The Consequences

Shimmering writing depicting California's Central Valley, the first book in a decade from a virtuoso story writer.

These exquisite stories are mostly set in the 1980s in the small towns that surround Fresno. With an unflinching hand, Munoz depicts the Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers who put food on our tables but were regularly and ruthlessly rounded up by the migra, as well as the quotidian struggles and immense challenges faced by their families.

The messy and sometimes violent realities navigated by his characters-straight and gay, immigrant and American-born, young and old-are tempered by moments of surprising, tender care: Two young women meet on a bus to Los Angeles to retrieve the men they love who must find their way back from the border after being deported; a gay couple plans a housewarming party that reveals buried class tensions; a teenage mother slips out to a carnival where she encounters the father of her child; the foreman of a crew of fruit pickers finds a dead body and is subsequently-perhaps literally- haunted.

In The Consequences, obligation can shape, support, and sometimes derail us. It's a magnificent new book from a gifted writer at the height of his powers.

'Each story reveals an entire life. Muoz is one of the best writers working in America.' Susan Straight

'Haunting, powerful, humble, precise, this collection shook my being.' Sandra Cisneros

'Manuel Muoz's stories are melancholy, assured, and unforgettable.' Colin Barrett

‘I can't stop thinking about this read...Melancholic? Yes. Moving? Very. Powerful writing.

-- Emma Hardy @bobsandbooks Twitter

‘This is a gorgeously poetic story collection that maintains literary elegance without shying away from the realities faced by the characters.’

-- @brionyisreading Instagram

‘Packs a big punch for its tiny frame. There is so much, just so much, captured in these pages.’

-- @tirlersbookstuff Instagram

‘I love a short story collection and The Consequences, the first book in a decade from Manuel Muñoz, is no exception.’

-- Queerly Books (@queerly.books) Instagram

Ten books by Latino authors you should be reading, according to Sandra Cisneros

‘Haunting, powerful, humble, precise, this collection shook my being’

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-- Sandra Cisneros The Independent

Starred Review : The Consequences

‘This packs a hell of a punch.’

Publisher's Weekly

Starred Review: The Consequences by Manuel Munoz

‘Nuanced, thoughtful, often moving stories.’

Kirkus

Manuel Muñoz’s stories capture a Central Valley you’ve never seen

‘Lucid and elegantly written’

-- Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with These 18 Must-Read Books by Latinx Authors

‘The book out-Steinbecks Steinbeck in its manifestation of the human in places we too rarely dare look.’

-- Ernesto Mestre-Reed Oprah Daily

The Consequences of Story: A Conversation with Manuel Muñoz

‘Writer Helena María Viramontes says ‘with The Consequences, [Munoz] has hit a stride of confident, quiet authority.’’

-- Renee H Shea World Literature Today

What it’s worth giving up to stay in a family

‘]Munoz] dilates or constricts the eye to expand and sharpen our view of these lives so often unseen. Truly, it takes a master seer to reveal these moments of intimacy sometimes so dearly guarded they are unknown even to their keeper.’

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-- Carribean Fragoza Electric Lit

Encounters with Spirit: An Interview with Sandra Cisneros

‘The admiration I have for you is how you’re able to transcend your body as a male and as a Latino, and just be pure spirit, your pure spirit, and enter into all your characters.’

-- Sandra Cisneros & Manuel Muñoz Orion Magazine

The Consequences by Manuel Muñoz - Book Review

‘Manuel Muñoz's short stories of migrant farmers in 1980s California paint the American Dream as bleak, cruel and crushing’

-- Andres Ordica The Skinny

A very new story, from a great contemporary writer.

‘The sentences are beautiful but quiet; the tension slowly builds; it elicits every drop of sympathy I have in me; it surprises me every time.’

-- George sanders Story Club

The Consequences: Stories by Manuel Muñoz

‘The Consequences is a collection of many threads, stories, memories, and choices. […] Mostly there is the challenge of what it is to relate to others, and beautiful observances of the nuances of relationships, whether between lovers, parents and children, neighbours, and strangers.’

-- Jess Moody Lunate

Yearning, love and regret at the heart of standout stories set in Central Valley

‘The entire book reverberates with longing and just-under-the-rim sadness that captures the heart and doesn’t let go.’

-- Alexis Burling San Francisco Chronicle Review

Yearning, love and regret at the heart of standout stories set in Central Valley

‘The entire book reverberates with longing and just-under-the-rim sadness that captures the heart and doesn’t let go.’

-- Alexis Burling San Francisco Chronicle Review

Inside Out: The characters in Manuel Muñoz’s The Consequences are hesitant to reveal too much.

-- Heather Scott Partington Alta

Story Collections That Ask: ‘How Did I Get Here?’

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The New Tork Times

‘It’s hard to imagine a more gorgeous collection of short fiction than the latest book from Arizona-based author Manuel Muñoz . . . This is one of the best short story collections to come around in recent years.’

#year=2022&book=329

-- Michael Schaub NPR

Books of the Year

-- David Hayden The White Review

Electric Lit’s Favorite Short Story Collections of 2022

Electric Lit

'The awards that the individual stories have collected along their journey into this admirable but gritty collection reveal a considerable talent.'

-- David Roche BookBrunch

Manuel Muñoz on the Power of LGBTQ Characters

-- Neil Ellis Orts The Gay & Lesbian Review

‘Aspen Words Literary Prize finalist Manuel Muñoz channels stories of California's Central Valley’

-- Kaya Williams Aspen Public Radio

Raised in tiny Dinuba, California, Manuel Muoz is the son of farmworkers and worked in the fields himself in his youth. The town newspaper celebrated him when he received a full scholarship to Harvard. He was later accepted in Cornell's MFA program, and is currently teaching in the Creative Writing program at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Muoz is the author of two previous collections and a novel. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award, three O. Henry Awards, and has appeared in Best American Short Stories.

Shimmering writing depicting California's Central Valley, the first book in a decade from a virtuoso story writer. These exquisite stories are mostly set in the 1980s in the small towns that surround Fresno. With an unflinching hand, Munoz depicts the Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers who put food on our tables but were regularly and ruthlessly rounded up by the migra, as well as the quotidian struggles and immense challenges faced by their families. The messy and sometimes violent realities navigated by his characters-straight and gay, immigrant and American-born, young and old-are tempered by moments of surprising, tender care: Two young women meet on a bus to Los Angeles to retrieve the men they love who must find their way back from the border after being deported; a gay couple plans a housewarming party that reveals buried class tensions; a teenage mother slips out to a carnival where she encounters the father of her child; the foreman of a crew of fruit pickers finds a dead body and is subsequently-perhaps literally- haunted. In The Consequences , obligation can shape, support, and sometimes derail us. It's a magnificent new book from a gifted writer at the height of his powers. 'Each story reveals an entire life. Mu

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