The Zapatistas
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The New EarthIn Jess Row's novel The New Earth, the character Zeno's mother was a Zapatista in Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico, where she was killed. The Zapatistas are an indigenous peasant movement from Chiapas named for the Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata. They formed in 1983, organized ...
The "Foul Days" of Bulgarian Folklore
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Foul DaysGenoveva Dimova's debut novel, Foul Days, takes place over a twelve-day period known in Bulgarian culture as the 'Unclean Days,' 'Dirty Days' – or, indeed, 'Foul Days.' In the first chapter, in a pub on a dark, wintry New Year's Eve, one of the characters explains: 'The Foul Days have begun. ...
Suicides Among Cab Drivers
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Someone Like UsAbdul Saleh was fifty-nine when he
died at home in Brooklyn in 2018 after working as a cab driver for thirty years. His roommate found him hanging from an electrical cord. His shifts had lasted as long as twelve hours but financial difficulties plagued him. It was hard to stay afloat in the era of ...
