Geographic displacement as spiritual desolation is a theme that bonds Puerto Rican and Chicano literature. The movement of masses of people to the United States and within the United States itself has had and continues to have severe consequences for the Latino population in this country. Two novels, "Down These Mean Streets" by Piri Thomas and "Nobody's Hero. A Puerto Rican Story" by Lefty Barreto, highlight the dehumanizing experiences undergone by Puerto Ricans in New York City. In the case of Chicano writers, the desolation resulting from displacement is not so particularized in the sense that it is not focused on any one city. Rather they offer a more general view of Mexican immigrants making the transition from their native country to the United States or changing from rural to urban settings; "Pocho" by Jose Antonio Villareal and "Chicano" by Richard Vasquez serve as examples of this displacement. The anguish and alienation, however, are similar. Novelists and short story writers have sensitively given form to the anguish and alienation resulting from this uprootedness and the inhospitality of new environments. Their artistic rendering of a social phenomenon merits closer scrutiny by other would-be researchers interested in elucidating the common themes in Puerto Rican and Chicano literature. (PM)