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Book Review

‘Before the End’ by Dagoberto Gilb

By Joseph Peschel

 |  Globe Correspondent  

  December 05, 2011

In Dagoberto Gilb’s short story collection, “Before the End, After the Beginning,’’ characters live in El Paso, Albuquerque, Austin, or Los Angeles. They’re mostly beaten-down, often unnamed working-class Mexican-Americans or Mexican immigrants trying to survive in the impoverished and often racist neighborhoods of the Southwest. Class distinctions abound. Poverty and crime thrive. Some manage to transcend their pasts but still grapple to reconcile them with their present lives

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