presence in the lives of Big Angel and his half-brother, Little Angel. He was feared, he was idolized, and he was hated. Big Angel's dad abandoned his family for an American woman,"all Indiana milk and honey" with "Cornflower-blue eyes." He had 'forgotten' he had a son named Angel in his first family. The half-brothers have had an uneasy relationship.

At his seventieth birthday party, Big Angel is surrounded by his beloved Perla and their children, Perla's sisters who he helped raise, his half-siblings, and grandkids. Those who have died, and a son who has been estranged, are present in aching hearts.

As Big Angel struggles with how to die, how to atone for his sins, and the legacy he wants to leave his family, we learn the family's stories, the things that have divided and alienated them, and the things that bind them together. They will break your heart and they will inspire you with the strength and love of their family bonds. The revelation of this purpose is the climax of the novel, a scene that you will never forget.

Author Luis Alberto Urrea was inspired by his own family in writing this book. His eldest brother was dying when a day before his birthday he had to bury his mother. The family put on a 'blowout party, the kind of ruckus he would have delighted in during better days."

Urrea also wanted to tell the story of Mexican-American families, about immigrants and the American dream, living on the border between two countries and cultures, the hopes and dreams and cruel realities.

Reviewers use the word exuberant in describing this book. It is!

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The joys of reading include the journeys often discovered by occasionally traveling the pages of a novel to fresh and different places. Meeting an author for the first time unlocks adventures and experiences. Luis Alberto Urrea did not need me to discover him, as he is already an accomplished writer. The novelist of the award-winning THE DEVIL’S HIGHWAY and THE HUMMINGBIRD’S DAUGHTER toiled for 10 years before his first book, ACROSS THE WIRE, was published. During that time, the struggling writer was a relief worker in poor areas of Tijuana, and worked countless other odd jobs as an actor and columnist, editor and cartoonist for various publications.

In March, Urrea made his regular appearance at the Tucson Festival of Books. 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the event, which now draws more than 100,000 attendees to a weekend of books and authors. Urrea has gone each year, and this time his attendance purposely coincided with the release of his new novel, THE HOUSE OF BROKEN ANGELS, which is in the great tradition of writers around the world --- a family saga. In this case, the de la Cruz clan, a multi-generational Mexican-American family, is the subject. The book is principally set during a two-day period in San Diego marking the funeral of the family’s matriarch and the 70th birthday of their eldest son and brother, Big Angel. The story winds its way through generations by flashbacks that take the reader to La Paz and Tijuana. It is a joyous and remarkable journey reminding us that immigrants came to our nation from countries other than Europe.

Great writers often mix personal experience into their novels. In an interview, Urrea explained that he did not intend to write this book. But when his brother, Juan, died after a long bout with cancer, the family decided to give him his “last birthday party on earth.” This event inspired the book’s second plot component: the 70th birthday party for Big Angel, who is dying of cancer. Urrea also has written a novel whose unspoken theme is one of politics: “The subtitle of the book should be ‘Go to Hell, Donald,’ remarked Urrea, “because I couldn’t any longer take all the rhetoric, I couldn’t any longer take all the ‘build-the-wall’ propaganda of the ‘bad hombres’ and all of the damage and harm and heartbreak this course in American politics is taking in people’s lives on a daily basis.”

Many members of the de la Cruz family appear on the pages of THE HOUSE OF BROKEN ANGELS. Little Angel, the half-brother of Big Angel, teaches English in Seattle and has come back to San Diego after a lengthy exile. He is the product of a relationship between his father and an American woman. Little Angel’s return to his community is complex, evoking long-ago memories and rekindling long-forgotten relationships.

Big Angel’s wife is Perla, an undocumented alien who crossed the border with her husband when they were teenagers. The family history recounted here involves relocations to Mexico and returns to the United States, depending on the changing tides of economic conditions. It is a reminder to all of us how ever-changing labor needs often influence border control.

