A Stab in the Dark

A Stab in the Dark will reviewed and promoted on all of the Los Angeles Review of Books platforms, including advertising on the website, promotion on social media, mailing list and newsletter. LARB will host a launch party for the book upon it's release. The translator and other contributors will be featured on the LARB Radio Hour, and reviews and interviews will be featured on LARB's site. There will also be significant outreach to other reviewers and websites, particularly those with an interest in Chicano literature, Southern California history, and translated literature. There is a strong course adoption potential, as the text is both the first work of Chicano literature and a detailed chronology of Mexican-American life in LA at the turn of the 20th century. Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz will present the book at the Baja Book Festival in 2019.

A Stab in the Dark is the first work of Chicano literature, captivating poetic portrait of Mexican-American life at the beginning of the 20th century that has never before been translated into English.Facundo Bernal's A Stab in the Dark (Palos de ciego) is a poetic chronicle of the struggles and joys of the Spanish-speaking community in Los Angeles and in the burgeoning border town of Mexicali during the early 1920s. Sharply satirical yet deeply empathetic, Bernal’s poems are both a landmark of Chicano literature and a captivating read. Anthony Seidman's energetic translation — the first into English — preserves the prickly feel of Bernal’s classic, down to the last stab. This edition also features the original Spanish text, an introduction by the prominent Mexicali writer Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz, an additional introduction by critic Josh Kun, and a foreword by writer and lawyer Yxta Maya Murray.