Nonfiction – Social Science – Indigenous Studies – Music – Genres & Styles – Folk & Traditional – Biography & Autobiography – Hispanic & Latino

RELEASE DATE: 5/28/2024 (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER’S WAREHOUSE)

Searching, propulsive, and deeply spiritual, Accordion Eulogies is an odyssey to repair a severed family lineage, told through the surprising history of a musical instrument

Growing up in Yakima, Washington, No lvarez never knew his grandfather. Stories swirled around this mythologized, larger-than-life figure: That he had abandoned his family, and had possibly done something awful that put a curse on his descendants. About his grandfather, young No was sure of only one thing: That he had played the accordion. Now an adult, reckoning with the legacy of silence surrounding his familys migration from Mexico, lvarez resolves both to take up the instrument and to journey into Mexico to discover the grandfather he never knew.

lvarez travels across the US with his accordion, meeting makers and players in cities that range from San Antonio to Boston. He uncovers the story of an instrument thats been central to classic American genres, but also played a critical role in indigenous Mexican history. Like the accordion itself, lvarez feels trapped between his roots in Mexico and the U.S. As he tries to make sense of his place in the worldas a father, a son, a musicianhe gets closer to uncovering the mystery of his origins.

AUTHOR BIO:

NO LVAREZis the author ofSpirit Run(Catapult, 2020). He was born in the desert and raised in the weeds.

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“[A] poetic follow-up toSpirit Run. . . The author makes his quest genuinely moving and shows how, for many marginalized communities, ‘accordion playing is an act of resistance.’ A heartfelt memoir that serves as ‘a reminder of what it takes to build love and community for oneself and one’s family.'” –Kirkus Reviews

“[A] poignant blend of personal and cultural history . . . With its rigorous curiosity and emotional vulnerability, lvarez’s account makes a strong case that the journey is more important than the destination.” –Publishers Weekly

“Accordion Eulogiesis an unforgettable journey through a hardscrabble family history of migration, loss, and longing. lvarez teaches himself to play the accordion and visits the time-worn workshops of the last accordion-makers of the world, chasing the ghost of his grandfather along the way. In beautiful, reflective prose and a careful eye for what the world passes over, lvarez preserves stories–including his own family’s–that might otherwise fade to dust.” –Emily Scott Robinson

“Accordion Eulogiesunfolds like the truest corridos: with an invitation into a story of restless hearts and searching spirits, of strength forged by suffering, of ancestral specters that refuse to reveal their true shape. No lvarez has married sacred music history with a personal quest of adventure and loss, and the result is a memoir of deep connection: with the past, a homeland, the self, and ultimately the reader. I’m grateful to have spent time with the melody lvarez conjured.” –Katie Gutierrez, bestselling author ofMore Than You’ll Ever Know