Devil Talk: Stories

In the short stories that fill these pages, men and women confront evil in all its forms, drama, and even humor against a backdrop of Chicano and Mexicano culture. Situations range from the bizarre to the very real. In "Sight," a young man is allowed to see exactly what his girlfriend is doing when she leaves their home. A botched robbery in "Jorge, Get the Gun" leads to murder the same day JFK is buried. In the end, Devil Talk shocks, amuses, and tantalizes as it explores human passions and the corruption we valiantly attempt to avoid as we wander through life. "Anything can happen in one of Daniel Olivas' stories. These are disorienting, sometimes disturbing, but always entertaining tales told by a master folk-teller who knows we would much rather listen to the devil talk than hear an angel sing." — Rob Johnson, editor Fanasmas: Supernatural Stories by Mexican American Writers

"In a stunning departure from the social realism of his previous collection...Olivas takes readers into a disarming otherworld of the surreal and the supernatural....The quick succession of 26 narratives covers a wide territory of moods, from the strangely elliptical to the whimsical." —El Paso Times

In these short stories, men and women confront evil in all its forms, drama, and even humor against a backdrop of Chicano and Mexicano culture. Situations range from the bizarre to the very real. El Diablo pays "A Little Visit" to a widower to offer one more glimpse of his late wife. In "Sight," a young man is allowed to see exactly what his girlfriend is doing when she leaves their home. A botched robbery in "Jorge, Get the Gun" leads to murder the same day JFK is buried. In the end, Devil Talk shocks, amuses, and tantalizes as it explores human passions and the corruption we valiantly attempt to avoid as we wander through life. These twenty-six stories bring us to a place once inhabited by Rod Serling . . . only the accents have changed. This is Latino fiction at its edgy, fantastical best.

Daniel Olivas is the author of Devil Talk: Stories (Bilingual Press, 2004), Assumption and Other Stories (Bilingual Press, 2003), The Courtship of María Rivera Peña (Silver Lake Publishing, 2000), and a children?s book, Benjamin and the Word (Arte Público Press/Piñata Books, 2005). He is currently editing an anthology of Los Angeles fiction by Latino/a writers.

Olivas's short stories, poetry, essays and book reviews have appeared in many publications including the Los Angeles Times, the Jewish Journal, THEMA, the MacGuffin, Moorishgirl.com, Exquisite Corpse, the Pacific Review, Bilingual Review, and the Multicultural Review. He holds a degree in English Literature from Stanford University and law degree from UCLA. He now practices law in Los Angeles with the California Department of Justice where he specializes in environmental enforcement and land use. Olivas makes his home in the San Fernando Valley with his wife and son.