The Cruz Chronicle

Marquesian in flavor and set in the countryside a long bus ride north of the Bronx, the antics of the three Cruz brothers and their ghostly father Raymondo are distinctly American-urban in spirit. After Raymondo is killed robbing a bank with a water gun, the boys are taken from their mother, who literally fills her apartment with TV sets and guard dogs, to be raised at the Sacred Home for Fallen Angels. Raymondo appears only to the oldest son, Victor, urging him to watch out for Felipe, a thug in the making, and little Jose, who is bright, charming and lazy. After leaving Sacred Home, the brothers settle nearby, taking up with a three-legged dog and a sweet, grossly fat, high-school girl. Occasionally Raymondo intervenes in his son's lives, once biting Felipe's arm so it withers, to prevent the boy from being of use to the local crime mob, another time aiding Victor's kicking record for the local football team. Veteran short story writer Roth tells the brothers' improbable adventures with a gritty, lively realism. (Apr.)