The Barbarian Nurseries

By: Héctor Tobar

Narrated by: Frankie J. Alvarez

Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

The great panoramic social novel that Los Angeles deserves—a 21st-century, West Coast Bonfire of the Vanities by the only writer qualified to capture the city in all its glory and complexity.

With The Barbarian Nurseries, Héctor Tobar gives our most misunderstood metropolis its great contemporary novel, taking us beyond the glimmer of Hollywood and deeper than camera-ready crime stories to reveal Southern California life as it really is, across its vast, sunshiny sprawl of classes, languages, dreams, and ambitions.

Araceli is the live-in maid in the Torres-Thompson household—one of three Mexican employees in a Spanish-style house with lovely views of the Pacific. She has been responsible strictly for the cooking and cleaning, but the recession has hit, and suddenly Araceli is the last Mexican standing—unless you count Scott Torres, though you’d never suspect he was half Mexican but for his last name and an old family photo with central LA in the background. The financial pressure is causing the kind of fights that even Araceli knows the children shouldn’t hear, and then one morning, after a particularly dramatic fight, Araceli wakes to an empty house—except for the two Torres-Thompson boys, little aliens she’s never had to interact with before. Their parents are unreachable, and the only family member she knows of is Señor Torres, the subject of that old family photo. So she does the only thing she can think of and heads to the bus stop to seek out their grandfather. It will be an adventure, she tells the boys. If she only knew.

With a precise eye for the telling detail and an unerring way with character, soaring brilliantly and seamlessly among a panorama of viewpoints, Tobar calls on all of his experience—as a novelist, a father, a journalist, a son of Guatemalan immigrants, and a native Angeleno—to deliver a novel as broad, as essential, as alive as the city itself.

©2011 Héctor Tobar (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“ Los Angeles Times journalist Tobar’s second novel is brimming with interwoven stories that form a vibrant portrait of his hometown of Los Angeles…The result is a marvelous pastiche of social commentary ensconced in a family domestic drama.” ( Booklist, starred review)

Great Reader, Captivating Story

The story took a while to show what direction it was headed, but definitely worth reading. As a California native, the story felt more personal. I also loved the allusions that almost felt like inside jokes to a second generation Mexican American. Would recommend listening.

Very good

What made the experience of listening to The Barbarian Nurseries the most enjoyable?

Once I realized what was going on I really enjoyed this book. It was somewhat confusing in the beginning because it is from the point of view of a Mexican maid who herself is not sure what is going on. I really loved the narrator of this book.

Family drama with new twists.

I try not to retell a story or give any big spoilers. There is more than enough information in the publisher’s summary to get you into this one.

As the characters develop, it is easy to fall into their basic household routine. Of course there are some tensions, but they seem to be under control. Then one decision by one individual destroys the equilibrium. Like dominoes, things seem to fall one at a time and set off the next disruption. As the story proceeds the characters must adapt and, of course, life will never return to its previous status.

This is very well written and narrated. It is believable, cohesive, and well developed. I would not hesitate to purchase another book by this author and/or narrator.

Great story, great narrator

Here is a literary novel that tells a fresh story with wit, honesty and a not-so-subtle social commentary. The story of a Mexican immigrant, the Californian family she's employed by, and one event that changes all their lives, it opened my eyes, made me laugh and left me wanting more -- more stories of Latino immigrants, more Hector Tobar, more Frankie J. Alvarez. It even left me thinking about refreshing my 1-semester's worth of college Spanish.

The narration absolutely requires a Spanish speaker, and hearing the words trill off the tongue of Alvarez was wonderful. Hector Tobar is skilled at straddling the cultures of both North and Latin America, showing us their similarities and differences, and the uneasy and inspiring ways they come together.

Above all, it's just a good story that moved well -- never overly expository, never preachy, and never predictable. Buy it and you'll be entertained, and you might even learn something, too.

Loved the book in both print and audio

The production was really well done. The preformer perfectly read the mixture of both English and Spanish in the novel that really elevates the authors great writing style

Hector Tobar Joins the Long Line of American Liter

Would you listen to The Barbarian Nurseries again? Why?

It is that rare convergence of talents from both writer and narrator that provides an experience that is greater than the sum of their combined efforts. Certainly Hector Tobar and Frankie J Alvarez have collaborated in producing something this delightful, thought provoking, and emotionally satisfying. Mr. Alvarez’s mastery of both the English and Spanish languages plays a large part in his bringing the author’s character’s voices to life.

