Winner of the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction
From Chicago to Mexico, the places Sandra Cisneros has lived have provided inspiration for her now-classic works of fiction and poetry. But a house of her own, a place where she could truly take root, has eluded her. In this jigsaw autobiography, made up of essays and images spanning three decades-and including never-before-published work-Cisneros has come home at last. Written with her trademark lyricism, in these signature pieces the acclaimed author of The House on Mango Street and winner of the 2018 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature shares her transformative memories and reveals her artistic and intellectual influences. Poignant, honest, and deeply moving, A House of My Own is an exuberant celebration of a life lived to the fullest, from one of our most beloved writers.

• Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group; October 2015
• ISBN: 9780385351348
• Read online, or download in secure EPUB format
• Title: A House of My Own
• Author: Sandra Cisneros
• Imprint: Vintage

Subject categories

• Literary Criticism > Books & Reading
• Literary Collections > Essays

ISBNs

• 9780385351331
• 9780385351348

In The Press

“A House of My Own tells the story of the award-winning Mexican-American novelist, poet, short story writer and essayist’s quest for her dream house, in a book as beautifully appointed as her legendary ‘purple’ home in San Antonio, with lustrous pages, color photographs and colorful chapter headings that lend it the look and feel of an objet d’art . . . These ‘stories from my life’ assemble nonfiction drawn from three decades, touching on themes similar to those found in her fiction—identity, belonging, culture, feminism, the importance of home and kinship—each has a new introduction explaining the context and why she chose it. The book’s atypical form offers a truer portrait of Cisneros than might be found in a conventional autobiography. A literary salon steeped in storytelling and writers, it honors her process and influences and draws attention to crucial and difficult points of her development. Like a manifesto, it reasserts Cisneros’s artistic credo—living alone, charting her path, seeing writing as ‘a resistance, an act against forgetting, a war against oblivion, against not counting, as women’ . . . Cisneros pays tribute to every friend, artist, musician and tradition that inspired her . . . A House of My Own reminds us of the importance of our place in the world, and of the holiness of what we find there. Cisneros is right there in the room, fiercely candid, warm and gracious, talking about everything: the best recipe for mole, her humiliating fifth-grade report card, the men in her life, her dreams about old houses and forgotten pets—and writing, always writing.” —Gina Webb, The Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Cisneros is best known for The House on Mango Street, about Esperanza, a Mexican-American girl who turns to writing for solace from her chaotic Chicago family life. With her newest book Cisneros fans will finally find out whether Esperanza’s story was based on the author’s real experience. In a tone that is intimate and inviting—indeed, we feel we are sitting right next to the author as she sips tea (or chugs tequila) at her home in Mexico, and recounts her adventures with a laugh and a shake of the head: Ay Dios mio. That is not to say Cisneros’s memoir is insular, accessible only to women, or writers, or those from immigrant backgrounds. Much of the book is focused on the hardships of writing, [but] it is as much an ode to pursuing one’s passion despite all odds as it is a meditation on family, friends, and finding a home. We follow her on her quest for enlightenment, for worldliness, artistic substance, and a career to sustain her. What she finds along the way is much more, including poverty, war, loss, and a depression that nearly kills her. She also happens to come across a gaggle of colorful folk that in some way reinforce her resolve. These are her teachers: writers, brujas, ancestors, and friends—people who inspire her faith. The book pays homage to them, the patterns cohesive in the author’s intention to assemble a picture of the mansion of the spirit . . . Cisneros has found a place in the world of letters, but longing for a home has kept her spirit restless . . . Wherever she settles, even when she settles, she is Sandra Cisneros, a wandering spirit and creator of stories. ‘Stories without beginning or end, connecting everything little and large, blazing from the center of the universe into el infinito called the great out there.’” —Sandra Ramirez, Los Angeles Review of Books
“Rather than writing an autobiography, Cisneros has documented her life through a mélange of essay, poetry—and battle cry.” —Natalie Beach, oprah.com
“Tantalizing. In no way is this a traditional memoir with tidy numbered chapters and a smooth arc. Instead, Cisneros collects writing, lectures, newspaper articles, keynote speeches, stories repeated out loud but only now finding their way onto the page—and assembles them into one beating heart.” —Maggie Galehouse, Houston Chronicle
“Sandra Cisneros understands that a place molds you, as much as family and friends. Her new collection stitches together three decades of her unique life into a kind of rolling memoir. Not until near the end do you realize what Cisneros has done, crafting a collection that lays out memories as the mind often sees them—in pieces, in fits and starts. Each work is prefaced by an introduction that provides context and glue for the book as a whole. They're as delightful to read as the pieces themselves, and are classic Cisneros. Her prose reads like poetry, rhythmic and energetic; her poetry is as natural and effortless as plainspoken prose. In fact, this is what makes Cisneros who she is as a writer: simple, melodious language that explores emotions and brings big ideas down to earth . . . This memoir has the transcendent sweep of a full life and would make a great movie. It is for anyone looking for inspiration to travel far, live large and write . . . A full and satisfying portrait [of] how the writer got—and kept—her mojo.” —Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle
“From her breakout book, The House on Mango Street, to this new collection, Cisneros’s concerns about finding a home have been at the forefront of her work . . . Now, after decades of traveling [and] as she’s settling into life in Mexico, Cisneros is not only finding a new purpose in her life, but also her longed-for spiritual home. A House of My Own, Cisneros’s new collection of biographical essays and reflections, serves as a memoir of her restlessness and her movement toward happiness, [and] reveals an even greater scope to her talent and thoughtfulness . . . This supposed provocateur has found a home—and now, so she says, she’s finding her voice.” —Richard Z. Santos, Kirkus

