“The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories”
By Manuel Ramos (Arte Publico Press)
Manuel Ramos has a well-earned reputation for writing gritty stories about Latinos, stories that grab you by the throat. His last novel, “A Mile High Noir,” is a compelling tale of the struggle in north Denver between long-time ethnic residents and white interlopers.
The richness of Ramos’ work is evident in “The Skull of Pancho Villa,” a collection of previously published short stories. They range from an encounter with the mythical La Llorona to the rescue of a shoeshine boy by Jack Kerouac. The characters are a collection of seedy lawyers, drug dealers, hired hands, writers and ordinary people.
The title piece, “The Skull of Pancho Villa,” which was part of “A Nile High Noir,” combines slapstick and murder.
As Ramos relates, Villa’s grave is robbed in 1926 and his skull stolen, supposedly by Emil Homdahl, but the real thief is Alberto Corral, who “is given short shrift, something we Chicanos understand all too well,” Ramos writes.
Wrapped in rags and kept in a basketball case or a hat box, “Panchito” passes down in the Corral family, where it is dragged out “usually on the nights when the tequila and beer and whiskey flowed long and strong,” says Ramos.
Panchito ends up with Corrine Corral, who keeps it in a Styrofoam cooler until it’s stolen by the neighborhood thug. Corrine turns to her brother Gus to track down the skull. He finds it in the thief’s backyard, sitting on a concrete block wearing a lime-green sombrero with dingle balls. Problem is, the thief is lying next to it with a bullet hole in his head.
The stories are clever and sometimes funny, but their real strength is the way they capture today’s Latinos — the talk and humor, the swagger and irony. The stories bring to life the contemporary culture of north Denver, the Southwest and Mexico. Ramos has a rich voice. He nails it.
“Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town”
By Jon Krakauer (Doubleday)
Jon Krakauer, the best-selling author of such non-fiction works as “Under the Banner of Heaven,” about the extremes of religious beliefs, and “Into Thin Air,” his memoir about being on Mount Everest in May 1996 when five fellow climbers lost their lives, is known for his careful research and writing.
This time, Krakauer exposes the cavalier attitude of police, prosecutors and football fans toward victims of acquaintance rape in the Montana town full of fanatics for the University of Montana football team, the Grizzlies. “The adoration of the Griz football team created a pernicious atmosphere of entitlement. Coaches reinforced the team’s sense of prerogative,” Krakauer writes.
Combine naive and drunk young women with entitled football players and a justice system that treats victims with more suspicion than perpetrators, and you have a place where men get away with, well, rape.
Among the incidents: One college girl was gang raped by four football players, who inflicted heavy injuries. The city declined to prosecute. The act, according to authorities, was consensual.
“The Missoula Police Department enabled rapists to escape accountability by neglecting to provide up-to-date training … which allowed hidebound stereotypes and invidious misconceptions about rape victims to undermine the effectiveness of sexual-assault investigations.” But it is the county attorney’s office that deserves most of the blame, he writes, blaming “an office culture that (did not) encourage prosecutors to aggressively pursue challenging cases.”
“Missoula,” which occasionally gets bogged down in legalese, concentrates on half-a-dozen rape cases. In one of them, Alison Huguet accused Beau Donaldson, a Griz player, of raping her while she slept. Despite a recording Huguet made of Donaldson later admitting the crime, the player got a light sentence, which he subsequently protested. Huguet was castigated by Griz fans, who accused her of lying.
In another instance, popular player Jordan Johnson was found not guilty, despite evidence against him, including the testimony of another student who accused him of raping her. A member of the jury, among other things, blamed older jurors who didn’t understand acquaintance rape. “According to this mind-set, there can only be two precursors to rape,” she said. “(1) A stranger jumps out from the bushes; (2) There is no rape unless a woman puts up a fight.”
Things are better in Missoula now, thanks to a Department of Justice study that effected changes. Still, the newly elected county attorney is the very woman who defended Johnson in court, in large part by attacking the rape victim.
