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1 Attempted Murder “My Brother’s Keeper” Querido Alfredo, How wonderful it was to receive your last letter! It’s been a long time. I hope this letter finds you in good health and in excellent spirits. I am well, although singing at El Sombrero last weekend has taken a toll and added a lot of strain on my voice. By the way, there is a great vegetarian restaurant that I would love to take you to when you come to the Bay Area. I am working on a new song from Los Panchos,“Sin ti,” and I am hoping to have it ready to perform soon. The Gutiérrez family has given me the honor of asking me to sing at their parents’ thirtieth-anniversary celebration, and as you may remember, Señor Gutiérrez was a bracero and worked on the railroad with my father in Colton. I was very excited, too, when I received your manuscript! From the onset, I’ve had some reservations about the title: Rascuache Lawyer. Don’t get me wrong—it is very creative and intriguing, but I worry that many people might not understand the concept, since it is a uniquely Mexican expression, so that even some of my South American friends don’t know what it is. I am not suggesting that you change the title, because it’s perfect, but that you make sure to discuss and illustrate rascuache lawyering thoroughly so that those unfamiliar with the term will understand the concept through its use. I hope you won’t be offended, but I also wanted to comment on your grammar and punctuation.There are a few typos in the manuscript, so you need to give it a last, careful edit. Make sure that you pay close attention to terms so as to not confuse them—for example, you confused “discretely” (i.e., separately) with “discreetly” (carried out privately and with discretion) and“sloped”(as in slanted) with“slopped”(as in messy or overflowing).Although the terms are very similar and one can see how they can be easily confused, as you know, they have completely different meanings and connotations. This could radically change what you 22 crimes against the person are attempting to relate to the reader. Also—and this would be caught in copy editing—you have a tendency to overcapitalize what you see as important, and you love commas! Lastly, your descriptions of your clients seem a bit limited and restricted. You tend to overuse “nice” when describing people, and as a reader, I would prefer that you use other terms. How about “warm,” “engaging,” “obliging,” or “cordial,” for example? Better yet, you could show me (through words) that they’re nice rather than tell me. It was interesting that you commented on Oscar Zeta Acosta, “the Brown Buffalo,”as the prototype for rascuache lawyering.Your description of Acosta mentioned Acosta’s struggle with alcohol and drugs, but you failed to mention Acosta’s sexism and misogyny. I hope that you take my criticism to heart and see it as constructive and well intentioned. I am looking forward to receiving your next letter and continuing to discuss your book. Best wishes to you and your family. Wish me luck! Saludos, Fermina Querida Fermina, Gracias for your recent letter. I am glad you are in good health and that everything is going well with your work, writing, and the weekends at El Sombrero. I hope you take it easy and rest your voice. I am hoping that I can make it up to the Bay Area and catch one of your shows in the next few weeks, and as you know, I love the music of Los Panchos and other trios. I want to focus this carta on one of my current cases, but I first want to thank you for your comments on the first chapter and earlier drafts of the manuscript. I am glad that you like the concept for the rascuache lawyering book. I agree that a lot of people may not know what“rascuache” means. It is, as you note, a uniquely mexicano expression, and I can’t think of an equivalent term in English. Can you think of an English translation? I guess you could say “low brow”—or, as some people in the art world describe unpretentious, bottom-up Chicano art,“low Brown”—but these terms are not quite as appropriate as “rascuache.” While I appreciate your taking the time to read...

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