Name/Title
Three wives' talesEntry/Object ID
2023.027.015Description
"In my family, stories were like currency. Your social standing within the clan depended on how good a storyteller you were. Holidays, picnics, visits from the extended relatives-all of these were opportunities to tell a story. My paternal grandfather was the champion; even with no formal English education, his tales of coming to America from Spain were the stuff of legend. My aunts and uncles could also spin a good yarn, some better than others, and any time liquor flowed, laughter was sure to follow. As a child, I soaked it up (the storytelling, not the liquor). I later realized that my family told stories for two reasons. The first was sheer entertainment. We were poor, truth be told, and stories were free. But a second reason for the endless recitation of tales from the Old Country and life during the Great Depression was, I now understand, a desire to keep their traditions alive. History mattered. Context mattered. Being Basque mattered. We weren't like other people, and on some level the more we became like other people-the more "American" we became-the more important it was to remember where we came from"-- Provided by publisher
235 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.Book Details
Author
Erquiaga, DalePlace Published
City
RenoState/Province
NevadaCountry
United StatesContinent
North AmericaDate Published
2021Publication Language
EnglishCall No.
PS3605.R8523 T48 2021