Bodega Dreams

I just finished reading this book for my English Literature class. Awesome book!!! I'm not much for reading, but this book draws you in the further you read. It's been compared many times to Great Gatsby because the main character Willy/Izzy aka Bodega comes from a low poverty latino family, in which those who recall Gatsby was not born into money either. These two characters earned their living through illegal vending of certain items and their goal or dream was to make something better of themselves in order to be accepted by people or a certain someone. Bodega dreams is about attaining and living the American dream. It takes place in a Latino American community. Bodega is known as the "go to man" when you need something. His idea and goal in life was to turn his community around, to make it better for his fellow Latinos. He did this through means of selling drugs in order to pay for college tuition, pay rent for his tenants, purchase property and house poor Latino families. The fuel that drove his passion in this direction was in hopes of winning back his first love Vera. Author Quinones is a wonderful, skilled and creative writer. This novel worked its way into familiar territories using fictional ideas of certain places in East Harlem. This made this book all the more interesting and relatable. The ending of this novel has an unexpected twist. I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something new to read or for something that is a little close to home.

It was a great book from my high school English class. I loved the language used. I found the parallels to The Great Gatsby really interesting.

i had to read this book for my latino literature class. my teacher told us that we were going to LOVE this book and she AIN'T kidding!!! best book i have ever read so far!!! it had me kept turning the pages! i am in love with it!!! it's officially being added to my book collection. the character sapo is very funny but vulgar while chino is a good guy who just happens to get involved with the wrong kind of people. i had a great time reading about the characters and the east harlem setting. the street language hits closer to home so i wasn't bothered by it. i am so impressed with this book that i would like to delve in more of the author's other work. i hope that someday this novel will be turn into a movie. definitely recommend for people who are interested in boricua/latino literature or new york.

the book came in alright condition but that didn't matter to me because all I wanted was to have the book to pass my class but the story itself is GREAT! Amazing author and worth reading it used. I would of gotten the same condition at the library but I love to keep my books and not return it which means the library is not for me.

Not a book I would normally read, but it was such a great read. Reminded me a bit of “This is How You Lose Her” by Junot Diaz, but definitely brought to life what it was like for me as a child growing up in NYC.

Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read.

This is a really good book. I may go as far as saying that it was one of the best books that I have read in English. As soon as I picked it up, I could not put it down. I stayed up the rest of the night reading this book. It was quite a page turner. Funny thing, I met the author and he is a cool and humble guy and he signed a copy of my book.

Once I started reading this book I could not put it down! Great story, it truly took me back to the 90’s.

Nice edition, interesting book.