Book Description

Una maravillosa antología nueva--las escritoras y los escritores latinos más admirados comparten recuerdos de sus madres.

Las mujeres amorosamente retratadas en las Las Mamis representan la diversidad de la vida y cultura latinas. Provienen de las familias ricas de las grandes ciudades de Latinoamérica, de familias campesinas emigrantes y también de la variedad de mundos intermedios. Además, comparten todas una extraordinaria fuerza interior, frecuentemente retada por la adversidad.

Presionadas por circunstancias y expectativas culturales conflictivas, lograron enfrentar los retos de la maternidad y dejar para sus hijos e hijas un legado perdurable. Y ahora, en estos vívidos, conmovedores y, en ocasiones, divertidísimos recuerdos, todos imbuidos de un claro sabor latino, Las Mamis celebra la universalidad del amor de familia y el vínculo especial entre madres e hijos.

Colaboradores:

Marjorie Agosín
Alba Ambert
Liz Balmaseda
Mandalit del Barco
Gioconda Belli
Junot Díaz
María Amparo Escandón
Dagoberto Gilb
Francisco Goldman
Jaime Manrique
Gustavo Pérez-Firmat
Esmeralda Santiago
Ilán Stavans
Piri Thomas

... Read more

Reviews (6)

GREAT STORIES ABOUT OUR MOMS.
IT IS A TREAT TO READ ABOUT DIFFERENT STORIES ABOUT VARIOUS MOTHERS. THIS BOOK REMINDS US HOW IMPORTANT OUR MOMS ARE.
WE SHOULD ALWAYS GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR THIER GUTS ON BEING MOMS.

Exceptional, poetic and moving
One has to bear in mind that writing about people one knows is very subjective, and this is the author's right. People simply are not objective about those close to them. The writers of this book have accomplished a creation that has resulted in a beautiful specimen of literature, rich in description and sentiment, both amusing and tragic.

How can one not laugh when Jaime Manrique quotes the only comment his mother makes after she sees her son's pictures in a magazine spread for the first time: " You look fat, You'd better lay off those pies" and how can one not cry when he writes "The most wonderful tribute I can pay to my mother is to say that whereas most children automatically love their mothers, I've grown to love Soledad." But these quotes don't mean much without reading all that precedes them.

And then, who will ever forget, once read, Alba Ambert's haunting search for a mother she has never known and how she consciously forms a life for herself based on this lack of knowledge?

If you are looking for straight storytelling, you will find it here, but you will also find great sentiment and poetry within these pages. That in itself is worth the read. One no longer cares as one reads along if it is true or not; it still touches the soul.

Unimpressed
When I first saw this book in the bookstore, I could not believe that someone finally put together a book about Latin mothers. As a person with a Mexican mother, I was hopeful that my unique experiences would finally be told. I was wrong. The writing in this book is dishonest and pretentious. I kept getting the feeling that the writers were trying to impress the readers with their clever writing and big words. It certainly did not help that the editors chose to exhaustively list all of the awards and accolades ever bestowed upon the writers. What does this have to do with writing about your mother? Even though some of the stories were potentially touching, I did not shed one tear because I simply could not get over the "look at me" writing. If someone wants to read a beautifully written book about a mother that made me cry and think about my own mother, please read Growing Up by Russell Baker. Russell Baker's mother did not have to be Mexican for me to be touched by her son's honesty and the beauty of his writing.

A wonderful and diverse cross-section of Latino culture.
Esmeralda Santiago edits Las Mamis, a powerful gathering of Latino authors who recall their mothers. The fourteen women portray a cross-section of Latino culture and economic backgrounds in this loving memoir of influential parents.

Diane C. Donovan Reviewer

Very Disappointing
I bought this book for a Mother's Day gift. No way will I give it to my mom. Graphic stories with sensitive content. Sure, it pays homage to mothers in some ways. But, I don't relate to it at all--not even on the "hispanic" level. ... Read more

Book Description

American By Choice is a modern day odyssey, the story of a young boy from Ecuador who comes to America and encounters the challenges faced by every newly arriving immigrant; the story of a man who rises to the rank of Captain in new York City's renowned F.D.N.Y.

The book is a tribute to family, freinds, mentors, guides, and to brother firefighters here and throughout the international community. It taked us to the island of Culebra in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo, to Oklahoma City, and to the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th, 2001, where Captain Alfredo Fuented was buried under the collapsed North Tower.

