José Antonio Villarreal occupies a distinct position among Chicano writers. His first novel, Pocho (1959), the first known Chicano novel published by a major publishing company in the United States, has been widely recognized as an important work of Chicano literature. Villarreal was born in Los Angeles, California, in the wake of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. His parents, José Heladio Villarreal and Felícitaz Ramírez, were born and raised as peons on an hacienda in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. During the revolution his father fought in Pancho Villa's army for seven years. The family moved to the United States in 1921, migrating throughout California as seasonal farm workers.

Villarreal recalls his preschool years with delight. In those days his family was still traveling in California, living mostly in tents pitched in the fields. He and his family knew only Spanish and, as he puts...