Bodega Dreams : A Novel

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Summary: "If faced with this decision, what would you choose?"
Review: "Bodega Dreams", By Ernesto Quinonez intertwines two storys; that of Chino, a young man in his early twentys that was born and raised in Spanish Harlem. Learning at an early age that if he wants to survive and make a name for himself he's going to have to fight for it. After he graduates from high school he enrolls in college and trys to make a better life for himself, his wife and unborn child. Money is very tight and Chino constantly struggles to keep the peace and some how balance his childhood sweetheart/new wife Blanca and his friend since third grade, Sapo. Sapo interduces Chino to Willy Bodega and Chino's whole life changes.
The other story in this book is Willy Bodega's. Willy Bodega comes back to Spanish Harlem to re-build it and it's people. Willy Bodega has big dreams and the money to give to people to help those dreams become a reality. Willy Bodega hears about Chino and becomes interested in his potental, wanting to meet with Chino, He has Sapo who already works for him set it up.
This story opens your eyes to a completely diffrent way of life then we are use to, but that is also a way of life for some people. I really enjoyed this book and I encourage other people to read it.

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Summary: A very unique twist
Review: I really liked this book, even though there was a lot of cussing. It's just how they talked. If they spoke perfect English, then the story wouldn't mean anything. I never got bored while I was reading it and thought that the author, Ernesto, did a great job of bringing everything to life; their culture, the neighborhood and the characters- especially Sapo, Chino's friend. I also like how the "hero" of their Spanish Harlem neighborhood is Bodega- a drug lord. He wants everyone to succeed in life and helps kids go to college, makes sure people receive well paying jobs, and restores old buildings for the people of Spanish Harlem, so they can pay low rent. I like how he wants to make the neighborhood a better, cleaner place even though he sells drugs. I would recommend to everyone to read this book on how life was for a kid growing up in Spanish Harlem. It has a great story line and is similar in characters to The Great Gatsby. Again, this is a really good book to read.

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Summary: great
Review: Bodega Dream is a fiction book that has lots of every day people goes through. I am glad that I had the opportunity to read this. The character Chino is introduced. He is a hard worker that meets a girl, Blanca who later married him. Then there is Sapo he received his name from his feacual futures. Sapo works for a drug lord named Bodega. Sapo introduces Chino to Bodega, chino then start working for him. The writer has captured a view that other people will never see.

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Summary: Bodega Dreams a great read
Review: Harsh language and violence. This may be how someone would describe the book Bodega Dreams if they had failed to get over the potentially offensive material meant to create a mood and background and ignored the true message featured in the book. Bodega Dreams is not about selling drugs, street alliances, or even life in Spanish Harlem. It's about dreams, the true American dream, to live in comfort and happiness, no matter where one happens to live in this nation.
Set in the heart of Spanish Harlem during the eighties, the story stars Chino, a young man trying to make his way in the neighborhood without involvement in illegal street gangs. Alongside Chino are his Pentecostal wife, Blanca, and his childhood friend Sapo. Sapo is involved in drug dealings in el Barrio, through which he meets Willie Bodega, the neighborhood's major drug lord with big plans and dreams. One evening, at Bodega's request, Sapo brings Chino to an apartment where Bodega invites him to be apart of Bodega's plans to improve the neighborhood. From that point drama surrounding Bodega and all his activities unfolds as chino is taken on a wild ride through underground Spanish Harlem.
The novel, although fairly simple and one dimensional, proves for extremely enjoyable reading with unpredictable twists and turns. Peppered thorough out the story are enhancing Spanish and profane words, giving the book a sense of validity that would have been lost without use of such words. Overall, I thought the book to be very interesting with an ending so unseen, I was put into shock. Bodega Dreams is an excellent book and a great personal read.

