A memoir that you will never forget

Suburban Luchador: Memoirs from Suburbia, by Philip Rivera

In a world where everyone seems to be rushing around to work, trying to take care of their kids, pay their bills and have no time for family fun or vacations, comes an outlandish, hilarious and unique memoir written by Philip Rivera, the father of three and yes a husband too, geared up to bring some joy into the reader’s smile, fun into your life and telling it in a way you just won’t believe.

Creating humor, real life experiences, situations that most would never divulge the author takes us through his fun fighting crime, stories about his experiences teaching math and tutoring in high school, dealing with his kids who are totally unpredictable and sharing his Suburban Luchador with readers.

His life seems like different scenes from either the Goldberg’s, Family Guy or even Married with Children. The stories are hilarious beginning with the reasons why he enlisted his son to be on CACA Alert making sure that he was warned before the brown bombs hit. Read the chapter titled Potty Training Economics and see it for yourself and understand that Elias is a cool little kid of four years old and took his role quite seriously.

The story really starts when his son reminds him that their adventures cannot begin until they complete: Princess, Planes and Dragons Fight. Use your imagination as he gears up the arsenal that is needed to accomplish this task. Going on an outing would prove different as their destination was Little Manatee River state park and the weather was extremely hot and the mission survival L along with some nature surveillance but things do not always go as planned with the family and our Elias realized that the heat was not where he wanted to eat lunch and the picnic and hike was becoming something he wanted to avoid so his complaints almost went unheeded but sometimes the whines and frowns of a little boy can actually benefit the rest.

The lessons from the Jacuzzi was adorable and helped him bond once again with Elias and then the chapter titled big Gulp well don’t drink the yellow liquid. When children have to go to the bathroom and there is nowhere to stop you have to read how resourceful his wife was and how she managed to take on this horrific feat but the end result was our author’s thirst was quenched in an unusual and not so wonderful manner.

Told in the first person and through his eyes and at times that of his children, the stories he shares are part of his life, filled with his own take on the events and you can feel the love he has for his three youngsters. He even helped his wife endure labor pains and watched as his youngest child was born.
How many families and marriages can survive what he relates? His Latino father takes his family on many journeys and you get to understand why he claims to be El Luchador or the fighter. His wife Yarei is his second in command and Elias is the next in line while Selah and Analise provide the backup for some of the humor and then of course the chapter where Yarei attempts to play and compete against him in X-box is hysterical. But she’s a fighter and won’t give up until the last battle was fought.

Wait until you read ten reasons why we’re late for church: one can’t find his Jesus Ninja Turtle, the other wants to wear her princess dress, the other wants to take the princess castle to church and of course change of clothing when they can’t hold it in and then with seconds to spare they might make it. The Junkyard shows how resourceful someone can be when they need a passenger side rearview mirror and he decides to go to the junkyard and hopefully find one. Enter for 2 dollars and see the wealth of car parts that can replenish all your missing or broken needs.
The chapters I really loved and can identify with are the ones where he shares the stories about his students that needed help in math, some cutting classes and the one that focuses on the advice he gives a student about the prom, the expense and where this young man feels he should take the group for dinner: Burger King, Denny’s or well find out when you join him and the group for their after prom dinner.

The scene where a student tells him he has soft hands followed by the pencil drop related to a math lesson based on the radical out of the denominator of a fraction are priceless yet it shows that he is trying to relate to the students and guide them but you can only do so much.

Then meet Mayor Payne who is a tough, military ROTC trainer and whose job it is to make sure that those cutting class understand that the end result will be when I think I’ll leave that mystery to the reader and the lesson the author learns about Major Payne will endear you to him and help you understand why he was so tough on the students and why it mattered to him that they succeed.

The chapter about the concert and the group Weekend well let him know how music has changed and the final afterthoughts I think would be more fun if you read them yourself.

As he says in the after thoughts inside of us is a wealth of stories made up from everyday situations and he’ not done yet as he is writing the next adventures of his life, his family and his zest for adventure. Meet the Rivera Family, laugh, cry and go on some of their adventures and understand why the author is Suburban Luchador . Bring your sense of humor, sense of family love and join the author and his family on their adventures . You never know this might inspire you too write your own!

Fran Lewis: Just reviews