Discussion Questions for Books --- Please feel free to use or modify these discussion questions for Sergio Troncoso's books: The Last Tortilla and Other Stories (downloadable PDF), The Nature of Truth (PDF), Crossing Borders: Personal Essays (PDF), and From This Wicked Patch of Dust (PDF).

The Nature of Truth:

"Troncoso excels as a narrator, a storyteller, and a creator of vivid characters and images." ---Southwest Book Views

"Impressively lucid first thriller." ---The Chicago Tribune

"The Nature of Truth is a unique meditation on redemption and retribution that tackles racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism with sensitivity and skill." ---The El Paso Times

"The subtlety, and fairness, with which Troncoso presents these conflicting frameworks [Nietzschean valor, Christian pragmatism, and blind inductivism] stand as the novel's crowning intellectual achievement, side by side with the artistic one: a convincing tale of murder and ruminating guilt." ---Janus Head, a journal of Philosophy, Literature and Psychology

The Last Tortilla and Other Stories:

"An earthy collection....These stories are richly satisfying." ---Publishers Weekly

"Each story is an organic whole, full of characters who have lives as complete as the reader’s....Enthusiastically recommended." ---Booklist

"Troncoso really shines when he writes about El Paso and the life of Mexican-Americans there. He has the gift for writing from his heart outward into his reader's heart." ---Bloomsbury Review

"Troncoso is a master storyteller....Readers’ hearts will be touched by episodes of loss, tragedy, and love." ---Multicultural Review

From This Wicked Patch of Dust:

“Troncoso is clearly adept at his craft, telling a story filled with rich language and the realities of family life....Troncoso’s novel is an engaging literary achievement.” ---Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Nuanced and authentic....The real beauty of this book is that it mines the rich diversity of tradition and culture among Latinos, as well as the commonalities they share with other Americans—love of family, faith and country.” ---The Dallas Morning News

“There’s...genuine heart and pride in the depiction of the ‘four children, four worlds’ that spiral out of a single immigrant dream.” ---The El Paso Times

“An ambitious book, full of insight into complex American identity....There's wisdom in these pages and compassion for fragmented families in a mobile, complicated world.” ---National Public Radio Affiliate, Arizona’s KNAU

“This story is...wholly universal.” ---The Philadelphia City Paper

“What’s fascinating about From This Wicked Patch of Dust is that we have not one hero, but a whole family’s worth....Bravo, Sergio, Bravo.” ---The LatinaBookClub.com

Crossing Borders: Personal Essays:

“These very personal essays cross several borders: cultural, historical, and self-imposed....We owe it to ourselves to read, savor and read them again.” ---The El Paso Times

“Troncoso’s book is a piece of artwork and a piece of heritage that everyone, not just Latinos, should take the time to read.” ---Portland Book Review

“A champion for the rights of immigrants who have come to this country for a better, more prosperous life.” ---NewPages.com

“Troncoso is an elegant writer whose work will make readers grateful that he writes his life down.” ---The Hispanic Reader

“Troncoso’s essays are lucid, philosophical, and erudite without being condescending to the reader. Crossing Borders signals a shift in writing about what it means to be Chicano and a writer in the early 21st century.” ---The Packinghouse Review

“It is these details that fill the simple and accessible prose of these essays with life, demonstrating how from such personal experiences emanate a universal message about what unifies us, despite our many differences.” ---Spanish News Agency EFE