Examples of Literary Fiction By Mark Hamm
The Scent of Greasewood
Literary Fiction by Mark Hamm
Inspired by my 16 years of experience teaching a largely Latino population in the Phoenix public school system. Set between the deserts of Arizona and the countryside of Jalisco, it is a multi-generational saga that centers around two cousins–Yaretzi, born a citizen, and Julia, undocumented. This is the tale of the women in their family as they grow up in a world of shifting cultures, family secrets, and tragedy.
"The first time I saw Charlie, or Carlitos el Gritano, as we often called him, was the summer that I was nine. El Gritano was one of the few white people in the neighborhood, with skin as pale as a corpse's, or so it seemed. His thick, ink-black hair fell down over his eyes and down to his shoulders. We certainly didn't perpetuate this image of him because he was one of the few gringos that lived in the area: it was because people hardly ever saw him, and no one had ever spoken to him or heard him speak. "