There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven: Stories By Ruben Reyes Jr.

There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven is an electrifying debut story collection by Ruben Reyes Jr., delving into the complexities of Central American identity through a series of dreamlike and unsettling narratives. This collection spans multiple worlds—past, present, and future—illuminating the profound shifts that occur when life becomes unrecognizable.

In these stories, an ordinary man awakens to find himself a famous reggaetn star, an aging abuela gradually transforms into a marionette puppet, and a struggling academic faces the chilling price of becoming a "Self-Made Man." Through these surreal scenarios, Reyes Jr. explores the disorienting impact of sudden change and the ways in which technology and bureaucracy disrupt everyday existence.

Reyes Jr.'s characters—ranging from mango farmers to pop stars, ex-guerrilla fighters to cyborgs—are forced to navigate treacherous choices that challenge their very survival and their voices in a world intent on silencing Central Americans. The collection blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, offering a vivid portrayal of the migration experience and its far-reaching consequences.

Blazing with heart, humor, and an inimitable style, There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven subverts conventional notions of migration, capturing with piercing clarity the struggle to carve out a new life amidst adversity. Reyes Jr.'s storytelling not only transports readers to imaginative realms but also underscores the heartache and injustice that pervades the real world, marking him as a gifted new voice in contemporary literature.