Release from Cibola - Conquistadores, Eisenhower and Me
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In novel form Dr. Salazar tells the story of a Hispanic boy - Reyes Cordova - who learns from his teachers that Sputnik has ushered in a new era of opportunity. But first he must master English to become more American and become accepted in the American culture that has taken over Northern New Mexico. He becomes obsessed with learning the language, a task made difficult by his handicaps – illegitimate, a mother who speaks only Spanish, subsisting on public welfare – in addition to being part of a culture that promotes conformity, immediate gratification, close family relationships and xenophobic rejection of Anglophone society.
Reyes’ story is told in a poignant and picaresque series of journal-like portraits that trace his emergence from the mystical realm of Cibola that is a blend of an ancient Pueblo culture, an archaic Spanish heritage, and an encroaching American dominion in the age of Eisenhower and its cataclysmic events – the hydrogen bomb, the Communist Menace, Sputnik, accelerated farm-to-urban migration, and momentous protests for minority and women’s rights.
Reyes’ story is told in a poignant and picaresque series of journal-like portraits that trace his emergence from the mystical realm of Cibola that is a blend of an ancient Pueblo culture, an archaic Spanish heritage, and an encroaching American dominion in the age of Eisenhower and its cataclysmic events – the hydrogen bomb, the Communist Menace, Sputnik, accelerated farm-to-urban migration, and momentous protests for minority and women’s rights.