Rating: 
Summary: Not the whole enchilada
Review: To continue with the type of imagery that Denise Chavez uses so sassily in "Loving Pedro Infante," this novel is like one of those burritos where the insides are tasty but the tortilla holding it all together is so flimsy that the whole thing falls apart. Tere Avila is a teacher's aid in Cabritoville, Texas, a place where there's not a lot to do but chow down at Sofia's Mighty Taco, dress up to the teeth and hang out at La Tempestad Lounge with guys you've known all your life, and attend meetings of the Pedro Infante fan club. For those who don't know who Pedro Infante is, he was the star of stars during Mexico's Golden Age of Cinema, an actor whose fine voice, charismatic performances, and tumultuous personal life were ended by a plane crash in the late 1950's. He is adored in Mexico with the kind of following given to Elvis in the US. "Loving Pedro Infante" gets off to a bright and frisky start with La Tere describing a typical meeting of the fan club and the interpersonal relationships of her hometown. Unfortunately, not much develops from there. There is some broad humor (a drawn-out sequence with a diaphragm reads like something out of 1972) and a few setbacks for Tere, but she is so flippant that nothing seems to run very deep with her. The novel's appeal will be somewhat limited by the extensive use of Spanglish. Readers who do not know border slang may find it difficult to figure out what is going on in Cabritoville. Still, it is a quick, entertaining read, which I don't imagine is what the author had in mind at all.
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