In the end, it is a story about coming home that embraces the thousands of strangers he has met along the way. It is a story of America. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Street Review
Living Up the Street is a great book. If you like to read about people and how their everyday lives affect them this book is for you. When I picked up the book it did not sound that interesting. But when I finished the first chapter I knew the book was going to be good. It is interesting to read about the main character, Gary, a Mexican boy, and how he grows up and deals with life living in Fresno. The book is based back in the 60's and 70's. It was interesting to read about how different life was for people back then and how hard it was for Gary and his family. Gary grows up learning valuable lessons throughout the book. Living Up the Street is an interesting way to look at someone's life as they grow up and mature.

Don't Bother
Being one of the hundreds of students who have grown up in Fresno and been made to read the "works" of Gary Soto, I am not unfamiliar with his work nor with Fresno in general. The book is without plot, sequence, or continuity. In one chapter he is at one school, then a different, then back to the first. Further more it is inconsistent. He tells the story of his poor Mexican family in Fresno, and yet many times he writes of drinking Kool-Aid, watching Father Knows Best, and engaging in other activities not characteristic of the underprivileged. Full of awkward analogies and metaphors it is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who possesses the ability to walk and breath at the same time. For a more exciting read, I suggest browsing words in the dictionary, "Monotonous" is a great one.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down~
When I picked up the book to read for the first time, I was pleased with the sequence of things, but as I read further I became more and more frustrated with the book. I like Gary Soto's work and in general loved the book, but it would have been better kept in essay format rather than clumped up in a novel that had no order other than Gary's age.

Living Up the Street
Living Up the Street is one of the many books published by Gary Soto. Many of the books that he writes are about some childhood past experiences. It tells about his ups and downs that he went through as a child. Not all of the situations are from his childhood, but many are. Knowing the beginning of the book, a few events, and what I thought of the book will give you a better understanding of the book and how interesting it is. The book begins by introducing three children that will be the main characters throughout the book. These children are Rick 6, Chango 5, who is also the narrator in the book, and Debra 4. Basically the beginning the book tells about how the family struggles in life and how their mom, when angry, takes a belt to the children when they did inappropriate things. The first event that takes place is when their mom has to leave to go somewhere and someone else was supposed to watch the three children. The children thinking they could manage on their own got to stay home by themselves. The children liked to play with fire so they did make a fire and ended up burning some items in the house and they also had a tomato fight which made the house a complete mess. When their mom came home she was very angered by what they did. Another event that took place at the beginning deals with their father. Their father was a good man and a hard working one too. Their father was going to start to do some work on the house so he and his family could have better living conditions. One day their father got a head injury at work and he had to be taken to the hospital. There he stayed and two days later he ended up dying from the head injury. The whole family was sad to see him die. One thing that he was doing before he died was putting up a fence at home. The family did was got together and put the fence up themselves. They knew the father would have loved this. Those are just a few events that happen in this book. I do not want to tell the rest because then you would not have to read the book to see what happens. Basically the idea of the book to me is that the family starts out struggling, going through hard times and later they get everything together and become a good family who is doing very well compared to what they had been doing before. This book should be read by many people that like to know about how families are, what they do in bad situations, and how they make it through the bad times. Now that you know the beginning of the book, a few events that took place, and what I thought of the book you might just want to go read the book. It is one that is definitely should be read. You will enjoy it. It is not a very difficult book to read. There are not very many pages

A Must For A Teen....
I purchased this book about two weeks ago and it's probably the only book that I've enjoyed reading. While most stories are either too grim of too happy, this book offers both. This book tells about Gary Soto's ups and downs throughout his childhood, adolescence and even adult life. A book that anyone can relate to in one way or another, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read something that is realistic yet a joy to read. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Hit and Miss
Rodriguez' previous book, Hunger of Memory, was a valuable account of the cultural schizophrenia many Latinos go through--i.e., Spanish vs English, Catholic vs Protestant, Old World vs New World. What was so damn infuriating about that book was Rodriguez' closeted, timid tone. Every word was carefully weighed, the tone as dead, as academic as the world he kissed up to and was, hence, rewarded by. He was so careful not to be vulgar or hasty in his judgments that he came off stiff and ponderous. Anyone put off by his arguments could have rejected them on the basis of his style alone. If this is what kowtowing to the Protestant academic establishment does to you, I'll gladly remain a backward, brash Latino any day. In Days of Obligation, Rodriguez has loosened up considerably but not always with the best of results. His fondness for colorful adjectives and adverbs makes his writing here frequently dense and knotty. One thinks, "Hmmm, what a beautiful description--what it means, I haven't the vaguest idea." He amplifies his cultural survey here with mixed results: his description of Mexican society is rich and meaty; however, I could have done without yet another breezy dismissal of superficial L.A. in a subsequent chapter. And his unwillingness in the chapter on San Francisco to address his own sexuality is rather tiresome; he seems rather an old-fashioned nelly in his reluctance to state the obvious. And the book's organization is a mess--nothing holds together; it all seems rather disconnected. And what exactly the argument with his father is is unclear since he ends up coming to the same conclusions. He's an odd mixture of a writer: raised with the progressive optimism of the U.S. but by temperament more attuned to the cynicism and resignation of Latin culture. Still, this book shows him to be far more human and interesting a writer than the dry, careful prose of Hunger of Memory suggests. In Days of Obligation, the hunger is at least partially sated.