That being said, Hector Tobar’s writing alone is more than sufficient to make this one of the best books I’ve read in some time. Through a third person narrator’s voice the author is able to bring the authenticity of his characters’ experiences vividly and forcefully to life. He does this by expertly describing all the components of the novel, other characters, events, settings, etc. By focusing his depictions of these elements and their individual and combined impacts on the five central characters of this story, he matches the power of the first person accounts of some more renowned literary characters.

I don’t believe it is too much to say that Araceli Ramirez will take her place in the pantheon of American literary protagonists, with Huckleberry Finn and Holden Caulfield. But unlike these two who are primarily alone in the center of their stories, Araceli shares the spotlight with the four members her employer family, the Torres-Thompsons.

We are shown through the eyes and emotions of these five characters, the on-going and stratified assimilation of the Mexican migration across the border into American society. With an impressive economy of words Mr. Tobar paints a lavish portrait with broad strokes that imparts a view of the macro impact of this migration on the extant Anglo culture. In the details, he focuses the reader on the impact to individual lives of the everyday events that make up the broader view.

He lets us feel and see a side of Los Angeles through the eyes of eleven-year-old boy with so much credibility that the commuter train ride from the Laguna Niguel station to Union Station will become the Southern California literary tourists’ equivalent to visiting Cannery Row in the Bay Area or standing under the clock in Grand Central Station in New York. The author sets the events of “Barbarian Nurseries” into the Southern California mixture of life styles, economic stratifications, and geographic environs with an authenticity Southern Californians will immediately recognize and others will understand.

The author’s ability to convey understanding is nowhere more apparent than in the ways he uses this story to convey an appreciation of the incentives, beyond economic opportunity, that fuel the migration. He enables us to imagine moving to a society where there exists a law enforcement apparatus that is flawed, but basically honest and transparent; where a judiciary is empowered to free citizens from government oppression; where educational opportunities are not emasculated by corruption; where society has martialed its resources to bring emergency medical response teams rapidly to everyone in need. Mr. Tobar does all this and more by showing us our country through the eyes and emotions of his characters. You will be immersed in their reality.

What a perfect audible book!

The story, the characters, (including the overall geographic character, L.A. County), and the issues are all important enough to engage your mind as well as your emotions. It's a funny satire, but unusually for that genre, it is warm and real and sympathetic. The performance by Frankie J. Alvarez was terrific. The book is written in English, but with a lot of Spanish, not all of it translated in the text. Nevertheless, Alverez is such a good voice actor that he communicates very well even if you don't understand and Spanish. I will look for him again the next time I'm looking for another Audible book.

Good storyline, great performance

But the execution was a little too drawn out. If you don't enjoy a good human story that isn't all tied up and spelled out at the end, not for you.

However, if you like slices of life like pie, flaky tart meaty or sweet give it a shot. I found it worth the credit if a little plodding.

Lengthy, but extremely well-told story! Loved it!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. I actually think this is a very good book for a Chicano Studies course because it's extremely realistic. Like another reviewer mentioned here, it talks about significant themes such as immigration, class/labor, race/ethnicity, and life of Latinos in California. Being from Los Angeles myself, I think the author tells an accurate story that describes all of these important themes. I love how descriptive he is of each character and their background. That's why the book is so lengthy, but I think it actually makes you appreciate the story that much more because of this. The narrator is excellent and does a good job with characters' voices--one of the best I've heard on here. I wish all audible books had a great narrator like Alvarez. I really enjoyed this book and appreciate the insight it has to offer to readers/listeners.

Which scene was your favorite?

When the small truths unravel in the story, you can't help but to find the humor in it and smile/laugh at yourself.

Any additional comments?

I really wanted the protagonist (the live-in housekeeper, Araceli) to confront her employers. Sorry, if this was giving too much away, but I was seriously just waiting for that to happen in order for me to be satisfied with her justice.

Riveting Book--fantastic story!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Barbarian Nurseries?

I loved the moments when Maureen, Scott and Araceli can see the mistakes they have made and instead of becoming more intractable and entrenched in their personal narrative, grow in understanding.

What about Frankie J. Alvarez’s performance did you like?

He has a fresh voice that is not overwrought or overly dramatic. Sometimes the narrator can take away from the book by being too obviously. Frankie let the story be the star, while portraying the thoughts and insights of each of the characters.

If you could take any character from The Barbarian Nurseries out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Maureen. She was like a million women I know and wouldn't necessarily warm to. I find her self-containment and love for perfection exhausting and thought she was the most interesting character.