“This Chicago-born writer has always been a fierce talent. No one writes like her, and for a long time, no one told the stories she did so masterfully in her poems and novels, the stories of Mexican people, of working class people. Perhaps most importantly, she wrote her life, a life many of us didn’t know was an option as ‘nobody’s mother and nobody’s wife’ . . . A House of My Own is a compilation of true stories and non-fiction pieces that form a ‘jigsaw autobiography’ of the author’s life. The thread that connects each story is the idea of home and all that means: building your own for the first time, belonging to two countries, and how our childhood homes shape us. Cisneros is kind and warm and honest: everything you hope your literary hero will be.” —Tina Vasquez, Jezebel

“The beloved author gets intimate in her new book—a rich compilation of true stories and photos from [her] life and career. In the introduction, Cisneros explains that the book is a way to understand her life over three decades—from 1984 to 2014 to be exact. A House of My Own takes readers to many places Cisneros has traveled, from Chiapas, Mexico to Hydra, one of the Saronic Islands of Greece and where she finished writing The House on Mango Street. A House of My Own helped Cisneros realize many advantages of growing older. You get to know yourself better, she said, and won’t give your time away to just anyone. ‘Your time is the most valuable thing you have,’ she says.” —Amaris Castillo, Vivala
“With a phrasing and bravado echoing Saul Bellow's Augie March, Cisneros writes, ‘I was north-of-the-border born and bred, street tough and city smart, wise to the ways of trick or treat.’ Her new autobiographical work is very much about borders and about houses, particularly ‘the house one calls the self.’ It is made up of nonfiction chapters, most of which have previously appeared. Make no mistake, though. A House of My Own isn't a greatest-hits collection. It is a surprisingly resonant account of Cisneros's life, which is woven through each of these pieces, regardless of their subject. These essays provide a multiplicity of perspectives on Cisneros, a place where each of these writings can talk with the others, where a conversation can take place while the reader eavesdrops. A complex, nuanced picture of the writer emerges.” —Patrick T. Reardon, Chicago Tribune

“In A House of My Own, Cisneros takes readers behind the typewriters she has written upon over the decades, revealing the rooms in which her novels and poems were composed, the thoughts circling her mind as she created the characters so many have adored, and introducing the people she loved and lost along the way. . . [She] talks of words as medicine and libraries as medicine cabinets. Through her inclusion of book introductions she wrote for other authors, we get rich glimpses into her relationships with fellow writers, sitting with them at tables as they sip beers and share life. And when we read older articles that tell of thoughts the author no longer thinks, Cisneros grants new insights . . . The writer also explores poverty and wealth, often through the lens of art. Throughout each story, though written for a diverse smattering of purposes and people, is Cisneros’s constant molding of words like clay . . . Her words will make existing fans love her more, and drive new readers to reach for her previous works after closing this one.” —Christina Ledbetter, Associated Press/The Washington Post