In the end, Urrea reminds us of the important meaningful trait common to all immigrant families. Thanking his daughter for his birthday event, Big Angel attempts to put his thoughts and gratitude into words. He cannot find them, but he tries: “All we do mija is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death.” These words, similar to those long-ago words of Emma Lazarus engraved on the Statue of Liberty, serve as a reminder of why America is still the land immigrants aspire to call home.

Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

I struggled initially with this book. But during the last 75-100 pages, it jumped decidedly from 3 stars to 4. 

Luis Alberto Urrea (a winner of numerous literary awards) has written a fanciful, often humorous account of a Mexican-American family with diverse and imaginative members. They planned to gather to celebrate the family partriarch’s last birthday (he is dying from cancer) but it turned out to also be the same weekend as his mother’s funeral. So, the family attends both a funeral and a big party over the same weekend. And the party comes with a completely surprising twist.

The cast of characters is unusual. And Urrea fleshes each one out so fully and so creatively. There’s lots of drama — estranged children, aging beauties, victims of violence -- as we uncover family histories full of poverty, crime, struggle, rivalries, and yes, the realization of the American dream. What comes across loud and clear is the fundamental connection of love within this family.

What made me struggle was the writing style. It's very distinctive. At times it’s beautiful but at other times it seems so clipped and vague that I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. I considered abandoning the book but others who had read it urged me to continue. I’m glad I did. The ending is worth the struggle.

Big Angel de la Cruz is dying. However, he has two things to take care of over the next few days before he goes. First, he must avoid being late to his mother’s funeral. Second, he needs to join his extended family and many friends in celebrating his own 70th birthday party. That is the basic plot of The House of Broken Angels, Luis Alberto Urrea’s deeply affecting meditation on, among other things, the joys and foibles of family life, the challenges of being caught between two cultures, and the impact that one man can have on those around him.

The novel traces Big Angel’s story from his youth in La Paz, Mexico under the domineering presence of his father Don Antonio to his exile from the family that eventually takes him to Tijuana and San Diego, California. Along the way, we meet many of the important people in his life, including his beloved wife Perla, their siblings, their children, and their seemingly countless nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. Big Angel’s journey is often hard and heartbreaking, but one that is filled with considerable joy as well. Urrea’s storytelling is heartfelt and beautiful, at once elegiac and humorous in roughly equal measures, with a fair amount of Spanglish thrown in for authentic measure.

As he reveals at the outset in a letter to the reader, this is a deeply personal account for the author, whose alter ego appears in the character of Little Angel, the younger brother who has spent much of his adult life trying to escape the family’s influence. The two brothers share a decidedly complicated history—they have the same father but different mothers, and both are conflicted about various aspects of their Mexican-American heritage. While much of the narrative development in The House of Broken Angels is devoted to explaining and resolving their relationship, that is not the essence of the novel. Urrea set out to make this a story about “la familia” and he has succeeded admirably in doing just that. These are characters who will stay with me for a while.

5 epic family saga stars to The House of Broken Angels! ? ? ? ? ?

I have found a new author to love. Luis Alberto Urrea is a storyteller, and that is the highest compliment I can give any author.

Big Angel de la Cruz is the patriarch of his family, and he is dying. The book opens with him having to say goodbye to his mother at her funeral while also knowing he is living his last days.

Big Angel recounts the story of his family and how they came to live in the United States, a tale filled with secrets and lore. The de la Cruz family is complex, the dynamics fraught with the push and pull so native to families. Big Angel’s storytelling is raw and honest, so genuinely authentic, I could see these characters in three dimension and feel their pulses.

The House of Broken Angels is an epic story, one in which to lose yourself. One to help you reflect on your own family and its own push and pull. There is so much to love here and so much with which to relate. There is humor that will make you laugh and heartbreak, too, because isn’t that what families have to walk through together? Indelible is used in the description of this book. Yep, that summarizes it perfectly in one single word. Indelible. And huggable.

Thank you to Luis Alberto Urrea, Little, Brown and Company, and Netgalley for the ARC.

Luis Urrea has joined the ranks of great American writers with his new novel, The House of Broken Angels. (Think John Steinbeck here--a worthy comparison).

