Songs Older Than Any Known Singer

In a story told in part by ghosts, the author takes the reader through the Inframundo, the timeless underworld of the ancient peoples of Mexico, to find out how he came to be the scion of a now-childless family. His tale is inhabited by eclectic characters—a clairvoyant albino aunt; a great-grandfather stolen by the Kickapu Indians; an aunt who learned English from the young Lyndon Baines Johnson in exchange for cabbages and potatoes. Combining traditional memoir, ancient Mexican history and beliefs, personal sacramental journeys, and ghostly interviews, the author gallops through the personal transformation in his first published collection of poetry.