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In the working-class desert odyssey ‘Accordion Eulogies,’ Noé Álvarez searches for his grandfather

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Accordion Eulogies: A Memoir of Music, Migration, and Mexico

By Noé Álvarez Catapult: 208 pages, $26 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

As a child, Noé Álvarez “wandered the orchards under the spell of corridistas — musicians whose spitfire fingers flew over their three-row accordion keys,” he writes in his memoir, “Accordion Eulogies.” “Música norteña — a genre that originated in northern Mexico — gave voice to the disempowered men and women of Yakima who lived and labored apart from their motherland.” The corridos, whose name is derived from the Spanish for “to run,” tell stories of those far from home, on the run, migrating for work or bandits evading capture. Passed down through generations, their stories are a way of preserving history but also a reminder of the place whence you’ve come.

Álvarez, the son of Mexican immigrants, grew up in Yakima Valley, Wash., a semi-arid, now irrigated, area some 200 miles east of Mt. Rainier. His parents worked in the vast apple orchards and listened to the corridos on their radios, comforted by them as they toiled tending to the trees. While the songs eased some of his parents’ saudade , for Álvarez, they were also a reminder of his mythological grandfather who had deserted his family: “a homewrecker, a drunk, a gambler; a man forever caught in the currents of migration.” He was also an accordion player.

Álvarez sets out to find him. What follows is an extraordinary intertwining of fibers in which the hemp of history, music, memories and community knowledge ropes him to the man who left him behind as a child. Álvarez hopes for resolution to the inherited trauma of those forced to wander the land in search of work and the devastation left behind for those who stayed.

Searching for his abuelo also means searching for his instrument. The accordion had its origins in Germany, but was carried into North and South America by immigrants. In Louisiana, Álvarez hears its sounds in a land of the displaced “German, Irish, French, French Canadian, Native American, Anglo American, Italian, and Spanish” who landed there. Black Creole elders created forms of music that spoke to their descendants. Zydeco — music with a snappy beat that derives its name from French Creole colloquial expressions for poverty and tough times — is powered by the accordion. Álvarez meets zydeco legend Jeffery Broussard, “a bruised man with a story to tell.” A hard life as a Louisiana Black man has prepared Broussard to use his accordion to help folks with healing zydeco traditions.

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Broussard tells him, “It’s music that holds a lot of sadness … that also finds comedy in tragedy, tackling themes that are relatable to the local populations.” The Black Creoles carried the scars of slavery, and they infused their music with African and Haitian song, using call and response songs that “made music with their beaten bodies, never relinquishing the sounds of their homelands.” The accordion added its rich sound to this mix.

Similar stories emerge in other parts of the United States, where accordions took hold on the West Coast and in the Midwest, the South and Texas, where Álvarez journeys next. There he meets an accordion builder, who spends more than 100 hours handcrafting each instrument.

Álvarez reaches out to an Italian accordion player, who initially rejected the instrument for its status as working-class folk music. On a trip to Ireland, Álvarez meets a musician who lives in a country emptied out in waves as poverty, famine, political oppression and violence scattered its people. But it’s not all sadness. The Irishman tells him that “words can sometimes fail us, melody can save us. It can give you back your color, give you back your feelings, and give back the stories that migrants lose on dangerous pilgrimages.”

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As a sound carried by those who do the backbreaking labor of building and harvesting crops, work seen as undesirable by the middle class, accordion music is rich with history but also permeated by a fraught masculinity. What does it mean to be a “provider” if work carries you miles away from your family? Álvarez’s grandfather fled, a man chasing a dream of “something more” that he could not find even thousands of miles from his Mexican village.

Álvarez recalls a childhood where educators prohibited him from speaking Spanish in school, thus he was forced to learn a language of the people who relied on migrant labor but were resentful of those they employed. As an Indigenous Mexican, he recalls the irony of being prevented from speaking the language that was imported by those who had conquered the land and decimated its people.

In Mexico, Álvarez experiences the double bind of the American Mexican. Seen as American — and not to be trusted — by those who stayed, he becomes a man whose sense of identity is put to a severe test. He is personally affected by drug cartel violence, and the dangerous landscape leads him to a greater understanding of what made his family leave.

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“Accordion Eulogies” is a working-class desert odyssey that ends in the home of Álvarez’s abuelo . For years, the only reminder Álvarez had of him was a photo of a younger man holding an accordion. Tied together by their shared history of music, and their magical beliefs that what they’re looking for is lying in their next destination, the two men finally meet.