Coming To Terrms With Self and Heritage
Richard Rodriguez is a gifted writer. He words are almost lyrical at times and at points, Days of Obligation is simply a beautiful experience to read.

In Days of Obligation, Rodriguez struggles with so many facets of himself -- notably, his ethnic heritage, his sexuality, his sense of guilt at the chasm between who he is and who he has been told to be by parents and his church. I believe there is a universal element to Rodriguez' struggles. They are the challenges that all human beings encounter in becoming their own unique selves.

The added dimension of Rodriguez' Mexican heritage, makes this story all the more fascinating. A wonderful book to have us think about being ourselves in a world full of others expectations as well as an opportunity to get a closer view of Mexican ethnic influences and the related struggles in a United States where far too many people forget they themselves are immigrants or children of immigrants.

A highly enjoyable book from many perspectives.

The Juicy Apple
Rodriguez sinks his teeth into the juicy apple of race and somehow pulls off enlightening concrete distinctions between the single extant species of Homo sapiens remaining on earth. Essentially (and we allow here for the purposes of discussion some generalities) Rodriguez asserts that Americans/Northern Europeans are divorced psychologically from their historically inseparable neighbors, the Mexicans/Indians, because the Americans/Northern Europeans represent masculine, aggressive, individualistic, Protestant, optimistic, or "comic" values. The passive, Catholic, communal, familial, feminine value systems of the Mexicans/Indians he terms "tragic." (The tragic race, incidentally, is much happier and less medicated, etc., it's so substantially less destructive and selfish.) I grew up in Southern California, lived in Mexico for a few years, and three years ago married a Mexican woman, so I epitomize the fabulous collision of opposite worlds that this book describes (and really helped me to understand). Gorgeously composed, arrogantly honest, and a whole lot more. Intellectually one of the ten most important books of the last two decades. When I admire a book I immediately read it again. I read this one three times.

A controversial voice that deserves to be heard
In this and his other collection of personal essays, "Hunger of Memory," Richard Rodriguez describes how becoming an American has been an experience much like Alice's trip through the looking glass. It has distanced him from his Mexican-born parents and separated him almost entirely from his Mexican roots. The central idea running through many of these thoughtful, earnest essays is a heightened awareness of the differences between our public and private lives. They also focus on the impact of education on himself and his siblings as children of Spanish-speaking immigrants.

After reading his books, nothing about becoming American seems as simple as it's often represented in popular fiction and movies. You see, for example, how learning English and the way Americans use it immediately create cultural conflicts. Rodriguez' parents had valued education as a way to get ahead in America. Ironically, the greater success he experienced in school, the further he became removed from the world of his parents.

Still a boy, he lost the ability to converse in Spanish. Becoming a public figure in the English-speaking world, he seemed to betray his ethnic background, which valued privacy and separateness from the English-speaking (gringo) world. Ironically, for all his achievements as an "American," Rodriguez learns that because of his background, he remains in many ways an outsider. Lacking a middle class upbringing, he has passed through the educational system as a "scholarship boy." This term, borrowed from Richard Hoggart's book "The Uses of Literacy," describes the son of working class parents who is granted the privilege of a middle class education, but while rising above his humble origins, never fully transcends them.

The political positions Rodreguez takes as an adult flow as a logical extension from the experiences that shaped him -- especially the benefits of the education he received in a private school. Later there were the benefits that came to him as a "minority student" -- advantages he considered unwarranted. Concerned by poverty in America and the underfunding of schools that would help end poverty, he takes positions that have been unpopular among many educators. In these essays, he challenges the assumptions underlying both affirmative action and bilingual education.

