Book Discussion and Signing w/ author Benjamin Bac Sierra February 17, 2011

On February 17, 2011, home-grown Mission District author Benjamin Bac Sierra will discuss his recently released novel, Barrio Bushido (El Leon Literary Arts, 2011). Mr. Bac Sierra will be interviewed on stage by noted Mission poet, Alejandro Murguia. Aztec dancers and Mission poets will open the event.

Audience Q and A follows the discussion. The event begins at 7 pm.
Set in an un-named California barrio in the early 1990's, Barrio Bushido narrates the story and fate of three adolescent Latinos-Lobo, Toro, and Santo-"homeboys" who join forces to rob organized crime gangsters.

Biography
The son of Guatemalan immigrants, Benjamin Bac Sierra was born and raised in San Francisco's Mission District. Living the brutal "homeboy" lifestyle, at seventeen he joined the United States Marine Corps and participated in front line combat during the first Gulf War. After his honorable discharge, he completed his Bachelor's degree at U.C. Berkeley, a Masters in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Currently, he is a professor at City College of San Francisco. Barrio Bushido is his published first novel.

Praise for Barrio Bushido
"I read BARRIO BUSHIDO in short doses, braving the pain and suffering and violent life of its young characters and their/our world. Suspense pulled me onward; I had to know how crimes, wars, hopes come out, but more importantly--Will the author be able to pull off a novel with meaning, or will this be another nihilistic thriller? On the level of world politics, is there homecoming for the Iraqi war vet? Benjamin Bac Sierra has taken upon himself the labor of Dostoevsky writing CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Is there redemption for those who've lost God's love? The reader feels the joy of murderous combat, and the heartbreak of compassion."
-Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Woman Warrior

Official Website: http://www.missionculturalcenter.org