Miguel Angel De La Cruz, known as Big Angel, the patriarch of the family, is dying of cancer and wants to celebrate his last birthday with his extensive family, a blowout party...but first they must bury Grandma America who has so obligingly died first.

Urrea writes about the Mexican-American experience with both humor and gravitas but he nails family relationships so perfectly that most of his readers will be able to recognize certain aspects of their own families, no matter what the nationality. The universal experience. No one can hurt us so deeply, rattle ours chains, push our buttons, yet inspire such deep love and loyalty.

"A family inheritance, he thought. Endless drama."

"They didn't ever let anybody have a secret, but they were hiding things from one another every day of their lives."

"These men are driving me insane."

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this wonderful new book. I predict this book will become a classic.

Thank you Little, Brown for my copy of this astounding novel for review! All opinions are my own.

As I sit writing this, I am drinking a strong cup of coffee (not instant, sadly) and listening to Pedro Infante. Allow Luis Alberto Urrea to whisk you away into his family and his world. He is an incredibly powerful writer who will take care of every detail of your escape, so that all you have to do is lie back and let his world wash over you.

Something about Urrea's latest keeps bringing me back to Cat on A Hot Tin Roof. Perhaps it is the similarities between the patriarchs Big Angel and Big Daddy in 'Roof. Or perhaps it is the idea of a birthday party as a last hurrah. But I think a more striking parallel actually lies in Urrea's abiltiy (like Williams') to create an entire microcosm of a massive extended family unit in precisely drawn unique and individual characters. The beauty in this book for me is its poignancy and accuracy in portraying family dynamics as simultaneously frustrating, endearing, hilarious, complicated.

Urrea's story leans heavily on the autobiographical experience of his own beloved brother's terminal illness and the party he threw as a "living wake" to which generations of family showed to pay their respects. Urrea's own affinity for Mario Puzo's writing and The Godfather shines through strongly in the respect and power given his ailing leader of a patriarchal figure. I found something so heartbreakingly truthful in the shenanigans that we, as humans, distract ourselves with to look away from the hardest and most inevitable thing that sits right in front of us, and that we all must face at one point or another - the loss of a loved one. Human nature is so strange and yet predictable. Urrea's handling of the different ways people deal with grief and loss is so spot-on and incredibly moving.

In addition, there is something important to this story that is his highlight on the experience of Mexican-American families, from first-generation onward and how these generational degrees of separation from the immigrant country affect seemingly subtle, but actually quite powerful differences in their lives, opportunities and even family relationship power dynamics. This family lives close to the border. What that means is that for the de La Cruzes, there is never quite a "before" and an "after" immigration, but rather a sort of limbo of two worlds simultaneously existing in liquid flux. This is a fascinating and rare insight into what it means to be an immigrant coming to the US. We need more representation of this in our American contemporary literature - particularly when written with such humanity. I think the power in this novel is that Urrea gives us a world we don't get to see much into, while appealing to the common human needs and desires that we all hold.

*3 words: explosive, intimacy, coarse

*what i loved: Urrea takes care of every detail with such loving care - this writing is lush and full

*what i questioned: I have no questions or reservations on this one. I know, I know - is that cheating? read the book - get back to me on what YOU questioned!

*overall rating: 5 stars

**Find my bookish posts and reviews on IG @mlleboaz.bibliophile !!

This novel had so many great things - the writing was amazing. It felt poetic at times, and the feel of this novel was totally authentic. It starts with Big Angel, the patriarch of a Mexican-American family, burying his mother and also preparing for his own death from cancer. The very start was moving and fascinating. But then almost nothing happened in the first half, as the extended family began to gather. There were many characters, so many I was often confused who was who. I was ready to stop when the book jumped back in time and I gave it more time. It did get better, but not enough for me to finish this novel. I liked the authentic voice of the author, who narrated this, but that was not enough for me to stay with the book. I can see why others loved this. I tried to, and did really like parts, but not enough to recommend this. I loved the character Big Angel, but no one else came alive as an individual to me.