Most of us living in the U.S. are the descendants of those who fled their homelands because of the constant violence of poverty, hunger and lack of opportunity. For those who are several generations away from those experiences, the pain of leaving is long forgotten. But for the children of recent immigrants, the double consciousness of feeling set apart in America while being an alien in our ancestral lands is an ache hard to articulate.

But with “Accordion Eulogies” Álvarez has written his own corrido, creating a harmony from these difficult, sometimes unspeakable, themes. In finding connection through the accordion — originally brought from far away but now the instrumental repository of a million immigrant stories — he has composed a classic melody.

Lorraine Berry is a writer and critic in Eugene, Ore.

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The Best Fiction of 2023, According to the LA Times

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The Los Angeles Times is using December to look back at the best and biggest cultural moments of 2023, from theater to video games to, of course, books. They’ve highlighted 15 of their top reads of 2023: 13 novels and two short story collections.

While there are some familiar titles on this list that have appeared on several other Best Books of 2023 lists, the LA Times notes that they chose to leave out some of the biggest and buzziest books of the year in favor of writing about the releases that didn’t get the attention they deserved.

Unlike most of the Best Books of 2023 lists put out by major publications, this one is attributed to specific readers. Three of the publication’s book critics — Mark Athitakis, Hillary Kelly, and Bethanne Patrick — each selected their five favorite fiction reads of the year.

One intriguing choice is Julia by Sandra Newman, a feminist retelling of 1984 giving Winston Smith’s lover main character status with an added backstory and motivation. The introduction to this list claims that it “arguably bests the original.”

Other picks including the queer historical fiction title The New Life by Tom Crewe, the Black western horror novel Lone Women by Victor LaValle, an exploration of domestic life in Tokyo with Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai (translated by Polly Barton), and even a “parable about real estate” in Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter.

You can read the whole list at the Los Angeles Times .

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in  Breaking in Books .

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Word of Mouth

Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, los angeles times book prizes 2021.

The 42nd annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were awarded on April 22nd. The best books of 2021 were recognized in 12 categories, along with the winners of the Robert Kirsch and Innovator’s awards.

» Click here for more information.  

2021 Winners

Robert Kirsch Award Luis J. Rodriguez

Innovator's Award Reginald Dwayne Betts/Freedom Reads

The Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose REAL ESTATE: A Living Autobiography, by Deborah Levy

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction BROOD by Jackie Polzin

Biography BURNING BOY: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane, by Paul Auster

Current Interest MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could, by Adam Schiff

Fiction IN THE COMPANY OF MEN by Véronique Tadjo

Graphic Novel/Comics NO ONE ELSE by R. Kikuo Johnson

History CUBA: An American History, by Ada Ferrer

Mystery/Thriller THE TURNOUT by Megan Abbott

Poetry FRANK: Sonnets, by Diane Seuss

Science & Technology THE DISORDERED COSMOS: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred, by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction SPIRITS ABROAD by Zen Cho

Young Adult Literature A SITTING IN ST. JAMES by Rita Williams-Garcia  

2021 Finalists

Robert Kirsch Award

• Luis J. Rodriguez

Innovator's Award

• Reginald Dwayne Betts/Freedom Reads

The Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose

• REAL ESTATE: A Living Autobiography, by Deborah Levy

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

• WHEN WE CEASE TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD by Benjamín Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West
• BROOD by Jackie Polzin
• MY MONTICELLO by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
• ASSEMBLY by Natasha Brown
• THE RECENT EAST by Thomas Grattan
• THE REASON FOR THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, by John Tresch
• MIKE NICHOLS: A Life, by Mark Harris
• COMPETING WITH IDIOTS: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, A Dual Portrait, by Nick Davis
• BURNING BOY: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane, by Paul Auster
• ALL THE FREQUENT TROUBLES OF OUR DAYS: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler, by Rebecca Donner

Current Interest

• INVISIBLE CHILD: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City, by Andrea Elliott
• THE SUM OF US: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, by Heather McGhee
• HALFWAY HOME: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, by Reuben Jonathan Miller
• WILDLAND: The Making of America’s Fury, by Evan Osnos
• MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could, by Adam Schiff
• I LOVE YOU BUT I'VE CHOSEN DARKNESS by Claire Vaye Watkins
• HARROW by Joy Williams
• THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell
• AMERICAN ESTRANGEMENT by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
• IN THE COMPANY OF MEN by Véronique Tadjo