Rodriguez writes with great clarity, and his sentences seem crafted with considerable care. He wants very much to say precisely what he means. And this cannot have been always easy, as many of his ideas grapple with both irony and paradox. Often you read paragraphs that seem to have been thought through deeply, then carefully written and rewritten. The care that he takes in writing these essays reflects a wish to be read carefully. Those who have found reason to be offended, angered, or "bored" by his ideas are evidence that he touches on a great many sensitive issues.

A MESMERIZING PASSIONATE DIALOGUE
This book is more of a dialogue rather than an argument. A passionate mesmerizing dialogue with the past and present perceived realities of the author's cultural heritage. I saw Richard Rodriguez at a televised University presentation. His ability to respond to questions from the students and faculty with relaxed patience and stunning oratory was impressive. That is why I purchased this book. A man of knowledge and accomplishment, who has something to say, and knows how to say it. I wanted to learn more from him. That same quality of knowledge permeates this book which is filled with unsurpassed images of Mexico, Spain and California. Mr Rodriguez revisits this historical blend of cultures that produced him and invites us to also participate in this dialogue of perceptions. He bares his inner most thoughts, his agony and his pride. Well worth reading. Take your time, and savor the sights, sounds and existence of a beautiful people; then and now. ... Read more

Book Description

"[This] collection announces a new voice in 'American' literary and autobiographical production."—Paul Allatson, from the foreword

A woman living and communicating in multiple lands, Susana Chávez-Silverman conveys her cultural and linguistic displacement in a humorous, bittersweet, and even tangible way in this truly bilingual literary work. These meditative and lyrical pieces that combine poignant personal confession, detailed daily observation, and a memorializing drive that shifts across time and among geocultural spaces. The author's inventive and flamboyant use of Spanglish, a hybrid English-Spanish idiom, and her adaptation of the confessional "crónica" make this memoir compelling and powerful. Killer Crónicas confirms that there is no Latina voice quite like that of Susana Chávez-Silverman.

Killer Crónicas includes a chapter that was awarded first prize in El Andar magazine's Chicano Literary Excellence Contest in the category of personal memoir. ... Read more

Book Description

Turbulent teenage Years! But life goes on!

Travel with Art Rodriguez as he takes you through his teen years. You will see that life does get better, even though it appears confusing and harsh at times. You will enjoy his stories of growing up in San Jose, California. He will take you for a stroll; as he does, you will experience with him fun times and hard times. You will enjoy this sequel to East Side Dreams. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Forgotten Memories
Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine October 2002 VOYA
Growing up in San Jose, California, Arturo Rodriguez and his brothers and sister endured an abusive father, their parents' unhappy marriage, and their father's absence after he returned to Mexico. Rodriguez coped as best he could, but his drinking and drug use, in the wrong place at the wrong times led to his incarceration in California's prison system for young offenders. Against all odds, he put his past behind him, married and had a family, and worked hard to overcome injustices and start a successful business. After his retirement Rodriguez began writing about his life and his family. This book is sequel to East Side Dreams (Dream House, 2001, published in Spanish as Sueños del Lado Este. In this second autobiographical book, he writes about childhood pranks and misdeeds, his mother's near fatal illness, his parent's divorce, the birth of his first child, and how his parents even eventually became friends.
The writing here is unpolished but sincere in true, and the reminiscences and descriptions are vivid and true to life. Neither how he grew to understand his father and other relatives whom he loved despite their flaws. His message for young readers is clear. It is possible to survived and overcome injustices and hardships. Rodriguez maintains a Web site at www EastSideDreams. com and invites readers to visit, view his picture alum, and perhaps send him an e-message. He will answer.-Sherry York Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine

Midwest Book Review Magazine
Forgotten Memories
Art Rodriguez
Dream House Press
Capably written for teenage readers grades 7 through 11 by Art Rodriguez, Forgotten Memories is the story of his having been a young man growing up amid difficult conflicts in San Jose, California. From life-threatening risks such as drowning and knife fights, to the cutting harshness of vituperative words, Forgotten Memories reflects the drama of learning how to survive, grow, and accept personal responsibility. Forgotten Memories is recommended as a powerful coming of age story. Also highly recommended is the Art Rodriguez previous memoir, East Side Dreams. ... Read more

