Fresno Stories

Fresno Stories

Author: William Saroyan

Publisher: New Directions Publishing

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9780811212823

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Eleven of William Saroyan's most delightful tales, Fresno Stories springs straight from the source of the author's vision--"the archetypal Armenian families who inhabit Saroyan country, in and around Fresno, California." (Chicago Tribune)


In My Father's Name

In My Father's Name

Author: Mark Arax

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1997-08

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 0671010026

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On January 2, 1972, Mark Arax's childhood came to a sudden, explosive end when his father was shot to death at his nightclub in Fresno, California. It was one of the most sensational murders in California's heartland, and it was never solved. Mark, only fifteen years old at the time, was left with a legacy of questions: Were the rumors about his father true? Had he led a double life? Was he killed because of his dealings with the underworld? Mark Arax, an award-winning journalist at the Los Angeles Times, now writes a searing, intensely personal account of his twenty-two-year search for answers about his father's life and death, and his own identity. As the oldest child, Mark was thrust into the role of patriarch. His quest for answers began in high school, when he sought out his father's father, an Armenian immigrant. His grandfather opened a window into an old country world full of promise and heartbreak -- and four generations of eccentric family members. Two decades later, Mark uprooted his wife and baby and returned to Fresno under an assumed name to try and determine who killed his father and why. Fearing for his own life, he discovers his father was murdered just before he was going to make a startling disclosure. More than a true-life murder mystery, more than an exploration of family and culture, In My Father's Name is the poignant story of one man's remarkable journey as he uncovers long-hidden secrets about his father, his family, his heritage, and the town he once called home.


Live from Fresno Y Los

Live from Fresno Y Los

Author: Stephen D. Gutierrez

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13:

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Fiction. Latin American Studies. "If you read one book of stories this year, make it this one. LIVE FROM FRESNO Y LOS kicks out the jams, and takes no prisoners. Enjoy, and tell a friend"--Virgil Suarez. "Stunning. Really, a lovely and loving collection of stories, nicely balanced between the vernacular and the literarily eloquent"--Lamar Herrin. "There is an ineradicable sweetness to these stories, accompanied by the crisp and happy bemusement of a genuine voice--the sound of one person speaking directly to another, and not from the head, but from that most mysterious of mouths, the human heart"--Jim Krusoe.


Madness in the Family

Madness in the Family

Author: William Saroyan

Publisher: New Directions Publishing

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 9780811211291

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"What a delight to find seventeen of Saroyan's uncollected stories within one cover!....charming tales, all blessed with Saroyan's pixieish imagination and magical writing style....Even today they read as though they have been freshly minted from the Saroyan treasure house. A discovery for those who love Saroyan's fiction; his spark is still wonderfully alive." --Library Journal


The Dreamt Land

The Dreamt Land

Author: Mark Arax

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2019-05-21

Total Pages: 577

ISBN-13: 1101875216

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A vivid, searching journey into California's capture of water and soil—the epic story of a people's defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wrought Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land who has watched the battles over water intensify even as California lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land, he travels the state to explore the one-of-a-kind distribution system, built in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, that is straining to keep up with California's relentless growth. The Dreamt Land weaves reportage, history and memoir to confront the "Golden State" myth in riveting fashion. No other chronicler of the West has so deeply delved into the empires of agriculture that drink so much of the water. The nation's biggest farmers—the nut king, grape king and citrus queen—tell their story here for the first time. Arax, the native son, is persistent and tough as he treks from desert to delta, mountain to valley. What he finds is hard earned, awe-inspiring, tragic and revelatory. In the end, his compassion for the land becomes an elegy to the dream that created California and now threatens to undo it.


Deadly Devotion

Deadly Devotion

Author: Alysia Sofios

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-07-26

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 1451665199

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Even the most avid true crime fans will be shocked by the story of Marcus Wesson of Fresno, California, the worst mass-murderer in the city’s history. But the horrors he inflicted upon his family are nothing compared to the strength of the survivors, and one brave reporter who risked everything to help them. Originally published as Where Hope Begins. For decades, the family of Marcus Wesson—his wife, Elizabeth, and seventeen children—lived sequestered in a social and emotional prison, enduring his tyrannical reign of physical, sexual, and mental abuse. Then came the terrible day when a family confrontation erupted into a harrowing standoff: with police and SWAT teams descending on a small blue house in central Fresno, Marcus Wesson murdered nine of his children. Television reporter Alysia Sofios got the first tip about Wesson’s arrest and was witness to every twist and turn of the horrific case through to Wesson’s trial. Risking her job and her life to offer friendship and support to the traumatized family members—scarred by memories and guilt, reviled for having the Wesson name—Sofios chronicles the case that shocked the nation, and gives voice to their astounding stories of survival. This is a stunning account of healing from one man’s unimaginable acts, and how each, in time, learned to break free from a deadly devotion.


Frezno

Frezno

Author: Tony Stamolis

Publisher: Process

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781934170045

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The central Californian teenage wasteland is the bane of its inhabitants and the butt of a thousand jokes. Though it's one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the US, Fresno is also a killing capital, home to low-riding cholos, empty buildings and dope drops. It is also the birthplace of lauded young photographer, Tony Stamolis, whose fascination with his strange hometown provides a disturbing, hilarious and poignant insider's view of post-suburban American badlands and the people who inhabit them.


Marcus Wesson

Marcus Wesson

Author: Ryan Becker

Publisher:

Published: 2019-10-30

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9781703797763

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One's darkest fantasy is another's horrific reality. Polygamy. Incest. Vampires. Murder. There are words you might expect to read together in the plot of a gothic horror novel, but not so long ago, in the usually quiet town of Fresno, California, those words were the headlines. What do they have to do with each other? The answer to that question is one man; Marcus Wesson. Chances are you have heard of cults, such as the Manson Family, and Jonestown, but this might be your first time reading the story of a vampire cult led by Marcus Wesson. The members of this cult were members of Wesson's own family. This is an unsettlingly, graphic account of the real-life tragedy that took place in 2004. The details are so unbelievable, they seem like a work of fiction, yet they are all true. Perhaps you haven't heard of this vampire cult, the murders involved, or the name Marcus Wesson, but after reading this story, you are guaranteed to never forget. What Amazon readers are saying: ★★★★★ "Thank you Mr. Becker, please keep writing, if any author can make a difference, it will be you" ★★★★★ "I recommend this book to anyone who is a true crime fanatic, such as myself, who wants to read the real story without all the courtroom drama and legalese!" ★★★★★ "I will just say once again Ryan Becker puts out a great well-written book! It's just the story that is so unbelievable it's terrible." ★★★★★ "Forgiving his readers, and a true enthusiast like myself, an insight look into Fresno, California's "Worst Mass Murderer", I've given the author, Ryan Becker 5 STARS." ★★★★★ "I really like his storytelling of so many details, information and insight. Awesome as always!" ★★★★★ "One of the best true crime writers, highly recommend!" Grab your copy now and enter the darkest fantasy that you won't believe is a reality.