BORDER BOASTS TWO LITERARY GIANTS

The Rio Grande Valley boasts two literary giants--Eduardo Paz-Martinez and Patrick Alcatraz. Paz-Martinez's novel--Playing a Spanish Number--is a border tour de force.

"I wrote the damn thing in less than two weeks," said Paz-Martinez, who has been living the last year in Santa Fe although to keep his distance from Brownsville he maintains a residence in McAllen. "I was in a William S. Burroughs frame of mind."

The first line in the opening paragraph sets the stage for the tale of three men in pursuit of tail: "The river runs damned quiet, especially during the cooler months of November and December. Over there on the dusty side is where the lovely and dramatic people live, where they kiss you for being nice and where they'll kill you for acting stupid during the tough economic months of November and December."

La Zona Final, Alcatraz's work, curiously enough follows the dissolute lives of the same three characters who prove that there is no love lost among thieves when the same woman is the treasure.

"The Texas-Mexico border is a strange land that demands too much of its people," penned Alcatraz in the preface to his book. "It is often described as a harsh piece of geography better suited for snakes and lizards and outlaws. But it also is a land where some of the best kind of romance exists, where a day is started with a shot of mescal and two or three croissants."

Both cite Rolando Hinojosa, the Mercedes native and longtime UTRGV professor, as their mentor as novelists.

"The Valley is a classic," stated Paz-Martinez.

"Dr. Hinojosa is the Mexican-American Faulkner," echoed Alcatraz.