Book Description

Calling the Doves is poet Juan Felipe Herrera's story of his migrant farmworker childhood. In delightful and lyrical language, he recreates the joy of eating breakfast under the open sky, listening to Mexican songs in the little trailer house his father built, and celebrating with other families at a fiesta in the mountains. He remembers his mother singing songs and reciting poetry, and his father telling stories and calling the doves. For Juan Felipe, the farmworker road was also the beginning of his personal road to becoming a writer. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Calling the Doves
This bilingual picture book tells the story of poet Juan Felipe Herrera's early years with his parents who were migrant farmworkers in California. Herrera's love for his poor hardworking parents is evident. The vibrant, vivid pictures by Elly Simmons combine with Herrera's Spanish/English text to make a delightful children's book that readers of all ages will enjoy! ... Read more

Book Description

"The Monkey Box" is a story that goes back to the 1800's. It starts with Art Rodriguez's great grandparents. Art's great great grandfather was a priest in Spain. He and his family were of royal decent, which made them dukes. The priest had an affair with a young woman. In time she became pregnant. At childbirth the young lady died. Then is when it became public knowledge that the priest was the father of baby Lydia. The church wanted to send him to the Vatican to be excommunicated. The family was extremely embarrassed and disgraced. The family made him a deal. They told him if he were to leave the country with baby Lydia, they would give him his portion of his inheritance and all his documents to prove his family's lineage. He agreed. The priest and his daughter boarded a ship and landed in Vera Cruz, Mexico. There he made his way to Chiapas, Mexico. He found a friend of the family who was a doctor. He asked his friend if he and his family would care for baby Lydia and make sure she received an education. In return the priest would leave him enough money to compensate him for taking care of her needs. In addiction he would leave money in advance to pay for all the education she would need. The priest said he would leave Lydia's portion of her inheritance in Mexico City. When Lydia became of age, she would receive all that was due to her. The priest said he would return periodically to see Lydia. However, once he left he never returned. No one ever heard from him again. It was not known if he was killed or went back to Spain.When Lydia was 16 years old, there was a young man who was 26 years old from the state of Senora, Mexico, whom she fell in love with. Soon they eloped. This story goes into their relationship and the problems they encountered with the doctor and his family. The "Monkey Box" goes through their life, their Son's life, whose painting is on the cover of the book, then it ends in San Jose, California with the father and mother of Art Rodriguez.When Chico and Lydia were married, Chico went out to the jungle and obtained wood that kept is colors for years. He constructed a box with beautiful monkeys carved all over the outside of the box. That is where the family's documents were kept through the years. You will enjoy this story. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

East Side Dreams
Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine October 2002 VOYA
Growing up in San Jose, California, Arturo Rodriguez and his brothers and sister endured an abusive father, their parents' unhappy marriage, and their father's absence after he returned to Mexico. Rodriguez coped as best he could, but his drinking and drug use, in the wrong place at the wrong times led to his incarceration in California's prison system for young offenders. Against all odds, he put his past behind him, married and had a family, and worked hard to overcome injustices and start a successful business. After his retirement Rodriguez began writing about his life and his family. This book is sequel to East Side Dreams (Dream House, 2001, published in Spanish as Sueños del Lado Este. In this second autobiographical book, he writes about childhood pranks and misdeeds, his mother's near fatal illness, his parent's divorce, the birth of his first child, and how his parents even eventually became friends.
The writing here is unpolished but sincere in true, and the reminiscences and descriptions are vivid and true to life. Neither how he grew to understand his father and other relatives whom he loved despite their flaws. His message for young readers is clear. It is possible to survived and overcome injustices and hardships. Rodriguez maintains a Web site at www EastSideDreams. com and invites readers to visit, view his picture alum, and perhaps send him an e-message. He will answer.-Sherry York Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine

East Side Dreams
The Midwest Book Review. May 7, 2002
East Side Dreams by Art Rodriguez is full of energy and the struggles that the author himself endured while growing up on the east side of San Jose, California in 1966.
I enjoyed reading this inspirational novel derived from the memories of a teenager who is now a mature and successful businessman.
East Side Dreams has been translated into Spanish to reach the Spanish speaking population in the United States.
As I read the troubling times of Art Rodriguez I couldn't relate to many of his predicaments, but I certainly felt compassion toward him and thanked God for my "normal" life. Mr. Rodriguez touches your heart as you read his passionate book of self-taught lessons.
As you read East Side Dreams, which captures the hopelessness of growing up with an unpleasant childhood, keep in mind that this life drove the author to his true passion-writing!
The author, Art Rodriguez has been honored by the New York Library System to be on the "2001 Books for Teenage List" for his book East Side Dreams. He was also given "The Mariposa Award-Best First Book" at the Latino Literary Hall of fame for this same book. Bravo! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and encourage young readers to read it, as there are plenty to learn from this book. It will bring tears to your eyes.

