`CAFE' SERVES UP VIVID CHARACTERS, SURROUNDINGS.Byline: Deborah G. Guadan Daily News Staff Writer Title: ``The Silver Cloud Cafe'' Author: Alfredo Vea Jr. Data: 343 pages, Dutton Books; $24.95 Our rating: Three Stars Mysterious and matter-of-fact, ``The Silver Cloud Cafe'' pours forth a rich story of the divine and the damned. Setting his story in the Mission District of San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and the agricultural fields of the Central Valley, author Alfredo Vea Jr. grips the reader with his bleak but proud cast of characters. Fighting a tide of anti-illegal immigrant fervor, Vea uses his experiences of immigrant worker life to peel away stereotypes. Without preaching, Vea emphasizes the importance of where an individual comes from and how that connection manifests itself in later life. The power of the individual, with some angelic intervention, plays an essential role in this novel. At the most basic level, Vea asserts that redemption of the soul cannot be determined by race, class or even physical size. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , this is everyone's America, everyone's planet, and so everyone has a stake in the salvation of a soul. Vea conjures up characters with wickedly delightful personalities. ``The Silver Cloud Cafe'' begins with two angels fretting fret·ting n. A hole, or worn or polished spot made on metals by abrasion or erosion. over what to tell about their earthly adventure. They decide to report that all is harmonious. So much for the truth. What the angels have been part of is a strange rendering of accounts. Two deaths, one a murder and one a suicide, are described in supernatural terms by residents in the city. When Teodoro Cabiri, a midget with a knack for tricks also known as Ted For Short, is identified at the crime scene with machete in hand, the case seems closed. But the key witness, Miguel Govea, the raiser of the drawbridge drawbridge: see bridge. where the murder occurs, provides more mystery than the Inspector can handle. Govea says of the death of Bambino Reyes: ``You see ... it was a consagracion, not a desecration. There was a great gathering to do a holy thing. ... And this is a story of harvests, both earthly y sobrenatural, not of this earth. They are asking a question right now. They are wondering if they should tell God that everywhere on this earth love dies on the vine.'' Vea's characters are blanketed in this somber theme, misfits in some regards, but with a definite purpose on this Earth. The savior of the novel, if you will, is defense attorney Zeferino Del Campo. He lands the job of representing an insistent Teodoro, who has readily confessed to the crime. Yet, what unfolds presents much more of a test for Zeferino: ``As he stared at Ted For Short, Zeferino Del Campo, for the first time, began to realize consciously that there had always been a mystery in his life, a locked room sealed off since childhood. He had always been aware of that forbidden room, but something had kept him from focusing on it, from prying pry·ing adj. Insistently or impertinently curious or inquisitive: ignored the prying journalists' questions. pry that door open and peering inside.'' Teodoro steers Zeferino to the Silver Cloud Cafe, a location he has driven by but never seen, until he is ready. A quirky quirk n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. scene and a troubled soul's broken-down taxi transport Zeferino back to Stockton, circa 1959. There, he relives life in the isolated crop fields, trailing his mother and whoever is her latest boyfriend. But buried in those memories of sun-scorched days is a crime that rips a trio of farm workers out of safety and sends them on the run. Eventually, of course, they all end up in San Francisco at the Silver Cloud Cafe. What makes this novel so vivid is not the crimes but rather the characters and scenes that decorate the pages. Vea takes the reader from San Francisco City Hall's lawn, overflowing with the homeless, to the Lady in Waiting transvestite trans·ves·tite n. One who practices transvestism. transvestite Sexology A person with a compulsion to dress as a member of the other sex, which may be essential to maintaining an erection and achieving orgasm. See Transsexual. and transsexual trans·sex·u·al n. A person who strongly identifies with the opposite gender and who chooses to live as a member of the opposite gender or to become one by surgery. adj. 1. Of or relating to such a person. 2. bar, to pigeon-filled parks of downtown Stockton, where lonely farm workers go to die. If you favor cut-and-dried solutions, Vea's style will not suit your needs. It's the twists and turns that make Vea fun. He struts A framework for writing Web-based applications in Java that supports the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Struts is deployed as JSP pages using special tags from the Struts tag library, which includes routines for building forms, HTML rendering, storing and retrieving data and his way through these squalid squal·id adj. 1. Dirty and wretched, as from poverty or lack of care. See Synonyms at dirty. 2. Morally repulsive; sordid: "the squalid atmosphere of intrigue, betrayal, and counterbetrayal" scenes, but bathes them in dignity and grace and makes miracles seem both believable be·liev·a·ble adj. Capable of eliciting belief or trust. See Synonyms at plausible. be·liev  a·bil and absurd. And that's a glorious touch. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) no caption (Book cover - The Silver Cloud Cafe) (2) Author Alfredo Vea Jr. peels away stereotypes in ``The Silver Cloud Cafe.'' |
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