Alfredo Vea's Narrative Trilogy

With the publication of La Maravilla (1993), Alfredo Vea entered the world of letters in full possession of his craft as a novelist, blending narrative fiction and engaging anecdotes with allusions to art (music, paintings, poetry) and autobiography (e.g., his tour of duty in Vietnam), written in the poetry and prose of the world with penetrating reflections on America (as an ideal), and the United States (as a country). Vea's narrative trilogy was recognized for its attention to language, ingenious conception at the level of plot and theme, and broad reflections on American society, its history (politics, art, religion, the entertainment industry), and its role as a world power in the twentieth century, specifically during the Vietnam war. Although recognized as a writer of great intuition and exceptional creativity, until now, no book-length study has been written on Alfredo Vea as a novelist. In this book, each one of the novels in the trilogy is analyzed and interpreted from an interdisciplinary perspective and with the general reader in mind, as well as college and university professors and students of US and world literatures.