'Taco USA' Author Gustavo Arellano to Visit Cypress Park Library

Award-winning Chicano author Gustavo Arellano, whose work includes the nationally syndicated column ¡Ask a Mexican! and a book that has the same title, will visit the on Thursday, June 7, to discuss his latest book, Taco U.S.A.

Arellano's column has a weekly circulation of more than 2 million and it appears in 39 publications nationwide. Taco U.S.A. looks into how Mexican food rose to prominence in the United States.

A native of Orange County, Arellano is the editor the OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper, as well as a lecturer of Chicana and Chicano Studies at California State University, Fullerton. In 2006 and 2008, ¡Ask a Mexican! won the Association of Alternative Weeklies award for Best Column. Topics for the column typically include such tongue-in-cheek questions as "Why do Mexican Men Love Their Mothers so Much" and "Why do Mexicans Like Roses so Much?"

Cypress Park Library staff member Art Meza told Patch that he persuaded Arellano to come to the area after he Tweeted a picture of a box filled with copies of Taco U.S.A.

"He tweeted, 'What should I do with this box of my new book?' I replied 'donate one to Cypress Park,'" Meza said. "He said 'have me speak there and I will.'"

Arellano is scheduled to appear at the library, located at 1150 Cypress Ave., on Thursday, June 7 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The event will also be streamed live at livestream.com/cypressparklibrary.