James A. Cox
Editor-in -Chief
The Midwest Book Review.

Highly recommended reading for young adults
East Side Dreams is the debut book and memoir Art Rodriguez, of a Latino American who survived growing up on the rough side, at odds with a dictatorial father, and once an inmate of the California Youth Authority -- a prison system for young lawbreakers. Reflections on both happy and miserable times of his childhood, growing up, learning maturity and finally making a comfortable life for himself fill this heartfelt and revealing personal testimony. Highly recommended reading for young adults, East Side Dreams has justly earned the distinctions of being named the "Best First Book of the Latino Literary Hall of Fame", and has been honored as one of 200 Best Teenage Books in the United States by the New York Public Library System.

A Great Book!!!
My son who is 21 came home with this book and said Mom you have got to read this book it is so good. So I said o.k. mejio let me read it! When I started to ready it it brought back so many memories (I grew up in the East Side of San Jose) and most of the things he was talking about I lived it. I laughed and cried and could not put down the book. This is a great book for all ages. After I got done reading it I gave it to my Father to read and he enjoyed it too.

A Great Experience
Art Rodriguez takes us to jail with him so that we never need to go. He sits us next to him in his cell with nothing left to do but sit and remember. We try with him to connect the memories to being imprisoned, but there is no connection at all.

Although Art had an abusive father, he never once cites this as a reason for his violent behavior. He was a kid that made poor choices and got what he deserved. He blames no one but himself, and it is with this realization of responsibility that Art turns his life around. He went from street punk to a successful business man, a supportive father and an award winning author. He shows us that people can change and that bad mistakes are not the end of your life unless you allow them to be. Art Rodriguez is the silent roll model all troubled children are looking for.

This book is a great experience for audiences young and old. Buy it and read it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ariel Dorfman is no stranger to exile. Before his 30th birthday, he had fled with his parents (Jews who had escaped from Eastern Europe) from Argentina to the U.S. and then later to Chile. Then, following a military coup, he fled Chile for a stint in Europe before returning to the U.S. For Dorfman, this was not traveling but enduring, as his forced movement between nations, cultures, and languages left him without a place to call home or a culture he could completely define as his own. Although heralded as one of Latin America's leading writers, he once renounced the Spanish language and swore to become an American in both speech and culture. Later, while a student at Berkeley, he abandoned English with the same vengeance and returned to his native Spanish. Such vacillation caused him to ponder the role of language in forming identity, and this theme runs throughout Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey. His desire to embrace his Latin roots went beyond language, however, for it was politics that ultimately thrust him into the role of a writer, thus changing his life. He had wanted to be a part of the American protest movement, but he feared the official wrath that could befall him due to his immigrant status: "This seemed to be my fate. In Chile, I had been Argentinean; here, I was Chilean; always the danger of deportation, my foreign passport weighing down on me. So I looked on while heads were broken, sit-ins were disrupted, and damsels in distress were dragged off by the 'pigs.' ... My participation was always surreptitious and oblique...." But in Chile his involvement took a more active stance. His status as official citizen emboldened him and he enthusiastically embraced Salvador Allende's socialist movement, serving for a time as the administration's communications and media advisor; a choice that eventually earned him yet another round of exile back in the U.S. (where he continues to reside) after the death of Allende and the rise of General Augusto Pinochet. A remarkable story of perseverance and the inherent power of language, Heading South, Looking North is ultimately a quest for self-identity. The fact that he wrote this book in English may answer the question of where he stands--for now. --Shawn Carkonen ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A passionate look at bilingualism
This is a great book. I have seldom read a book that is so honest and, at the same time, so full of sound and fury. Yes, it is highly idiosyncratic, especially when Dorfman tries to explain his reasons for chosing English over Spanish and vice versa, but, at the same time, it is written with such passion that one cannot help sympathizing with him. Being bilingual myself, going from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English every single day of my life, being an expatriate yearning for the lost paradise of my birth and childhood, I found in Dorfman's "Heading south, looking north" many of the encountered feelings that a person who participates in two cultures has--and I rejoiced in that I was not alone in my feelings.

