PositiveTexas MonthlyThe passages in which these four men drink tequila, savor meals that remind them of the food their mothers cooked, and talk about how they fit in—or don’t—in their new homes and whether any of them can ever go \'home\' again are vividly and entertainingly rendered. As someone who, like Corchado, grew up in El Paso and made the difficult move to the Northeast, I found much that was familiar and true in his struggles with self-doubt, the powerful pull of family, and the difficulties of trying to dress and talk and act in a way that doesn’t betray a lack of sophistication to big-city professional types ... Homelands’ all-male perspective is problematic. If Corchado is presenting himself as an example of one who has moved up from the border, the reader is left to wonder how much more difficult such a journey would have been for a Mexican American woman ... Yet their struggles are rarely mentioned in this book ... That complaint aside, Homelands performs a valuable service ... These voices, like Corchado’s, will make the voyage easier for those who will surely follow.
