Richard Vasquez's Chicano First Edition, 1970

1970. [Chicano Literature] Vasquez, Richard. Chicano. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1970. Stated first edition. 8vo; 376pp. Original black board with silver title on spine, pictorial dust jacket, mylar covering. Vasquez's Chicano quickly became a bestseller at the height of the Chicano rights and literary movement. It follows the Sandoval family who flee the disparity of the Mexican Revolution to begin a new life in the United States. The themes deal with cultural isolation, discrimination, bi-racial love, and the struggle of the Mexican-American immigrant family. Vasquez, being born and raised in the Latino community of Los Angeles, wrote Chicano with an honest and raw first hand perspective of the Mexican struggle in the United States. In 1952 he quit his construction job to become a full time writer. He wrote for multiple Southern California newspapers such as The Los Angeles Times and San Gabriel Valley Tribune as well as authored two additional books and spoke on social justice at universities. This novel is a quintessential piece of Chicano literature. Dust jacket has edge wear and a chip to top of spine, not price clipped, and covered in mylar. Binding is tight, text and pages are clean and crisp. Overall very good condition.