The writing of Richard Vásquez straddles the realms of journalism and fiction, Mexico and the United States, and fact and fantasy. His contributions as a writer must be considered in terms of the explosive development of the city of Los Angeles and the growing importance of the United States-Tijuana border corridor. In both his fiction and his reporting Vásquez examines the impact of people of Mexican descent on Southern California, from U.S. citizens of Mexican heritage to newly arrived, undocumented workers drawn across the border by the hope of better wages. Vásquez is best known for his three novels: Chicano (1970), among the first sagas about a Chicano family to be published by a mainstream press; The Giant Killer (1977), an adventure novel about a Mexican American reporter who uncovers a conspiracy to create separate homelands for different ethnic groups in the United...