Daniel Jose Ruiz Reads From Debut Novel Coconut Versus

Daniel Jose Ruiz (MFA 07) will be reading from his debut novel, Coconut Versus, on Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 pm at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. Award winning author and CalArts Faculty Bruce Bauman will be joining Ruiz for a discussion afterwards.

Coconut Versus is a coming of age novel about Miguel Reyes, an adolescent faced with the varied injustices of being Mexican American. The story follows him as he travels around the Southwest until the moment when he must decide if another man will live or die. In a review of the novel, Bauman says:

Daniel Ruiz, in taut and urgent prose that often takes your breath away, (like a punch to your gut), reveals the often turbulent life of Miguel Reyes as he navigates his way from confused child to manhood. With a cast of characters ranging from fierce to loving to humorous, Ruiz has given us an essential bildungsroman befitting America in the 21st Century.

Coconut Versus is published by Floricanto Press. Ruiz is a graduate of CalArts MFA Creative Writing Program and now resides on the faculty of Los Angeles City College as a Professor of English.

Bauman teaches in CalArts MFA Creative Writing Program and School of Critical Studies. For 13 years he served as the senior editor of Black Clock, the literary magazine published by CalArts from 2004-2016.