Award-winning author Elizabeth Gonzalez James will read from her novel "The Bullet Swallower" on October 7 at 91制片厂. (Photo by Nancy Rothstein)
Award-winning author Elizabeth Gonzalez James will visit 91制片厂 to read from The Bullet Swallower, her critically acclaimed work inspired by her great-grandfather鈥檚 experiences as an outlaw along the U.S.-Mexico border in the 1800s.
The , presented as part of 91制片厂鈥檚 Cultural Arts Lecture Series, will take place from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, October 7 in the Drama Lab Theatre, Building L, Room L109, on 91制片厂鈥檚 campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine.
The Bullet Swallower has garnered critical acclaim and widespread attention. It was named an honor-winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction by the Texas Institute of Letters, was a 2024 Book of the Month Club pick, named best book of 2024 by Esquire and NPR and featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as one of the show鈥檚 spring book club picks.
James fuses the extraordinary, the supernatural and historical events in The Bullet Swallower, a thought-provoking magical realist western, which explores identity, the effects of colonialism and how the actions of past generations impact their descendants.
The book鈥檚 preface sets the stage with the story of Alferez Antonio Sonoro, head of the family line and the cruel owner of a gold mine worked by indigenous people who have been pushed off their land by the Spanish.
In a fit of rage over their request for fair wages, he traps the workers deep inside of the mine, then detonates explosives, killing them. The explosion splits the Rio Grande River and redirects Sonoro鈥檚 fate, destroying his status, draining his wealth and seemingly cursing his descendants.
Decades later, his outlaw grandson, Antonio, is shot in the face by Texas Rangers during an attempted train robbery, earning him the nickname 鈥淓l Tragabalas鈥� or the bullet swallower. Antonio鈥檚 grandson, Jaime, a celebrated 20th-century movie star, later learns of his ancestors鈥� transgressions. The book follows both Antonio and Jaime as they grapple with the sins of their ancestors and how they impact their lives, under the urging of Remedio, a ghostly figure and generational presence.
James, who grew up in South Texas, said she became inspired to write The Bullet Swallower as tensions rose along the Texas-Mexico border a decade ago.
鈥淚 started writing the rough draft when the 2016 presidential election was in full
swing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 Mexican American, and I鈥檓 hearing them screaming, 鈥楤uild the
wall,鈥� and 鈥楧eport them.鈥� I originally thought the book was going to be a pretty simple
revenge story, western shoot 鈥榚m up, but I realized, even though the story is set
in the 1800s, a lot of the same feelings are still present today.鈥�
James conducted extensive research and considered writing historical fiction but decided to tap into the Latin American tradition of magical realism to bring her family鈥檚 story to life.
鈥淚 wanted to stick to the facts, but it just got too limiting, and I thought, you know, I鈥檓 already talking about the devil and a magical horse and all this other weird stuff that happens,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a fiction writer. I like making stuff up. It鈥檚 just more fun. I grew up hearing stories about ghosts, demons and all kinds of spooky things, and that鈥檚 the thing with magical realism. It鈥檚 true to the people who are telling the story. It鈥檚 not magical to them. It鈥檚, 鈥榃ell, of course, there鈥檚 a ghost of a woman who stalks the banks of the Rio Grande trying to drown children. Everyone knows that.鈥� You know, that's just kind of the way that people tell stories along the border.鈥�
91制片厂 English Professor Pearl Ratunil is teaching The Bullet Swallower in her English 102 course this semester. She said the reading is timely because it explores issues that are still relevant.
鈥淥ne of the things the book talks about is how borders shift and move, and how it affects our identities,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne character says that she鈥檚 never crossed the Rio Grande, but the border has crossed over her. Meanwhile, her house always stood in the same place. Good novels like Elizabeth鈥檚 can teach history in a way that a textbook cannot. We鈥檙e able to learn about history through that one quote of the character without having to read an entire chapter about different political and policy changes. Sometimes historical novels can give us an immediate understanding of history through the character and an understanding of history that鈥檚 very personal.鈥�
Ratunil said she is using The Bullet Swallower to teach her English 102 students the importance of research.
鈥淭he first three chapters are all research-driven,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want students taking English 102, our research writing course, to know that research skills are for more than just writing academic papers. They can help you do creative and artistic work. In the age of AI, research skills can be seen as unnecessary and obsolete, but it鈥檚 absolutely still necessary to learn how to do research. How to incorporate research into your creativity is the job of an artist, and that's what Elizabeth does.鈥�
Ratunil believes books like The Bullet Swallower promote cultural understanding.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important for students in any educational institution to learn as much as they can about different cultures, our histories, and the relationships between them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his knowledge helps students become more conscientious and empathetic human beings, and it allows them to make choices that are informed by history.鈥�
James hopes readers take away a new understanding of Texas border history and the idea that each generation can become better than the last.
鈥淭he narrative of Texas history that has always been presented is that the Texas Rangers were the good guys. Probably sometimes they were, but a lot of the time they were not,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey were cruel, murderous, and in some ways, the law enforcement arm of a very racist system. Second, I think the central question the book asks is, 鈥楥an we be better than the people who came before us?鈥� I think that鈥檚 the central question that we鈥檙e confronting as Americans right now. A lot of the reason we鈥檙e seeing all of this social turmoil is because there are some people who are willing to confront that question, and some who are not. I hope that by the end of the book, readers will come away with the answer that, yes, we can be better than our ancestors, but it takes a long time and it鈥檚 really difficult.鈥