But, apart from being a passionate meditation on the virtues and 'ravages' of bilingualism, "Heading south, looking north" is a corageous book full of the ironies that make up life and a hymn to the Allende revolution in Chile. There is much to be gained from his soul searching, much to be learned from his criticism of the revolution that he loves so much (yes, I think it's appropriate to use the present tense), and, above all, much to be admired from this singular journey. I highly recommend this book.

Pivotal moments
This book is the internal memoirs of a man whose defining moments were exile from his homelands and his languages. Exile was a longstanding way of life in Dorfman's family, from his grandparents who had to leave Eastern Europe, to his parents who had to flee both Argentina and the US, and now Dorfman himself, who was forced into asylum after the fall of Allende in Chile. But exile is more of a secondary or co-theme of this book. The other major theme is Dorfman's search for identity through his languages. Throughout the book, Dorfman describes how he came to know language, and the identity traits that go along with a language. He also describes how he came to choose which of his two languages, English and Spanish, to use in different contexts and to consciously construct different identities.

Rather than tell his story chronologically, Dorfman works from a repertoire of pivotal moments. He has asked himself, when and why did I first start using English? When did I begin to write? When did I embrace the philosophy of non-violence? He then describes these episodes in detail, and speculates and philosophizes on them. The story of Dorfman's political activities in Chile and what happened to him during the coup constitute about half of the book, with these political chapters alternating with chapters about the other significant events in his life. The bouncing back-and-forth between time periods moves almost smoothly, like the thought patterns of an insomniac reflecting back at the end of a busy day.

I found many aspects of this book quite interesting. The first-person account of bilingualism, and its ties to a conflicted identity were described very clearly. The inside perspective on the Allende regime and its fall was also informative. What was particularly telling was the speculation on why the regime lost popularity amongst the Chilean people- -how Dorfman himself shamed people who were celebrating the Allende victory with a right-wing singer who was trying to mend fences, and told them the singer was not welcome in the revolution, or how he didn't reach out to a neighbor whose job was jeopardized and then lost because he wasn't an Allendista. Another aspect of this story that I found intriguing was Dorfman's identity as a gringo English speaker brought to Chile against his will as a young teenager, who came to adopt the country and become active in its politics. I couldn't help but think of another young man, Michael Townley, who was also brought by his American family to Santiago in his teenage years, and also learned the language, married a local girl, and wanted to call Chile his permanent home. But Townley was on the other side of the revolution, and became a right-wing terrorist working for the Chilean intelligence forces. Did Dorfman ever encounter Townley? Of course, Dorfman wasn't actually American- -he was an Argentinean who spent a significant portion of his childhood in the US, but he looked and spoke the part. How many other young Americans adopted Chile during this period? What was their combined influence on Chilean politics?

why am I suprised
While Mr. Dorfman's experience of crossing cultures and language during a high profile time in Chilian and American history is poinent, it is not unique or objective. His self absorbtion is irritating. His self rightousness criticism covers unresolved suvivor's guilt which would be better resolved in the analysts chair. It is unfortunate Mr. Dorfman presents such idealised view of the Salvador Allende. I have lived and worked in Chile and am well aquainted with many people,peers of Mr. Dorfman, who also have parents who immigrated from Europe or Russia. Allende caused terrible harm to the Chilian economy in his repartiation of middle class businesses and land amoung other things. Middle class housewives demonstrated in the streets begging the military to oust him. No one approved of the repressive regime, the fear and the disappearances of the early Pinochet years, but in the last years Pinochet opened the Chilian markets to the world. Pinochet was voted out and democracy in with the addition of "primary" elections so that no one will be elected with 33% of the vote as was Allende. There were no monsters in Chile, no saints,but there is complex history, culture and politics. It is a shame Mr Dorfman with his high visability couldn't have addressed that.

A master story-teller's own story of multiple exiles
Both as a memorial to the democracy that was delayed for a generation in Chile (and to his friends who were casualties in the Pinochet terror) and as an account of how a major writer became the bilingual hybrid he is by rejecting first one and then the other of his linguistic selves, this is a fascinating book. . Battered from continent to continent by political events of the twentieth century, Dorfman's survival (as he knows well) depended on considerable luck and on his father's connections. Although he has accepted that his vocation is to tell stories, especially the stories of repression in Chile, there is no doubt that he harbors a considerable amount of survivor guilt.

Contrary to the misrepresentation of earlier reviewers, Dorfman does mention Borges (three times, all with respect), criticizes Castro as well as Pinochet (though Chile is a place to which he gave his heart and soul), and is not just aware, but explicit that it is ironic "I should have become a spokesperson for the poor in Latin America because I had spent so many years in the rich North" and of the recurrent ironies that the connections of his marxist father got them out of harm's way.