"Big Angel was late for his own mother's funeral." So begins The House of Broken Angels, by Luis Alberto Urrea, the one novel you should read this year if you read nothing else. Urrea tells the story of Big Angel and the de la Cruz family of San Diego. Big Angel, the family Patriarch, not only has his mother's funeral to attend, but also his own 70th birthday party, which will be his last, on the following day. Over these two days we learn the complex history of the de la Cruzes, from their origins in the Baja California city of La Paz to Big Angel's retirement as data systems manager of the local electrical utility.

The family is a wild, comic mix of characters filled with envy, admiration and anger toward each other, all under-girded by a stubborn and persistent love. Urrea gifts us with both vivid narrative description of family and place, and sharp, believable dialog that drives the story and creates characters we come to love or hate as the case may be. Partly this affection arises from the many nicknames. Big Angel and his wife Perla are Flaco and Flaca to each other (even if the name doesn't apply any more). Minerva, his daughter, is Minnie, or La Mouse on occasion. Perla's beautiful younger sister is known only as La Gloriosa. Big Angel's brother Julio Cesar, is known as Pato (duck) because of his squonking voice when angry, and Julio's son Marco Antonio has dyed his hair blond for his faux Norwegian metal band Satanic Hispanic. His youngest (half) brother is known as Little Angel. One is Miguel . The other is Gabriel.

Over the course of the funeral and birthday party the family revisits their own immigrant tale, though we see it from the differing perspectives of the principal figures. The story is familiar, as immigrant tales tend to be, with Big Angel lamenting for example, that the only Spanish words his grandchildren (or Chiweenies) know are taco and tortilla. Yet the story also is fresh and alive with de la Cruz idiosyncracies.

As Big Angel's birthday comes to a close, the story shifts to wrestling with mortality. One of the many small moments in the book, a book filled with surprises and twists, involves Big Angel's friend Dave, a Jesuit priest, telling him he needs to learn to trust in God and urging Big Angel to read Thomas Merton. Earlier Dave had given Big Angel a blank book in which to write his gratitudes. Reluctantly, and skeptically, he does. These appear scattered through the book, including my favorite...cilantro.

By the end I found myself thinking of the old debate about Great American Novels. If we are going to have that debate The House of Broken Angels needs to be included. It is a story about family, migration, social mobility, assimilation, and so much more. Urrea has given us a story revealing both the greatness of Big Angel's family and their failings, and allows us to observe as they come to terms with both. Like the de la Cruz family, America itself is a house of broken angels, still coming to terms with our family history.

At first, I was like, I don't know if I like this. Then a few chapters later Mr. Urrea had me in tears.

The reason I didn't like it at first was that the author made me feel uncomfortable. He wanted me to feel what Little Angel was feeling and I did. That feeling of wow, I am one of these people. The feeling of returning to a place you were trying to get away from. The author took a few chapters to set the tone and then started the story. And it was perfect.

Like George Lopez's comedy, everybody will like this book, but if you are Mexican American, you will LOVE it. It will hit you right in your heart. It will make you feel warm like the smell of freshly made flour tortillas. There are things Non Mexican Americans won't get—won't understand. That's the comfort in this book. The feeling that this book is written for you.

I think sometimes authors think that they can do better than an actor or similarly trained individual in reading their book for an audio version. For me, Urrea's reading of his work made it almost impossible for my ear to distinguish one character from another. That led to a lot of confusion about what character was speaking and left me frustrated much of the time. As a result, I can't recommend the audio version. The book itself might prove to be a more positive experience, although I think I'll pass.

We rated this book a 4 out of 5.

