While he may not be the most popular author out there, Gary Soto has come a long way. He started off picking cotton in the fields of California and later lived the life of a literary king. Gary Soto worked hard to get to where he is now and his hard work has been recognized. He has received numerous awards for his works including a whole museum dedicated to himself. Gary Soto gives the Mexican American community a voice through his writings. He writes about the hardships and struggles he went through as well as the good times. Some of his writings were based off of true stories and some were simply made up. The life of Gary Soto is a classic rags to riches tale that all began in the fields of Fresno, California. Gary Soto was born on April 12, 1952 in Fresno, California to Manuel and Angie Soto. He has a younger …show more content…
He then decided to shake it up a little bit in 1985 by writing Living up the Street: Narrative Recollections. Living up the Street was not Soto’s typical genre of poetry, in fact, it was autobiographical prose. Making such a change benefitted Gary Soto because not only was he able to express his feelings and memories further in a different and intriguing way, he also opened up a world of possibilities that rewarded him with many awards. Living up the Street earned Gary Soto the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award. He then continued his prose career by writing Small Faces and Lesser Evils. Gary Soto found a voice in writing prose. In an article about Gary Soto on pshares.org, Gary Soto speaks about his new found love for prose, "I felt I could be louder, more direct, also sloppier, whereas, with poetry, I believed you had to control your statement, not be so obvious." Gary Soto expressed how there was more freedom when it came down to writing prose as opposed to writing poetry. He believed that writing prose was more natural and a lot let pressure because he could be a little