“Generous, welcoming and deeply gratifying . . . This hefty volume of what is aptly being called a ‘jigsaw autobiography’ gathers three decades of Cisneros's nonfiction writings that showcase her talent as a lyrical essayist. Long-time fans will recognize her inimitable style that frequently spirals into lush sensory language. But the real gift here is in learning about Cisneros's creative process, her early struggles as a ‘migrant writer,’ her literary influences and the difficult life-changing moments in her personal journey.” —Rigoberto Gongález, NBC News

“The only girl among six brothers, Chicago-born author and poet Cisneros describes finding a sense of belonging in like-minded authors—Gwendolyn Brooks, Marguerite Duras—and travel, including the Greek cottage where she wrote her first novel, in A House of My Own.” —Megan O’Grady, Vogue

“Brilliant, lovely, spirited . . . Cisneros’s collection of lectures, essays and family memories explores human yearning for home, a safe place where we can be ourselves. For Cisneros, the daughter of a Mexican-American mother and a Mexican father, it meant straddling traditional and contemporary cultures and setting out to find her place in the world . . . The title essay recounts her early days of living and writing in Bucktown, ‘a down-at-the-heels’ neighborhood of Chicago, where Nelson Algren once roamed and not far from Saul Bellow territory. She recalls an exhilarating time of learning and discovering how to be a writer, how to live alone, how to trust your own voice, how to teach students who ‘have to defend themselves from someone beating them up’ to write poetry . . . People, books, education and experiences influence and broaden her worldview, but also bring bittersweet loss . . . This collection puts a gifted storyteller at your fingertips, one who offers a panoply of life in apartments, rented rooms and borrowed houses, a journey with a curious, lively mind and reflections on cultures, families and traditions.” —Elfrieda Abbe, Milkwaulkee Journal Sentinel
“Sandra Cisneros has spent her whole life searching for a place to call home, documenting her journey in essays, poems, and novels, the most famous of which is The House on Mango Street, her semifictionalized account of growing up in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. In her new memoir, A House of My Own, the author recounts more than 30 years’ worth of personal stories about the places she’s lived and the writing they inspired.” —Brianna Wellen, Chicago Reader

“Dazzling . . . Revealing, impressive . . . refreshingly candid. This memoir in essay form includes personal stories about family, and travelogues detailing unexpected encounters as a single woman journeying solo. It also pulls together nonfiction writings that range from literary tributes to monographs and speeches punctuated by hard-won insights. Home is a theme throughout. [Though] lovers are not as present as friends and family—her critical support system, who are deservedly celebrated—two figures who show clearer than all the others are Cisneros’ parents. It’s hard not to beam at her mother’s trademark malapropism ‘Good lucky!’ and at the love she exudes for her father, despite a complicated relationship. It’s when she writes about [him] that her poetry shines most brightly. A House of My Own is part artist statement, part declaration of independence from The House on Mango Street, as Cisneros closes yet another chapter in her writing journey. After all, she declares, ‘The book is the sum of our highest potential. Writers, alas, are the rough drafts.’” —Rigoberto Gonzalez, Los Angeles Times
* “Profound insights, striking detail . . . a patchwork-quilt memoir resplendent with color photographs. Cisneros’s reflections on houses she’s lived in and the meaning of home form a unifying motif, along with accounts of her early struggle to envision a way forward as a self-described ‘American Mexican’ and ‘working-class writer.’ Cisneros pays passionate homage to her parents and such writers and artists as Gwendolyn Brooks, Elena Poniatowska, Eduardo Galeano, and Astor Piazzolla. She also examines with abrading candor and impish wit gender expectations, sexuality, and her long campaign to become ‘a woman comfortable in her skin.’ At once righteously irreverent and deeply compassionate, Cisneros writes frankly and tenderly of independence and connection, injustice and transcendence, resilience and creativity, the meaning of home and the writer’s calling. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This mosaic of autobiographical stories [is] guaranteed to enthrall her many fans; her true tales of coming-of-age and becoming a writer against all odds [are] deeply compelling.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)
* “The author of The House on Mango Street has written what may well be the best memoir of the year thus far. She seamlessly weaves ‘memories’ from her life from 1984-2014 (some written for specific audiences and expanded in this volume). As in her fiction and poetry, Cisneros blends family stories from Chicago and Mexico with lively storytelling, rich details, and good humor. The result is a fierce portrait of an artist and her quest, and the roads taken and not taken to find a home of her own. All readers who are interested in creative writing, memoir, American literature, and Chicana literature will appreciate this memoir, [which] deserves to find the broad and wide readership of her earlier books.” —Pam Kingsbury, Library Journal (starred review)
“An extraordinary and magical journey. Sandra Cisneros makes me so happy that I am a reader, so joyful that she is a writer, and even more exhilarated that she is part of our world. Read this book and laugh, cry and rejoice!” —Edwidge Danticat
“Charming, tender: a warm, gently told memoir, assembled from essays, talks, tributes to artists and writers, and poems . . . Cisneros chronicles the creation of [The House on Mango Street], begun in graduate school at the University of Iowa when she was 22, and completed on the Greek island of Hydra in a whitewashed house with ‘thick walls and rounded corners, as if carved from feta cheese.’ Homes feature in many pieces: the apartments her family moved into, always looking for cheaper rent; the house they finally bought, where the author had a closet-sized bedroom; her house in San Antonio that she painted purple, raising objections from the city’s Historic Commission. Besides reflecting on her writing, Cisneros discloses a period of severe depression when she was 33; a tantalizing family secret; and eulogies for her parents. The making of a Latina writer.” —Kirkus

