Under the Fifth Sun: Latino Literature from California

Capturing the Latino essence of California

Under the Fifth Sun collects stories of love, family, work, exploration, politics, history, culture, and survival—fiction, poetry, memoirs, commentary, and drama—covering more than two centuries of Latino presence in California, from missionaries and soldiers to gold miners, farmworkers, and political refugees.

A celebration, an outcry, a revelation, and a powerful reading experience, this anthology ranges from naturalism to magical realism, from lyric poetry to detective fiction, with works by Francisco X. Alarcón, Isabel Allende, Lorna Dee Cervantes, César Chávez, Francisco Jiménez, Graciela Limõn, Juan Marichal, Pablo Neruda, Gary Soto, Luis Valdez, Alma Luz Villanueva, and many others.

Reviews

“A plentiful harvest...Under the Fifth Sun is not only a Who's Who but a What's What, When, and Why. I salute Rick Heide for handing us a mirror on which to appreciate California's gorgeous brownness.”

—Ilan Stavans

 

“A thoughtfully conceived, thoroughly inclusive anthology that captures the Latino essence of California. Straddling borders, high academia, and a bilingual bohemia that is central to any understanding of postwar America, this is a collection that anyone infatuated with the West should read.”

—Ed Morales, author of Living in Spanglish: The Search for Latino Identity in America

About the Editor

Rick HeideRick Heide has an M.A. in Latin American history from the University of London, and a B.A. in Latin American studies from UC Berkeley. He was a member of the San Francisco Bay Area publishing community for over twenty-five years and now lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Photo by Mike Price