SOURCE: “Memories, Boiled and Strained,” in The Progressive, Vol. 63, No. 11, November, 1999, pp. 43-44.

In the following review, Jones praises Quintana's poetry for its social consciousness.

Leroy V. Quintana is one of the most under-read, “successful” writers pubishing today. His volume of poetry Sangre (1981) won both the El Paso Border Regional Library Association Award and the American Book Award for poetry. Yet Quintana's writing suffers from invisibility today, as does the work of many Latino writers. In spite of this, he continues to produce riveting poems.

His latest book, The Great Whirl of Exile, is no exception. He takes his title from Pablo Neruda's poem “Fully Empowered,” which begins, “It's well known that he who returns never left.” Quintana makes it clear that he has never left his home, Albuquerque, New Mexico, the setting for many of the poems in this volume.

The Great Whirl of Exile is divided...