Edward Rivera (1944-2001) was an American writer, educator and editor with Puerto-Rican roots ( Nuyorican). Born in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, from age 7 Rivera grew up in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was a mentor to writers

Junot Diaz Junot is a French name that may refer to the following notable people: ;Given name *Junot Díaz (born 1968), Dominican American ;Surname *Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantes (1784–1838), French writer *Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès (1771 ...

Abraham Rodríguez Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...

and

Ernesto Quiñonez Ernesto Quiñonez (born 1965) is an Ecuadorian-Puerto Rican novelist. His work received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers designation, the Borders Bookstore Original New Voice selection, and was declared a "Notable Book of the Year" ...

Career

Rivera's only major work, the novel ''Family Installments: Memories of Growing up Hispanic'', reportedly took ten years to write. Facing attempts at fetishization of the Nuyorican experience, it took three years for ''Family Installments'' to be published. The novel utilizes many stylistic tools, from flashbacks to a mix of oral and official histories. Rivera famously looked to

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

as an influence, and the novel indicates this, creating an intertextual conversation. Though Rivera insisted that ''Family Installments'' was a novel, many critics found it to be heavily influenced by Rivera's life.

References

1944 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Puerto Rican writers Puerto Rican novelists Writers from New York City Hispanic and Latino American novelists {{PuertoRico-bio-stub