The characters are well drawn individuals, each with a story of struggle and hardship, all folded together in this Mexican American family living in a US border town.
Big Angel, the patriarch, has decided he will celebrate his birthday, probably his last, with a party the day after his mother's funeral. His health is failing, so why not spare friends and relatives traveling twice? He holds court, and reflects on his childhood in Mexico and his life in America.
A family tree would have been helpful at the start of the book as there are so many characters, some referred to by pet names as well as given names.
Some themes in this book are the legacy of child abuse, the need for acceptance, and the fear and uncertainty associated with being an immigrant.
M: I loved the title of the book. It reminds me of the word “cleave” which can mean to split apart or to adhere to, depending on the context of the word. What was “broken” in this book: the path each of the Angels had followed that kept them separated or the barrier that crumbled as their lives finally intersected?
M: The description of Gloriosa preparing herself for the day of the party was at once almost humorous in its detail and at the same time deeply disturbing. She found it necessary to disguise her sadness in the trappings of the superficial flourish of color and glamour so that no one could guess her deception.
M: Often as one nears the end of life there sometimes gets to be an understanding of the truth of one’s role in his life. Certainly Big Angel understood. As the self-appointed patriarch of this family, he felt the need to have the “loose ends” tied up and brought together. Little Angel thought his formal education and thus his superior life style was enough to keep him apart from this family. Big Angel’s education came from his devastating life experiences. But which one has finally earned the most satisfying of what life has to offer?

B: This big immigrant family reminded me of my immigrant grandparents, all the aunts and crazy uncles, and tons of cousins back in Chicago. That family has scattered to the four corners of this country now, and though I love California, nostalgia for the messy relationships of that big goofy and sometimes terrifying family was kindled by this story. Through Little Angel's eyes, you see what is lost by separation from your roots and your people. Through Big Angel's eyes you see what forgiveness and love can overcome.

One review I read about this book called it a glorious mess. I call it glorious.

It's the story of a Mexican family patriarch living in San Diego, Big Angel, dying of cancer (no spoiler) and having one final birthday party of all time. Urrea unspools a rather remarkable accounting of a man's life, through his family and children, in a remarkable way; by having them just be. It's both a celebration of the powerful dynamics of family, and how the current political climate impacts them all. What's even more: a novel that could have been a downer is infused with a zestful sense of humor that had me laughing aloud many times.

Word of warning: create a family tree as you read. It will make it easier. Some characters are more minor than others, but Urrea will surface the more important ones frequently.

When was the last time you checked a book out from the library, and was so stunned after finishing it that you had to purchase a copy? That was this book to me. Urrea gave me an ending that will remain with me for years to come. This is a book begging to be made into a movie. If so, I'm buying the first ticket.

This is a big book of a multinational, multicultural, multigenerational family revealed at a single birthday party. "Families came apart and regrouped," thinks one of the characters. "Like water. In this desert, families were the water." Sad at times but also laugh-out-loud funny, the story will be familiar to anyone with a complicated family (meaning everyone). Yet this family is uniquely placed between Mexico and the United States, so it is especially poignant for those who know a "cholo" from a "chanclazo." Fine writing, believable characters and a realistic but ultimately uplifting tale. I was fortunate to meet Mr. Urrea, and the only thing better than reading his work is watching him perform (not read) passages out loud.

This is an amazingly real and intimate look at Mexican American culture over two generations of life and love in the immigrant zone of Upper and Lower California. Traditional Baja and modern LA. A "typical" family struggles to resolve the complex dynamics of adjustment to the realities of cross-cultural trials and tribulations. A very authentic portrayal of the tensions that strain relationships and the resolutions that ultimately unite the family.

Oh, what a touching story of a Mexican-American famiy. Great characters composed of many parts just as people are. To some one Angel might be a father, to another, a husband, another, a leader in the community. The elder Angel’s much younger half-brother also named Angel is a college professor, a single man, a nephew and a person who might appear to have separated from his heritage. This novel pulls apart all the layers you’ll find in a family.

Urrea’s family saga is uplifting, heartbreaking, funny, tender and deeply reverent for the strong bonds that people make with one another, both family and friends, and the places they call home.

Big Angel, Little Angel, and all the rest of the characters who spill across the pages with their desires and secrets and day-to-day struggles are fully real and relatable, flawed and scarred yet ceaselessly pushing on with life, seeking to make the most of it, especially in Big Angel’s case, his stubbornness to do everything his own way growing stronger as his days grow shorter.

Urrea’s prose is brilliant in the way it handles both chaos and quiet, the swings between those two types of moments working to magnify each other. Whether the birthday party is raging on, or the protagonist is drifting to sleep, silent as he reflects on transformative moments decades earlier, Urrea makes each moment sing with its own poetry.

