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American Owned LoveThis novel is set in the Southwest, and the title comes from a regional phenomenon of putting inspirational messages on motel marquees, along with the national disgrace of the same motels advertising that they are "American Owned." The motel marquee I saw was in a particularly rundown establishment on Picacho Avenue in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and it read as follows:
AMERICAN OWNED CHRIST GIVES ETERNAL LIFE COUPLES $20 It sounded like a bargain. The novel is set, in part in a colonia. A colonia is a community that lacks some of the basic living necessities, such as running water, sewer service, electricity, and so on. These communities have popped up all over southern New Mexico, and some colonias have thousands of people living in them. However, when the book was published, I discovered that most people outside of the region had never heard of a colonia. |
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