Distributed for Tupelo Press
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez chronicles an obsession with the 1971 unsolved murder of Rocha’s grandfather while interrogating the true crime genre, tabloid culture, immigrant identity, the phenomena of missing and murdered women, troubled relationships with law enforcement, and the intersection of prose and poetry. Because the details of his death were (and are) terribly unclear, part of how the family reconstructed him was to share the different accounts heard over the decades, and this collection attempts to pin down these shifts and contours through destabilizing form and genre. Each speaker reconfigures a past mysterious and tenuous, clouded by distance, language, and time in order to demonstrate how Inocencio Rodriguez defies a single narrative.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 1
Bad Hombre
The Jump 5
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 6
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 7
Tabloid for Inocencio Rodriguez 8
Bird Atlas 9
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 10
Landscape with Graceland Crumbling in My Hands 11
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 12
Bury Them 13
Love Letter to Scott Peterson 14
I Watched a Bat Kill Itself in Yuma 15
Last Seen 16
Elegy for a Quinceañera Dress 19
Milieu 20
Landscape with Boy-on-Boy Action 21
Tabloid for Judy Garland 23
White Mexican Girl 24
Self-Portrait as Crime Scene 25
Kurt Cobain Requiem (Acoustic) 26
Tequila, Cinnamon, Orange 27
Chelsea Bruck Requiem 28
In the Place of Guesswork
Texas Seven 31
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 39
Hoax
Marfa Lights 43
Ken Caminiti Dies in a Houston Hotel 44
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 45
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 46
Hoax 47
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 48
Texas Killing Fields 49
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 50
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 51
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 52
PHX Elegy 53
The Many _____ of Inocencio Rodriguez 54
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 56
Collective Memory 57
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez, 58
Tabloid for the Black Dahlia 59
Still Life 60
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 61
Elegy for the 1950s Waist 62
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 63
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 64
Bettie Page Finds Jesus 65
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 66
True Crime Addict 68
White Mexican Girl 69
Jess 70
True Crime Addict
The Girls Gone Up in Smoke 73
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 74
Nutshell Diorama 75
Tabloid for JonBenét Ramsey 77
Tabloid for Jayne Mansfield 78
Tabloid for Lupe Vélez 79
The Last Supper—600 Plates Illustrating Final Meals of U.S. Death Row Inmates 80
Human Combustion 81
AZO Elegy 82
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 83
Interrogation 84
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 85
Tabloid for Lori Erica Ruff 86
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 87
Houston 88
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 89
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 91
True Crime Addict 92
Obituaries 93
A Transitional Time for Planets 95
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 96
Notes 99
Acknowledgments 103
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 1
Bad Hombre
The Jump 5
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 6
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 7
Tabloid for Inocencio Rodriguez 8
Bird Atlas 9
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 10
Landscape with Graceland Crumbling in My Hands 11
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 12
Bury Them 13
Love Letter to Scott Peterson 14
I Watched a Bat Kill Itself in Yuma 15
Last Seen 16
Elegy for a Quinceañera Dress 19
Milieu 20
Landscape with Boy-on-Boy Action 21
Tabloid for Judy Garland 23
White Mexican Girl 24
Self-Portrait as Crime Scene 25
Kurt Cobain Requiem (Acoustic) 26
Tequila, Cinnamon, Orange 27
Chelsea Bruck Requiem 28
In the Place of Guesswork
Texas Seven 31
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 39
Hoax
Marfa Lights 43
Ken Caminiti Dies in a Houston Hotel 44
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 45
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 46
Hoax 47
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 48
Texas Killing Fields 49
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 50
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 51
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 52
PHX Elegy 53
The Many _____ of Inocencio Rodriguez 54
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 56
Collective Memory 57
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez, 58
Tabloid for the Black Dahlia 59
Still Life 60
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 61
Elegy for the 1950s Waist 62
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 63
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 64
Bettie Page Finds Jesus 65
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 66
True Crime Addict 68
White Mexican Girl 69
Jess 70
True Crime Addict
The Girls Gone Up in Smoke 73
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 74
Nutshell Diorama 75
Tabloid for JonBenét Ramsey 77
Tabloid for Jayne Mansfield 78
Tabloid for Lupe Vélez 79
The Last Supper—600 Plates Illustrating Final Meals of U.S. Death Row Inmates 80
Human Combustion 81
AZO Elegy 82
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 83
Interrogation 84
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 85
Tabloid for Lori Erica Ruff 86
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 87
Houston 88
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 89
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 91
True Crime Addict 92
Obituaries 93
A Transitional Time for Planets 95
The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez 96
Notes 99
Acknowledgments 103