A collectible hardcover 50th-anniversary edition of the bestselling Chicano novel of all time, featuring a new foreword by Erika L. Sánchez, the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
One of America’s 100 Most-Loved Books | PBS’s The Great American Read
A Penguin Vitae EditionAlthough only six years old, Antonio Marez is perceptive beyond his years. He was brought into the world with the help of Ultima, a
curandera, or folk healer, in touch with nature and the spirit world. Revered by some as a wisewoman but rebuked by others as a witch, Ultima has now come back to stay with Tony’s family in New Mexico. As Tony seeks out his destiny—torn between his mother’s farming forebears and his father’s wandering
vaquero roots, between Spanish Catholicism and the gods of his indigenous ancestors—Ultima’s loving tutelage will help him navigate questions of life and death, good and evil, and reveal to him the vastness of the heritage that shapes him, in this pioneering work of literature.
Penguin Vitae—loosely translated as “Penguin of one’s life”—is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.
A collectible hardcover fiftieth-anniversary edition of the bestselling Chicanx novel of all time, featuring a new foreword by Erika L. Sánchez, the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
A Penguin Vitae Edition
Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. Ultima is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him as he discovers himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past-a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn, there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world…and will nurture the birth of his soul.
Penguin Vitae-loosely translated as "Penguin of one's life"-is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.
Story Locale: New Mexico
“
Bless Me, Ultima made me feel seen in the same way that Whitman’s poetry does. . . . It’s enchanting: a journey of the senses, and a classic for a reason. . . . Anaya was an author who appreciated different perspectives and cultures. . . . Without his work, books like mine could not exist.” —
Erika L. Sánchez, from the Foreword“Half a century after its publication,
Bless Me, Ultima is still reaching new heights. . . . The novel’s impact is felt everywhere. . . . It’s the quintessential coming-of-age story of a young person. . . . A universal tale of empowerment . . . As Anaya wrote in the opening of the novel, ‘Ultima came to stay with us . . .’ Fifty years later, she’s still here and stronger than ever.” ―
Albuquerque Journal“One of the foundational texts of Chicano literature.” —
Los Angeles Review of Books“Anaya’s voice [is] rich as mahogany, terse as a stream.” —
The New York Times 