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Summary: A 'manchild in the promised land' for Spanish Harlem
Review: I purchased this book in error, but it was a great mistake. I thought it was going to be about the Mexican immigrants who work at the Korean bodegas in Manhattan. Wow, was i wrong. Instead I found a lyrical novel with a social vision about Chino (Julio Mercado), who finds that you just can't do one favor for Willy Bodega, East Harlem's chief drug dealer and philanthropist. I live just a few blocks from the epicenter of the story, but it was a completely different world that the novel introduced to me. Just as Claude Brown created Harlem for readers of "Manchild", Quinonez, 34, a New York City 4th grade bilingual school teacher of Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican ancestry, raised by a Communist father and Jehovah Witness mother, paints for the reader a portrait of El Barrio, a Spanish Harlem of apartment blocks, bodegas, botanicas, beans, holdups, murals, nicknames, rice, BMW's, and communions. Yes, you get drawn in with all the nicknames, like Chino, and Sapo, Blanca, Taino, Batuka, Bisocho, as well as Papito, Tato, and Junito, but you stay for the mystery of the story of the criminality of some of the characters. Will Chino become a front for the Harry Goldstein Real Estate Agency (which is actually a front for Bodega's empire)? Can you do a single favor and wipe your hands of the relationship? Can you escape Taino Towers? Is it true that while the Messiah tarries, and the goodpeople are only good for paying loans, that only the dishonest and paradoxical people can bring about change? Eso esta heavy duty!

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Summary: Good book, better ending
Review: Overall I have to say that I'm impressed with the way that Bodega Dreams came out in the end. Although some parts of the book are more fillers and don't really have much to do with the plot, I liked how the chain of events eventually led to a surprise ending that reveals characters' true motives, as well as secret betrayals. While action didn't play a major part in Quinonez's storytelling, the raw speech and interactions between those involved in the story created tension that builds throughout the novel. This was a pretty quick and decent read.

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Summary: Must Read!
Review: Bodega Dreams is one of the best books I have ever read. Though, at times, it reads a bit like a soap opera, I found myself captivated by the plot and the many colorful characters. The book portrays the life of Chino, a young man, in school, married and expecting a child. As he tries to imagine supporting his family, he meets Willie Bodega -- a man of mystery, full of dreams to make the world a better place. This story, comprised of love and hate, mystery and suspense, makes it impossible to set this book down. A definite "Must Read" for anyone!

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Summary: John Stepleton Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez
Review: This story is about the trials and tribulations of a young spanish man Chino, and his wife Blanca, as they try to survive in Spanish Harlem.Money is very tight for Chino and Blanca since both are enrolled in the city college. Sapo who is Chino best friend, introduces Chino to Willie Bodega, a drug lord of the nieghborhood kingpin. Willie Bodega re-builds spanish harlem by buying the old apartments, re-building them, then he gives them back to his own people. He takes a liking in Chino and sends Sapo, who already works for him, to set it up. This book takes you on a ride thru some crazy lifestyles, and for some people, it is thier lifetsyle. This book showed me how some people are still living in the U.S. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants to see what life is like for the poverty struckin'.

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Summary: Willie Bodega sells dreams!
Review: Bodega Dreams is a contemporary fiction novel that could easily be interpreted as reality. The author uses vivid realistic descriptions and immediately enthralls the reader with a set up comparable to a soap opera. First the reader is introduced to Chino, the hardworking honest kid trying to get out of East Harlem the right way. With Chino comes Blanca, his strict Pentecostal wife. Constantly emerging between the two is Chino's childhood friend, Sapo. Sapo is also going places, yet much to Blanca's dismay, uses a different, not so honest approach. Sapo leads Chino to Bodega, the man that runs it all and that will change Chino's life and the lives of many others. Occasionally, the author incorporates explicit actions and vocabulary into the plotline. This functions simply to secure the reality of the scenes and invoke a sense of realism in the reader. Lack of such vivid details would only cheapen the novel. I say, don't let a few bad words scare you away! I eagerly recommend this book to any individual looking for a quick, interesting, educational and inspiring read. However, don't start the book if you are short of time, I'm afraid it won't be easy to put down!

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Summary: Bodega Dreams
Review: Julio the main character grows up in the streets and is like any other kid in the streets, he fights to keep a place in the streets and is protected by his best childhood friend sapo. But unlike all the other guys in the streets julio (a.k.a chino) has ambitions in life, he plans to graduate from college, along with his very religious wife blanca. Everithing is going according to chinos plans but when bodega the druglord wants to see him, everithing starts going wrong. First his best friend gets accused of murder, julio gets involved and his wife leaves him and the great plans of bodega and nazario, his lawyer start falling when bodegas great lost love vera returns and complicates everithing. By this point chino is in too deep and can't get out because once you know too much there is no way out so what happens next? to find out you have to read the book!