This sprawling family saga centers on Big Angel, but Urrea’s empathy for each character runs so deep I have no doubt he could pick any one else at random and feel out that character’s story, producing another book as beautiful and touching.

With an enormous cast of characters - each with a nickname or three - this sprawling family epic reminded me of a Tolstoy classic, but far more savagely funny and relatable. An amazing, beautiful portrait of life, death, and how to (and how not to) grow old. A love story and an incisive family drama infused with utterly gorgeous writing. One of the best books I've "read" in years and possibly my favorite Audible performance ever. Go with the audio version - Urrea's narration is absolutely wonderful.

I was sorely disappointed by this story. I read an artical in Time where the author spoke of this as a tribute to his brother. My expectations were so different from what he wrote. I was born in California and therefore had the privilage of being close to several Mexican families while growing up. They welcomed me into their homes and treated me like family. I am so glad they were not the family described in this book. My personal experiences and the authors own comments in the interview for Time set my expectations. Wow, what a let down! I read half of it and had to stop. I could not see any reason to continue.

This is the first of Urrea's books I have read. It is a great story that drags you in and won't let you go, and even after you finish it you want more? A wonderful story of love and family that was very touching and overflowing with love. I need to read more of his writing! Highly recommended,

I read this book in a single sitting: no bathroom, food or drink breaks. Yes, it's that good! This is a story for the ages, about people you know, even if you aren't familiar with Mexican-American families. They are having a party in the backyard on the day after an unexpected family funeral. If you enjoy family reunions, you will enjoy this book. If you've never been to a family reunion, this book will make you want to go to your family's next one. As the characters remember the lives of those present and those of their ancestors, their memories include a little violence and a little sex, both softened by their love of those involved. This novel is a gem!!!

Cannot figure out why so many people would find this a great book. You can't keep track of he characters. You need to speak some Spanish to read parts. I guess you can admire the author's "style", but it does nothing for me. Fortunately it's not a long book.

I adored this book. It is a masterpiece -- funny, heartbreaking, uncomfortable, a bit raunchy, full of life, full of grit. It is a testament to the unbroken spirit, the will to survive, and the will to forgive. It is at once a picture window view into a raucous Mexican-American family, peopled by unique and unforgettable characters (both good and bad), as well a celebration of enduring and universal life affirming values.

Luis Alberto Urrea, I listened to “House of Broken Angels” all the way from San Gabriel in Southern California to San Francisco today. Six plus hours. Four-hundred miles. The writing is vibrant and beautiful. The story is so rich. Such an accomplishment. To think that much of the story takes place in La Paz, Mexico and thereabouts in Baja California Sur over which I was trampling the last three days is a fantastic coincidence. I can see the story unfolding in those amazing places. Your descriptions are unparalleled. Bravo!!

This is The Great Mexican-American novel. It made me laugh, it made me sniffle, it made me weep with the sheer humanity of it. I grew up in Chula Vista and Urrea’s descriptions are spot-on. But it’s his characters that will live forever in my memory.

I really enjoyed this book; it was a good study in families and all that goes along with being a part of a family. The reason for 4 vs 5 stars is because it was at times hard to sort out all of the characters.

Most characters are so welled defined. It is like the reader is walking along side of them. The California/Mexican border is a character itself. The audio book read by the author is the way to read this novel. Let the author read you a story.

An in depth analysis of the lives of each member of a Mexican Family. If you liked Letters from Apizaco, you will love The House of Broken Angels! Both are great reads, completely different storytelling styles. Loved it!

I am probably the only reader who didn't like this book. I found the story very hard to follow with so many characters flitting in and out. And then I couldn't seem to really relate to any of the characters. I almost didn't finish it, skimmed through parts of it, but read through til the ending, which was the best part in my opinion.

Trashy content. I returned this book. Only read a couple dozen pages. Which is sad, because I listened to the author on a radio interview (NPR?) and he has a fascinating story. I would love to have read it. Wish he would not have thrown in the completely unnecessary trash. I don't know if he was trying to be "real" or aiming for shock value. Didn't work for me.