About The Author

Sandra Cisneros is a poet, short story writer, novelist and essayist whose work explores the lives of the working-class. Her numerous awards include NEA fellowships in both poetry and fiction, the Texas Medal of the Arts, a MacArthur Fellowship, several honorary doctorates and national and international book awards, including Chicago’s Fifth Star Award, the PEN Center USA Literary Award, and the National Medal of the Arts awarded to her by President Obama in 2016. Most recently, she received the Ford Foundation’s Art of Change Fellowship, was recognized among The Frederick Douglass 200, and was awarded the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.
Her classic, coming-of-age novel, The House on Mango Street, has sold over six million copies, has been translated into over twenty languages, and is required reading in elementary, high school, and universities across the nation.
In addition to her writing, Cisneros has fostered the careers of many aspiring and emerging writers through two non-profits she founded: the Macondo Foundation and the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation. She is also the organizer of Los MacArturos, Latino MacArthur fellows who are community activists. Her literary papers are preserved in Texas at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.
Sandra Cisneros is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico and earns her living by her pen. She currently lives in San Miguel de Allende.

A House of My Own: Stories from My Life Reviews

• 'I have always been a daydreamer, and that's a lucky thing for a writer. Because what is a daydreamer if not another word for thinker, visionary, intuitive--all wonderful words synonymous with 'girl.'It's official: I'm a Sandra Cisneros fan. This is the first book of hers that I've read and over the last few years I've found that reading a writer's non-fiction before reading their fiction has helped me better get into the writer's mind, understand their influences and what drives them. for a lo [..]

• I savored this book. Every page. I didn't want it to end. Sandra Cisneros' voice is incredible, strong and proud. She makes me want to write, and be heard.This collection of essays and articles are profound, and deserve to be read and shared time and time again. I am so glad to be able to read 'new' writing by her, that I had not encountered. Reading A House of My Own, made me want to go back and read Caramelo and House on Mango Street. Her voice is so important to Chicanas, Latinas, y Mexicanas [..]

• This book is sublime, masterful, surprising, full of spirit and unabashed feminism. Composed of experimental vignettes and glimmers from the globe-trotting, socially conscious writer, teacher poet, Sandra Cisneros. Some reviews here have expressed disappointment in the so-called lack of 'juicy' details revealed, but I felt just the opposite. The stories of Cisneros' life are courageous in their sensitivity and revealing of the lifelong influence that her migratory childhood (as the sole daughter [..]

• I feel kind of cheated by this book. I'm a long time Cisneros fan, and I'm used to waiting over a decade for her next book and then being blown away. I expected this to be a memoir told in stories; instead, it's a collection of introductions to books and essays she read at various speaking events. They are well written and there are some gems, but serious life experiences are carefully skirted. She mentions lovers and affairs that hurt her, but never ever goes into depth about love and sex. She [..]

• Sandra Cisneros’s writing is honest and poetic, and lacks the self-consciousness of someone aspiring to be erudite. I mention this because I think for someone who is multi-lingual, who has read a lot, and lived and traveled around the world; who graduated from a prestigious writing program, and has been lauded with the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship among other awards and honors it seems she could have easily gone in another direction - speaking a lot of academese, for instance - but instead [..]

