Permissible Narratives

<div>In his groundbreaking new study <i>Permissible Narratives: The Promise of Latino/a Literature</i> Christopher González examines the difficulties Latina/o writers face in writing beyond the narrow expectations of U.S. readership in the stories they tell. González argues that a constrained conception of the possibilities of storytelling by and about Latinos diminishes the development and progression of narrative form. Through an examination of Latina/o writers against the <i>a priori</i> mode of engaging with nonethnic literature in the United States González explores the limitations and challenges Latina/o authors have confronted via the shaping power of their narratives to reach a sustainable audience.<br>   <br> Bringing together cultural critique memory narratology cognition and comprehension González examines Latina/o authors-such as Oscar Zeta Acosta Gloria Anzaldúa Piri Thomas Giannina Braschi Gilbert Hernandez Sandra Cisneros and Junot Díaz-investigating how they successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully use the expansive canvas of narrative form to capture the imaginations of an open-minded readership. <i>Permissible Narratives </i>highlights both the inequitable accessibility of narrative devices and crucially the daring of Latina/o authors to nurture a readership to afford the same literary deference to them that is so often afforded to white male straight authors.    <br>  </div>