Writer Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez
Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez was born in El Paso, Texas, the oldest son of an Irish father and a Mexican mother. After flunking out of college twice, he finally made good at Texas A & M before going on to SMU, where he earned a BA in English Literature.
Relocating to Los Angeles, he worked as a claims adjuster, and amused by the fact that so many claimants experienced miraculous recoveries after receiving a settlement check, he wrote up a short synopsis — which somehow found its way to the famed director, Alfred Hitchcock. In a brief telephone call, Hitchcock encouraged Grattan to make a movie based on the story. After two long years, he had done exactly that, and thus his career in the movie business was born.
That career reached its zenith in 1979 when the filmmaker wrote, directed and co-produced the first major movie about the Mexican-American experience. The film, Only Once in a Lifetime, was invited to premiere at the Kennedy Center, and later selected as one of a few films to represent the United States at the Deauville Film Festival in France.
As is common in Hollywood, Grattan soon developed what he calls a “reverse case of the Midas Touch.” He retired to Mexico in 1987. In 1988, he founded the Ajijic Writers’ Group and began writing novels and published seven of them. The screenplays he adapted from some of his books have won several awards at film/script competitions in Mexico. In 2007, he was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who in Mexico. For the past 17 years, Grattan has been the Editor-in-Chief of El Ojo del Lago (Chapala.com), the most widely-read English-language magazine in Mexico.
Contact Information:
Phone: (Mexico) 376-766-4047
Email: grattan@prodigy.net.mx
The Dark Side of the Dream, Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez’s highly-acclaimed historical novel, is an epic tale of Mexican immigration and focuses on two brothers who fulfill their father’s dying wish by migrating to Texas shortly after the USA enters World War II. Jose Louis and Francisco Salazar leave Mexico in 1941 and head north in search of the American dream, which proves to be ephemeral as Jose Louis and his brood settles into the squalor of the El Paso barrio, while Francisco and his son become indentured and exploited migrant workers. The story unfolds as each Salazar attempts to make a life for himself by enlisting in the armed forces, organizing labor unions, enrolling in college, and building a thriving business. The book depicts the struggles of Mexican families as they come to grips with a new, often hostile environment in the USA, and celebrates their contribution to the betterment of life for all people in Texas and the Southwest. The soft cover and Kindle versions include a historical preface and an epilogue that follows the Salazar family to California, where a new generation of the family at last succeeds in fulfilling the dream of enriching their lives. For more information, contact editor@egretbooks.com.
Also by Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez, available on Amazon.
Breaking Even. Eighteen-year-old Val, chafing under the restrictive expectations of his West Texas hometown, makes a desperate bid for freedom. An impending, unwanted marriage and the pervasive, subtle sting of prejudice—a constant undercurrent due to his Mexican mother—propel him to leave everything behind. His singular focus: to find his long-lost father, a man he’d been led to believe was dead.
The search leads Val far from the dusty plains of Texas to the neon-drenched allure of Reno, Nevada. Here, amidst the clatter of slot machines and the hushed intensity of card tables, he finds an unexpected refuge. The gaming world offers not just a distraction, but a chance to reinvent himself, to shed the skin of the boy he was and embrace the man he’s becoming. Each wager placed at the table is a small act of rebellion, an assertion of his autonomy against a life he never chose.
Yet, the true jackpot awaits him beyond the felt and chips. The reunion with his father is a revelation, shattering years of fabricated truths and filling a void Val hadn’t fully acknowledged. More than just a paternal connection, this encounter sparks a profound internal shift. It ignites a newfound pride in his Mexican heritage, a heritage he’d once felt burdened by, now seen through a lens of strength and resilience. This rediscovered identity, coupled with his father’s presence, imbues Val with the courage to finally pursue his own dreams, breaking even with his past and stepping into a future defined by his own choices.
Whereabouts Unknown. In late 1945, a German doctor and his two teenaged daughters arrive by freighter into the sweltering, squalid port of Cayenne in French Guyana. They enter the South American country with forged passports and under assumed names. But the doctor is recognized by two people who were once in a Nazi labor camp, and now are in the employ of a group which is on the lookout for Fascist fugitives wanted by the Allied War Crimes Tribunal. The two men, a middle-aged mute, and a young man of nineteen, are obsessed with bringing to justice the criminals who once ran the camp in which they were imprisoned for two years. But at what point can righteous retribution curdle into poisonous revenge? Into this maelstrom of hidden motives and impenetrable enigmas enter other mysterious persons. All are in pursuit of the German doctor – and only too late discover the truth about him, and his family. By then, the two former camp prisoners have, ironically, become everything they once detested.
Hollywood & Vine. Hollywood beckons, a shimmering mirage of dreams and endless possibilities, yet beneath its dazzling facade lies a nuanced and often unforgiving reality. This glittering town, much like the ambitious souls who flock to its hallowed streets, is deeply flawed. Most who arrive, fueled by aspirations of fame and fortune, inevitably confront the gritty underbelly of the industry. They navigate the “grime” and “slime,” witness their fleeting moments “go past their prime,” until, ultimately, they are “out of time.”
Against the iconic backdrop of Hollywood Boulevard, Grattan masterfully weaves a tapestry of interconnected lives. His characters are united by a desperate and often crushing realization: their glory days are irrevocably behind them. The narrative delves into the diverse and sometimes disturbing ways these individuals cope with their faded dreams. Some find solace, or perhaps captivity, in reliving their past triumphs, clinging to the echoes of what once was. Others, less resigned, resort to manipulative tactics, preying on the innocence and ambition of those just beginning their ascent, seeking to exert control where they’ve lost it in their own lives. And in the darkest corners of this star-studded landscape, for some, the descent into desperation takes an even more sinister turn, leading to acts of cold, calculated murder. “Hollywood & Vine” is a raw and unflinching exploration of ambition, obsolescence, and the lengths to which people will go when confronted with the death of their dreams.
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