The Milagro Beanfield War ~ John Nichols. New Mexico Trilogy 2000 sc NEW in MELB

Description: Joe Mondragon 36, a feisty hustler with a talent for trouble, slammed his battered pickup to a stop, tugged on his gumboots, and marched into the arid patch of ground. Carefully (and also illegally), he tapped into the main irrigation channel. And so began-though few knew it at the time-the Milagro beanfield war. But like everything else in the dirt-poor town of Milagro, it would be a patchwork war, fought more by tactical retreats than by battlefield victories. Gradually, the small farmers and sheepmen begin to rally to Joe's beanfield as the symbol of their lost rights and their lost lands. And downstate in the capital, the Anglo water barons and power brokers huddle in urgent conference, intent on destroying that symbol before it destroys their multimillion-dollar land-development schemes. The tale of Milagro's rising is wildly comic and lovingly tender, a vivid portrayal of a town that, half-stumbling and partly prodded, gropes its way toward its own stubborn salvation. Life in Milagro was simple. The Mexican Americans did the work, the while Americans wielded the power and made the money...And it was the water that was that power and money. But Joe Mondragon had other plans - and when he diverted the main irrigation channel into what used to be his father's beanfield, then it was out-and-out war! And like most wars it was full of confusion, cowardice, and a kind of awkward and reluctant courage. John Nichols's New Mexico Trilogy, inaugurated in 1974 with the publication of The Milagro Beanfield War, has grown from regional stature to national appeal, from literary radicals to cult classics. Beloved for his compassionate, richly comic vision and admired for his insight into the cancer that accompanies unbridled progress, Nichols is the author of nine novels and six works of nonfiction. He lives in northern New Mexico. The Milagro Beanfield War is the first book in John Nichols's New Mexico Trilogy “Gentle, funny, transcendent.” ―The New York Times Book Review Joe Mondragon, a feisty hustler with a talent for trouble, slammed his battered pickup to a stop, tugged on his gumboots, and marched into the arid patch of ground. Carefully (and also illegally), he tapped into the main irrigation channel. And so began-though few knew it at the time-the Milagro beanfield war. But like everything else in the dirt-poor town of Milagro, it would be a patchwork war, fought more by tactical retreats than by battlefield victories. Gradually, the small farmers and sheepmen begin to rally to Joe's beanfield as the symbol of their lost rights and their lost lands. And downstate in the capital, the Anglo water barons and power brokers huddle in urgent conference, intent on destroying that symbol before it destroys their multimillion-dollar land-development schemes. The tale of Milagro's rising is wildly comic and lovingly tender, a vivid portrayal of a town that, half-stumbling and partly prodded, gropes its way toward its own stubborn salvation.Very Entertaining read!ReviewsFunny, irreverent, ribald, poignant ... wondrously fresh and alive" - The Denver Post"Insight, compassion, and consumer,,ate skill ... VERY entertaining reading." - San Francisco City magazine"A fine zesty novel .... compassionate, affectionate, and exciting as human cussedness can make it." - The Seattle TimesAn AMAZING ride!! .... Although the storyline, by any account, is both interesting and relevant, John Nichols’ The Milagro Beanfield War is as much about voice and style as about story and tale: once you fall into his amazing river, you don’t worry so much about where it’s going to take you.But then, once the river gathers strength and direction, you find yourself seeing the forces at work more and more clearly, as well as the upcoming battle ahead—and you read on (awake, when you should be sleeping) to find out, to find out…His much larger than life characters (or characters living in a much larger than normal life—for they do) are both pathetic and heroic, and funny; and you cannot help but rooting for them in whatever insanities they set out to achieve. And as an aside, Nichols must have been speaking in Spanish tongues to come up with such a vast field of character names, I continued to amaze at this as I proceeded through the story.Nichols’ description of Amarante Cordova’s beating Death in seven-card stud poker is, on its own, worth the price of admission and sets the tone for the depth and the bordering on pathological stick-to-itiveness of some of the Milagro populace. Yes, once you’re in with this crowd, you don’t want to leave.The pebble-pelting Mercedes Rael is another larger than life character that floats in and out of the narrative as real as any ghost. Nichols handles her expertly and you’re always glad to encounter her again in the most unexpected (narrative-wise) places—though