Famous All Over Town by Danny Santiago
"Famous All Over Town" is a coming-of-age novel by Danny Santiago, which explores the tumultuous life of Chato Medina, a young man navigating the challenges of growing up in East Los Angeles. The narrative is steeped in Chato's experiences as a member of the Shamrocks gang, where his identity is closely tied to violent encounters and the complex dynamics of family and friendship. Throughout the episodic tale, Chato grapples with personal aspirations, such as a fleeting interest in medicine, while being pulled back into the allure of street life and its accompanying dangers.
The story is marked by familial strife, particularly involving Chato's father, Rodolfo, whose tumultuous relationships and poor decisions complicate their lives further. Themes of loyalty, love, and loss are prevalent as Chato deals with the fallout from his sister Lena's relationship with an illegal immigrant and the eventual disintegration of his family unit. Santiago's writing is recognized for its authenticity and emotional depth, portraying the real struggles faced by Mexican Americans. While the novel garnered critical acclaim, it did not achieve widespread popularity. Readers interested in a vivid depiction of the realities of urban youth and the complexities of cultural identity will find "Famous All Over Town" a compelling exploration of adolescence against a backdrop of socio-economic challenges.
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Subject Terms
Famous All Over Town by Danny Santiago
First published: 1983
Type of work: Domestic realism
Themes: Coming-of-age, family, and social issues
Time of work: The 1960’s
Recommended Ages: 15-18
Locale: The barrios of East Los Angeles
Principal Characters:
Rodolfo Medina , the patriarchChato , his fourteen-year-old sonLena , Chato’s older sisterVirgie , a neighborPelon , a streetwise friend of ChatoGorilla , another friendNellie Medina , Chato’s motherMr. Pilger , Chato’s school counselorMr. Fujita , Chato’s parole officerArmando , Lena’s boyfriend
The Story
Famous All Over Town is told by young Chato Medina, the hotheaded son of hotheaded Rodolfo Medina. Chato’s identity depends upon his membership in the Shamrocks, a local gang. Chato is smart but performs indifferently in school, and even his temporary resolve to pursue a career in medicine (the result of a brief stay in the hospital for appendicitis) lasts only until he gets back out on the streets with his gang friends. This episodic novel follows the adventures of Chato as he grows up. Gangland feuds with rival gangs permeate the novel as Chato races from one adventure to another. Assigned to watch over his sister Lena, Chato gets drunk at a wedding reception, has to be delivered home by friends, and suffers a terrific hangover and abuse from his father for abandoning Lena to sex-starved young hoodlums.
Lena soon falls for Armando, an illegal alien. This act enrages Rodolfo, who roams the neighborhood searching for Armando. In the process, he gets soundly thrashed by three young toughs whom he has insulted in a bar. Armando is deported to Mexico, and while he is finding out about Armando’s departure, Chato discovers that his father has had sex with a local prostitute, who is now pregnant. Angry and frustrated, Chato joins Pelon in a series of escapades: stealing wine and cigarettes, taking an old Nash from a run-down used car lot, joyriding throughout East Los Angeles, attempting to sell the car for fifty dollars, and looking constantly for easy girls. Chato is finally caught by the sheriff’s department and is taken to the station, where he discovers that Pelon has been shot by an officer and is dead.
After serving as a pallbearer at his friend’s funeral, Chato becomes involved in his family’s preparations to go to Mexico to spend Christmas with Mrs. Medina’s family and to celebrate Mrs. Medina’s mother’s seventieth birthday. After weeks of preparation, the family sets off in the old Buick for Titatlan, Mexico. In Mexico, Rodolfo tries to flatter his wife’s family so that he will be remembered in the grandmother’s will, but the old hatreds between the families are still alive. Rodolfo fails in his attempt at reconciliation and abruptly takes the family home to Los Angeles after a stay of only a few days.
Events at home come at Chato at a furious pace as the author rushes his story to its conclusion. The Southern Pacific Railroad is condemning and buying all the property in Chato’s neighborhood for railway expansion. After an initial bout of bluster, Rodolfo sells the family home for ten thousand dollars. Lena runs off and marries Armando, who has once again illegally entered the United States. When Mrs. Medina takes the baby Dolores and returns to Mexico and to her family, Chato is left alone with his father, and the Medina family is no more. As the novel ends, Chato has just been released from juvenile hall, where he has been briefly detained for writing his name all over half of the buildings in East Los Angeles. He then moves in temporarily with Lena and Armando.
Context
Famous All Over Town is Santiago’s first novel. Santiago is a pen name for Daniel James, author of several Broadway plays during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Published when the author was seventy-three, Famous All Over Town received positive reviews and won acclaim and prizes as a significant first novel, but it was not a success with the reading public. Critics hailed the work as a vivid, true picture of the coming-of-age of a young man in a Los Angeles barrio. Writing in The New York Review of Books, critic and novelist John Gregory Dunne praised the authenticity of the novel, calling it “a lunatic success” and “a classic novel of initiation.” In The Hudson Review, George Kearns focused his many positive comments on the genuineness of Santiago’s language and on his warmth and affection for his subject, calling it “a very sweet book.” Young readers will not care about Danny Santiago/Daniel James’s past literary accomplishments or about his experiences as a political activist; rather, they will identify with the yearnings of young Chato toward maturity, and they will understand his complicated and confused feelings toward the members of his family. Readers will appreciate the honesty and the faithful portrayal of the modern Mexican American experience.