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• A House of My Own: Stories From My Life is a charming memoir in the form of compilation – book reviews, forewards, epilogues, etc. – composed over her writing life and presented more or less in chronological order. Part search for home, part exploration of grief, family, and art, Sandra Cisneros writes with a language that is disarming and playful, communicating volumes in a few words. She talks, for example, about “trying to please [her] Chicago nemesis” (loc. 233). Her San Antonio part [..]

• I loved this book and this review I'm writing from my phone will surely not do it justice. Each chapter stands on its own and together paint a picture of Cisneros' life as a writer struggling to find her 'home'. I found myself pausing after each piece, feeling like I needed to give it time to settle in me before going on to the next. At the same time, I couldn't get enough and didn't want to stop reading. I still don't want it to end.I don't know where to begin to describe why I loved it so much [..]

• Game resident evil 4 pc full rip pc. When she was reading in Portland, Sandra Cisneros talked about losing track of what she had written BC (before computers). Her reading was powerful and sweet, her advice wise and generous. I am a longtime Cisneros fan, and I wrote my review of her visit before I had even finished the book: janpriddyoregon/2These are essays Cisneros said she had to get in print before they were lost, written over the past thirty years or so. They are 'occasional' pieces, written for specific events since she publ [..]

• Essays as a memoir--definitely not a memoir. Cisneros revisits and refines many many essays and speeches from her illustrious career; she illuminates many many facets of her life that I had not previously known about her. I love her commitment to all art and to deepening her commitment to herself and her writing, and that is served well by her revision of essays and compilation into one text. It's wonky that way, though, and the many long footnotes. There are great elements for excerpting with s [..]

• Like slipping into someone else's beautifully rendered life. Like being warmly invited but landing more comfortably than a mere guest would. Experience Cisneros's trademark vibrant poetry while traveling the world with her at all stages of her life. Escape and be pushed closer to yourself. I can't say enough about this book.

• I decided to read Sandra Cisneros' A House of My Own: Stories from My Life after reading a review by avid reader and active GoodReads user Rowena. I've never read any of Cisneros' books and, to my surprise, never heard of her either. Thank you, Rowena, for introducing me to her! I believe there is the right book for the right time, and this was the book for me at this time. Cisneros writes about writing, about her lifetime of finding places to write, of finding her own space — it's no coincide [..]

• Full disclosure: I am a huge Cisneros fan. When I finally got around to reading A House of My Own, I expected a collection of deep cuts for fans like me and random essays from other sources clipped together into a book. What I found there instead is something a lot more cohesive than expected—and a something easily accessible to anyone interested in how creative people keep the well from drying up.It was a joy to read (and much of the time to listen to the audiobook, read by Cisneros herself) [..]

• I’ve been a fan of Cisneros since middle school, when I read “Eleven,” like a lot of American middle schoolers. She perfectly conveyed what it felt like when you woke up on your eleventh birthday, the first time a momentous day doesn’t feel momentous. I didn’t actively pursue her until recently, when I read The House on Mango Street at the tail end of 2013, and now when I saw this in the new arrivals at my library. This book is gorgeously produced. It’s printed on thick white paper a [..]

• The lush, shiny pages, full of wonderful photographs, are good beds for Cisneros' memoir/jaggedy autobiography. Her voice is strong over three decades; this collection of non-fiction details her thoughts and movements well.The desire to find a home of your own; you can't go home again. The travels across country and abroad, especially the pre-PC periods, are deftly captured. Her family, friends, artist collaborators and nemeses, her awareness of flowers and animals and sites and food and color, [..]

• What a lovely memoir, with nonfiction pieces chronicling her life and her development as a writer. She reads the essays, and that definitely adds a very personal touch. I'd only read her novels, which she also writes about here, but these essays provide a fuller picture of the growth of an artist and the sense of obligation she feels as a writer with roots in more than one culture. She writes, 'For those of us living between two worlds, our job in the universe is to help others see with more tha [..]

• her voice and writing are so beautiful and draws you in. I still remember the first time I read her in high school and how my AP english teacher marveled at the compliment I gave her then. It still stands, her words move and resonate with me like few others can do. This was a lovely anthology, filled memoir and stories and writing. You're growing and moving with her through her life and I can't wait to read it again and again.

• This book was lovely and captivated me in a way that many books can't manage. She inspires me to write, to be my best self and to no longer be afraid. She is me and I am her as the only daughter of Mexican parents. I could relate on many levels and am so happy her voice penetrates through all the noise. The way she weaves words leaves you in awe at times. I'm biased as a Latina, but recommend this as a Latina who is slowly becoming proud of her roots and learning to see the beauty.

