Sanctuary Stories

These well-intentioned 18 short stories and five essays--it is virtually impossible to tell them apart--reflect archeologist Smith's work with a sanctuary organization in California, but too often they simply chronicle the lives of refugees. In his foreword, he vouches for the veracity of his record, which would be fine if this purported to be simply oral history. What's missing here are the telling details that might transform mere occurrences into literature. Most of these works consist of either the horrific experiences of Central American refugees in their native countries or their horrific experiences in the United States with immigration officials and a new culture. As head of a guerrilla unit, Rafael was assigned to kill his own uncle, while Timoteo's father, Luis, was eventually killed in Guatemala for his union activities. The pieces that step out of straight recounting fare better. In one, a woman making her way by bus to the Bay Area is ``misplaced'' and stays with an American stranger for the weekend, where she is both unnerved and intrigued by such Americana as going hot-tubbing and betting $2 at the racetrack. A few of these are presented in the form of the official declaration that refugees must make in seeking asylum, but while the format is new, the details are no different from those given in the other works. The arbitrary meanness of immigration officials is a running theme, but it is too one-dimensional to be effective. An essay in which Smith admits that the refugees are not only the victims but the perpetrators of bias is more well-rounded. (Nov.)