SUNY Plattsburgh English Professor Releases Debut Novel

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Sept. 25, 2013) — SUNY Plattsburgh English Department Professor

J.L. Torreswill read from his new novel, “Accidental Native,” on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 5:30 to

7 p.m. in Hawkins Hall’s Krinovitz Recital Hall. A reception will follow at the North Country

Cultural Center for the Arts from 7:30 to 9 p.m.. The event is free and open to the public.

“Accidental Native” tells the story of Rennie, a second generation Puerto Rican living in

New York city, who returns to Puerto Rico to bury his parents. Shockingly, he discovers

that his biological mother is actually a high-powered attorney named Julia, who, through

offering a teaching job, convinces him to move to Puerto Rico. There, Rennie must confront

myriad challenges, including Julia’s strong-willed nature, a department chair not thrilled to

have a Nuyorican on staff, squatters living in the house he inherited, students frequently on

strike and a lover anxious to settle down. Most disturbing is the rumor that numerous

faculty and staff are dying from cancer because the campus, a former U.S. military base, is

full of buried munitions.

Critics, such as the Booklist Starred Review, give praise to Torres’ novel.

“Torres does capture the conflicts and challenges Puerto Ricans experience when returning

to their homeland,” they comment,“but he reaches beyond the specific to the universal,

illuminating the lives and feelings of any second-generation American in a similar

situation.”