always true to the story.Nichols’ weaving vernacular borders on the miraculous, while through it spring his vast cast of characters, all standing up and casting a shadow (as Faulkner demanded of fictional characters). They grow every-day real as your care and interest increases by degrees and the book (or Kindle) gets harder and harder to put down.I read this book when first published, but have to admit I didn’t know English quite as well then. Twenty years of reading (and looking up words and their meanings) have primed me better for this experience, and this time around it’s a firework of glittering life.Perhaps best of all; even character you like can act like bastards, while you understand why they do: that, in my book, is good—and very real—story telling.FIVE STARS!! ... Man this book was great! I saw the film a few years back and although I remember it, reading the book was a whole different ball game. The story was much more intense and enveloped my attention for a few weeks. It is rare to find a book this irreverent and enthralling. GREAT READ!!! ... This is an accurate description of the water issues in all of New Mexico and the misinformation that was given to the people of the state. John Nichols wove a tale of a village on the cusp of losing everything their ancestors had worked for, and he did it with humor and needle sharp accuracy. It is the book that I always send to friends who want to know what New Mexico is all about.This is my favorite damn book of all time ever..... Ostensibly, the book is about a water-rights squabble in a small town in New Mexico. But the book is so much more: the differences between the Mexican and American cultures, believing in miracles, political dissidence, and all of the ridiculously awesome characters that the author breathes life into. There's Amarante Cordova, the ageless wonder who has been dying since birth, only to outlive many of his own children; there's one-armed Onofre Martinez, who claims that he lost his appendage to a butterfly; pugnacious Joe Mondragon, the pint sized protagonist who starts the whole squabble; Milo, his guilt ridden lawyer who has to reconcile his white American background with his Hispanic wife; Horsethief Shorty, the foreman at the Dancing Trout ranch and crony to main villain Ladd Devine III; and a whole assortment of special agents, water rights lawyers, body shop and plumbing shop owners, angels and car thieving senile grandmothers.The book unfolds in a blissfully organic, sprawling way. You'll follow different characters in different chapters, as they all deal with their own trials and tribulations, usually working at cross purposes with other characters. Things build to a climax involving the whole host of characters, and for a change in a town called Miracle, the good guys win one.Great read and funny as heck. ...Points out that water is the life blood of the west. I think I met Joe Mondragon or his twin. I think I want to visit New Mexico.Required reading for anyone who enjoys Steinbeck, Marquez, Cervantes, Castaneda, or Marijuana. .... "You can't buy bullets with food stamps," says Nick Rael, the store owner of the one store in Milagro, New Mexico, when Amarante Cordova peals off four one-dollar stamps and carefully lays them on the counter. This absurd scene in "The Milagro Beanfield War", the first novel in John Nichols' epic New Mexico Triology, serves well enough to illustrate the power of Nichols' voice and the authority of his narrative, but Amarante takes his bullets and shuffles off to stand guard over Joe Mondragon's controversial beanfield with a prehistoric revolver and a bottle of cheap brandy, envisioning an angel who in Nichol's words "Is no shining angel with a golden halo straight from Tiffany's... rather, a half-toothless, one-eyed bum sort of coyote dressed in tattered blue jeans and sandals, and sporting a pair of drab moth-eaten wings..." It is in scenes like this when Nichols exposes the magic underpinnings of Milagro that The Beanfield War is elevated from minor skirmish to massive global conflict... something in line with a Paradise Lost where the devil is a sawed-off unflamboyant man who systematically gathers up the souls of little ranchers and uses them to light his cigars and God is taking a really long siesta while Jesus is getting drunk with his wife and illegally irrigating a field of beans. I would list this as required reading for anyone who enjoys Steinbeck, Marquez, Cervantes, Castaneda, or Marijuana.Marvellous Reading! WHY do ebayers buy from US?Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item & form part of my description!!POSTAGE IS $9.90 WITHIN AUSTRALIAWe pack your books with care - using secure, lightweight, waterproof packaging to ensure that they are well protected in transit.*All items will be shipped within 3 business days of receipt of payment. 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