• I miss hearing from Sandra Cisneros. She doesn't do talks or interviews very often and the ones she does are recorded even less frequently. So reading A House of My Own: Stories from My Life felt like I had a front row seat to interview after interview (even though this isn't the format the book takes) in which she relates society, culture, and politics to how her life and her art have unfolded. She brings up the art and artists that have influenced her life in various ways - my favourite bits o [..]

• As with everything I read from Sandra Cisneros, I am constantly inspired and in awe of this book. The truth, as plain as in her other books, is so raw and perfect.

• Lovely, as always.

• BiographySandra CisnerosA House of My Own: Stories from My LifeAlfred A. KnopfHardcover, 978-0-385-35133-1 (also available as ebook and audiobook), 400 pgs $28.95October 6, 2015'As I write this, I’m ending my sixth decade. A new cycle in my life is opening and old one is closing. I wish to look backward and forward all at once.'A House of My Own: Stories from My Life by Sandra Cisneros is an autobiography of sorts, an assemblage of nonfiction pieces spanning the years 1984 through 2014. Cisner [..]

• My ' goal for 1st part of 2016: Reading ethnic writers, mostly fiction. So I have read -A House of My Own- as a taste of what is to come.In 1990s I read other Sandra Cisnero books: -House on Mango Street- and -Woman Hollering Creek- and identified with the feminist concerns and with the feminine divine. I got busy with other things and forgot about Sandra Cisneros. I saw this book at a local library and immediately borrowed it. I have been reading memior and a memior of a former favorite writer [..]

• From the Chicago neighborhoods where she grew up and set her groundbreaking The House on Mango Street to her abode in Mexico, in a region where 'my ancestors lived for centuries,' the places Sandra Cisneros has lived have provided inspiration for her now-classic works of fiction and poetry. But a house of her own, where she could truly take root, has eluded her. With this collection--spanning nearly three decades, and including never-before-published work--Cisneros has come home at last. Ranging [..]

• I really enjoyed this book, even though I probably last read The House on Mango Street twenty years ago. Cisneros' writing is so elegantly simple and understated, but at the same time full of life and passion. She recounts her life as a writer of course, but more often than not the stories she includes in this volume are ones about other people - her family, or people who inspired her. Recollections she was asked to write for publications, or just tales about her friends and those who joined her [..]

• Cisneros' 'Stories from My Life,' is an incredible and insightful voyage into the life of a contemporary writer. This quote describes where the reader will venture in this book: 'I roamed about the earth and borrowed typewriters in Greece, France, the former Yugoslavia, Mexico, and throughout the United States.' Stories of the places and people she met serve as an absorbing autobiography of this writer's life. The destinations of this writer's life dot the landscape of this book and are richly d [..]

• What a way to start the new year! I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography by the wonderful Sandra Cisneros. This is not a tell-all bio with salacious details of love affairs or other intimate details, but it doesn't have to be. It is in story form, written in her poetic style. Through these unique stories we come to know the author as a child, teen, woman, and senior. Cisneros writes about people and events that have shaped her life. While reading this lovely book, sometimes I stopped and looked [..]

• A trailblazer for Latina writers, Cisneros is someone who makes my heart palpitate every time she comes out with a new book, or even a new essay for that matter. A House of My Own is a collection of stories/essays that give a glimpse into her life, covering such topics as her periwinkle/pink house, her time in Greece, family - brothers, aunts, uncles, parents, friends, and pets, too. She has taken select pieces that she's written in the past and brought them together under the theme of home. Flu [..]

• Sandra Cisneros is one of my favorite authors, and A House of My Own is one of her best books. It’s a collection of essays that she wrote over many years, all with the theme of owning a house. Cisneros’ life has been as interesting as her books. This memoir, of sorts, chronicled her unique journey through relationships, houses and writing. (I think that she probably would have reversed the order of importance on that list.) I listened to the Audible version, which was read by Cisneros. This [..]

• Always good to read what another writer says about her writing and her life. Part of Cisneros's genius is to make one want to learn Spanish, specifically Mexican Spanish: 'There is stored in my father's Spanish, the way a spider might be sealed in amber, a time and place frozen just out of reach, but that I can hold up to my eye to make the world more golden. Intrinsic in Mexican Spanish is a way of looking at all things in the cosmos, little or large, as if they are sacred and alive. The origin [..]