A strong mocking tone dominates Celso A. De Casas's work, which employs wit to expose the contradictions of life. The satire is harsh and coarse when dealing with the horror and corruption of the times. For De Casas, satire serves as a survival kit that can help a people endure through laughter.

The sixth of nine children, Celso Alfred De Casas was born on 9 June 1944 in Atwood, an unincorporated area of Orange County, California. His grandparents, who had left Mexico during the revolution, had settled there after years of working for the railroads and as migratory agricultural laborers. De Casas recalls that his grandfather, Ricardo De Casas, was a founder of a mutual aid society, La Sociedad Progresista Mexicana (The Progressive Mexican Society); De Casas remembers his father, Celso Sandoval De Casas, carrying out organizational duties. In 1999 his mother, Guadalupe Gonzalez, was still involved with the organization as...