Graphic Novel/Comics

• SHADOW LIFE by Ann Xu and Hiromi Goto
• THE WAITING by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translated by Janet Hong
• STONE FRUIT by Lee Lai
• HEAVEN NO HELL by Michael DeForge
• NO ONE ELSE by R. Kikuo Johnson
• CUBA: An American History, by Ada Ferrer
• I'VE BEEN HERE ALL THE WHILE: Black Freedom on Native Land, by Alaina E. Roberts
• THE CHINESE QUESTION: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics, by Mae Ngai
• TRAVELING BLACK: A Story of Race and Resistance, by Mia Bay
• AFRICAN EUROPEANS: An Untold History, by Olivette Otele

Mystery/Thriller

• THE COLLECTIVE by Alison Gaylin
• THE TURNOUT by Megan Abbott
• THE DARK HOURS by Michael Connelly
• RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby
• VELVET WAS THE NIGHT by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• MASTER SUFFERING by CM Burroughs
• FRANK: Sonnets, by Diane Seuss
• YELLOW RAIN by Mai Der Vang
• FLOATERS by Martín Espada
• PLAYLIST FOR THE APOCALYPSE by Rita Dove

Science & Technology

• THE DISORDERED COSMOS: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred, by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
• WILD SOULS: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World, by Emma Marris
• SAVING US: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, by Katharine Hayhoe
• GOD, HUMAN, ANIMAL, MACHINE: Technology, Metaphor and the Search for Meaning, by Meghan O’Gieblyn
• A WORLD ON THE WING: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds, by Scott Weidensaul

The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction

• THE WORLD GIVES WAY by Marissa Levien
• SORROWLAND by Rivers Solomon
• LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS by Ryka Aoki
• SPIRITS ABROAD by Zen Cho

Young Adult Literature

• A SNAKE FALLS TO EARTH by Darcie Little Badger
• REVOLUTION IN OUR TIME: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People, by Kekla Magoon
• LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB by Malinda Lo
• FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial That Galvanized the Asian American Movement, by Paula Yoo
• A SITTING IN ST. JAMES by Rita Williams-Garcia

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Books On Screen

May's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of Peacock's "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" and Apple TV+'s "Dark Matter"; the season premieres of "Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire" on AMC and "Bridgerton" on Netflix; the conclusion of Paramount+'s "A Gentleman in Moscow," Hulu's "We Were the Lucky Ones," and HBO's "The Sympathizer"; the season finales of "Tracker" on CBS and "Will Trent" on ABC; the films Force of Nature: The Dry 2 and The Image of You in theaters, as well as Turtles All the Way Down on Max; and the DVD releases of  Dune: Part Two , The Bricklayer and The Taste of Things .

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‘LA Times’ Reveals Finalists for 2023 Book Prizes

BY Michael Schaub • Feb. 21, 2023

The Los Angeles Times unveiled the finalists for its book prizes, and named crime fiction author James Ellroy the winner of the annual Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement.

The newspaper praised Ellroy, known for novels including L.A. Confidential  and American Tabloid , as a “L.A. noir iconoclast.” He joins a long list of writers to receive the award, including Christopher Isherwood, Ken Kesey, and Joan Didion.

Jamil Jan Kochai was named a finalist for the Times fiction prize for The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories , along with Anna Dorn for Exalted and James Hannaham for Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened To Carlotta . Two translated books also made the shortlist: Solenoid , written by Mircea Cartarescu and translated by Sean Cotter, and Paradais , written by Fernanda Melchor and translated by Sophie Hughes.

In the mystery/thriller category, the finalists were Rachel Howzell Hall for We Lie Here , Laurie R. King for Back to the Garden , Tracey Lien for All That’s Left Unsaid , Alex Segura for Secret Identity , and Peng Shepherd for Cartographers .

Sabaa Tahir’s National Book Award–winning All My Rage made the shortlist for the young adult literature prize, as did Lyn Miller-Lachmann’s Torch , Samira Ahmed’s Hollow Fires , Andrew Joseph White’s Hell Followed With Us , and Kip Wilson’s The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin .

The winners of the awards will be announced at a ceremony on April 21 at the University of Southern California. A complete list of the finalists is available at the Times website .

Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.

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6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

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Monday is Memorial Day, when Americans pause to remember those who have lost their lives in the country’s wars, and if that somber occasion puts you in the mood to think about global politics and foreign policy, this would be a good weekend to settle in with “New Cold Wars,” in which my Times colleague David E. Sanger and his collaborator Mary K. Brooks evaluate the current state of tensions among China, Russia and America.

Elsewhere, we also recommend new fiction from Colm Tóibín, Juli Min and Monica Wood, along with a biography of the groundbreaking transgender actress Candy Darling and a book of photos by the incomparable Corky Lee, documenting moments in Asian American life. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

NEW COLD WARS: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West David E. Sanger with Mary K. Brooks

In this compelling first draft of history, Sanger reveals how a generation of American officials have grappled with dangerous developments in great war competition, from the war in Ukraine to the technological arms race with China.

“Vividly captures the view from Washington. But, as Sanger makes clear, … the fate of the U.S.-led order rests more than ever on the ideas, beliefs and emotions of people far outside the Beltway.”

From Justin Vogt’s review

Crown | $33

LONG ISLAND Colm Tóibín

More than a decade after Tóibín introduced us to Eilis Lacey, the finely wrought Irish émigré heroine of his novel “Brooklyn,” he’s conjured her again, this time as a married mother whose suburban New York life is disrupted by a crisis that propels her back to Ireland once more.

“Eilis is hardly passive. She is an interesting and vivid character because she manages to make her destiny her choice. … In her own mind, and in the eyes of sympathetic readers, she is free.”

From A.O. Scott’s review

Scribner | $28

SHANGHAILANDERS Juli Min

Min’s debut is a sweeping story, told in reverse. The novel opens in 2040 with the Yangs, a wealthy family tense with frustrations and troubles. Then the novel gradually moves backward to 2014, revealing along the way the complex lives of each family member and how they got to their anguished present.

“Having knowledge of these characters’ futures before we know about their past makes stumbling on their bygone days all the more touching.”

From Jean Kwok’s review

Spiegel & Grau | $28

HOW TO READ A BOOK Monica Wood

The latest from Wood (“When We Were the Kennedys”) brings together three lonely people in and around Portland, Maine — a retired teacher, a widower and a young woman recently released from prison — for a dextrous and warmhearted tale of unlikely redemption and connection.

“A charming, openhearted novel, deceptively easy to read but layered with sharp observations, hard truths and rich ideas.”

From Helen Simonson’s review

Mariner | $28

CANDY DARLING: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar Cynthia Carr

Carr, an astute guide to the Manhattan demimonde, offers a compassionate and meticulous biography of the transgender actress, who flitted in and out of Andy Warhol’s orbit before dying of cancer at 29 in 1974, after being immortalized in a famous photograph by Peter Hujar and in the Lou Reed song “Walk on the Wild Side.”

“There wasn’t really vocabulary to describe the territory Darling was exploring back then … and her biographer extends a sure hand across the breach. To push her from the Warhol wings to center stage, at a moment when transgender rights are in roiling flux, just makes sense.”

From Alexandra Jacobs’s review

Farrar, Straus & Giroux | $30

CORKY LEE’S ASIAN AMERICA: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice Photographs Corky Lee; edited by Chee Wang Ng and Mae Ngai

Several years after his death from Covid at age 73, the famed photographer’s work remains enduringly relevant. This new book, a sort of survey course in Asian Americans’ decades-long fight for social and political equality, offers both intimate, atomized portraits of the everyday and galvanizing visions of a larger unified movement.

“A man with an intimate understanding of the invisible, turning his lens on behind-the-scenes fragments and people that the annals of history have largely ignored.”

From Wilson Wong’s review

Clarkson Potter | $50

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

John S. Jacobs was a fugitive, an abolitionist — and the brother of the canonical author Harriet Jacobs. Now, his own fierce autobiography has re-emerged .

Don DeLillo’s fascination with terrorism, cults and mass culture’s weirder turns has given his work a prophetic air. Here are his essential books .

Jenny Erpenbeck’s “ Kairos ,” a novel about a torrid love affair in the final years of East Germany, won the International Booker Prize , the renowned award for fiction translated into English.

Kevin Kwan, the author of “Crazy Rich Asians,” left Singapore’s opulent, status-obsessed, upper crust when he was 11. He’s still writing about it .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .