One of the authors discussed in class last week was Jose Luis Gonzalez, a Puerto Rican writer. We read two of his lesser known works of fiction, En Nueva York and Esta noche no, which take up the immigrant experience in different ways. Professor Castillo described him as a largely transnational figure because of his biography, which consisted of frequent travels to different regions and his meditations on the Latino identity issue.

After hearing just a little bit about his biography I grew more interested in his life and will share some more about Gonzalez’s very interesting life.

Gonzalez was born on March 8, 1926 in the Dominican Republic. His father was of Puerto Rican descent and his mother was Dominican, but after Trujillo’s rise to power in 1930, when Gonzalez was only four years old, his family moved to Puerto Rico. Having lived in New York, Prague, and Mexico, it is not surprising that Gonzalez’s stories directly relate to the immigrant experience.

After completing a BA degree in social sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, he moved to New York where he discovered the reality experienced by thousands of Puerto Rican immigrants who moved to the U.S. under the promise of better jobs. This idea of the immigrant struggle resonates strongly within En Nueva York, where his protagonist, Marcelino Perez, turns from a hopeful newly arrived immigrant to an animalistic criminal in just 12 pages.

Gonzalez lived until he was 71, until he passed away in Mexico as a well-known author, journalist, and activist.

For even more biographical information, please visit:

José Luis González Biography - (1926–1996), La luna no era de queso: Memorias de infancia