This is a very honest, un-narcissistic account of an interesting life of multiple exiles, observing failures of democracies, making clear the different selves that emerge in different languages. I would have liked more on the second American exile and assenting to bilingualism, and I regret that the hardback cover composition was replaced by the duller, less bicultural one on the paperback.

Beautiful story & insights, beautifully written
This book is a wonderfully woven, yet economical, description of one young man's constant self examination and exploration of his surroundings. I would like to think that I and others could be as sensitive and compassionate. Also, between the lines I understood what amazing, positive people his parents must have been. Thoughtful, provoking, and above all, beautifully crafted. ... Read more

Book Description

Along with Sandra Cisneros and Julia Alvarez, Esmeralda Santiago has emerged as one of today's preeminent Latina authors. Legions of fans have waited five long years for the next chapter of the story begun in her memoirs When I Was Puerto Rican and Almost a Woman. And now the wait is over. In The Turkish Lover, Esmeralda finally breaks out of a monumental struggle with her powerful mother-only to come under the thrall of "the Turk" and discover that romantic passion, too, can become a prison. Esmeralda's journey of self-liberation and self-discovery is a daring one, candidly and zestfully recounted, and leads, most improbably, to her triumphant graduation from Harvard. (Her view of that venerable institution is an eye opener, told as only a brilliant writer totally outside the mold can tell it.) The expansive humanity, earthy humor, and psychological courage that made Esmeralda's first two books so successful are on full display again in The Turkish Lover, which will both reward the author's faithful readership and extend it. Hers is a fresh, exciting, and necessary voice. A Merloyd Lawrence Book ... Read more

Book Description

Spanning two centuries, this collection documents the lives of fifteen remarkable Latinas who witnessed, defined, defied, and wrote about the forces that shaped their lives. As entrepreneurs, community activists, mystics, educators, feminists, labor organizers, artists and entertainers, Latinas used the power of the pen to traverse and transgress cultural conventions. ... Read more

Book Description

U.S. Latinos have made important contributions to American society, and this biographical dictionary is devoted to celebrating those contributions. All 127 men and women profiled in this work have immigrated to or been born in the United States and have made major contributions to American life and culture. Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, and others of Spanish, South American, Central American and Caribbean heritage--more than one-third of them women--represent 35 fields of endeavor and all 50 states. From historical figures to the newest sports champion, figure-skater Rudy Galindo, this work provides profiles of both prominent and important but less-familiar people who have made significant contributions in their fields. Many of those profiled can be found in no other biographical source. A selection of photos complements the text. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

About coping with division and borders
Nobody's Son: Notes From An American Life by Luis Alberto Urrea (who teaches creative writing at the University of Illinois, Chicago) is the deeply personal memoir of an American born to a Mexican father and an Anglo mother. Recounting a childhood thrust in the middle of different cultures and languages, Nobody's Son is about the search for balance, about coping with division and borders, and about the pain as well as the joy of being multicultural. Nobody's Son is a candid, engaging, thoughtful, thought-provoking, and very highly recommended autobiography.

A journey through the heart of a writer.
From multinational beginnings impossibly diverse, Urrea leads us on a journey that explores how he became what he is, an American writer of the first order. Sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious, always heartfelt, it is a wonderful journey for the reader. Before he can write from the heart, an author must first know his heart. Luis Urrea knows his, and shares it with us beautifully.

This book touched my heart!
All his stories are written from his soul. They always have been. I wish that I could have taken the pain away from his childhood. I'm glad that I have known him. I wish him much success in all he does. I knew he was a great writer. I'm glad others are seeing how good he is now!

Another fine book by America's best "unknown" writer
Luis Alberto Urrea is among the finest living writers. He has written about the border in three books. Nobody's Son is the latest. But he is not regional, not limited to a single geographic area. In Nobody's Son he moves from Tijuana and San Diego, to the Southwest, and further north to the high plains, in what amounts to a continuing journey. A journey across the land, through memory, in exploration of spirit. Urrea's story is uniquely American--the child of a Waspy, Wonder Bread white mother and a muy macho! Mexicano father, his is the story of those differences that divide us and yet hold us inevitably together. He is America's best kept secret, its soul.

life on both sides of the US-Mexican border.
Luis Urrea is the John Steinbeck of the border, offering a nostelgic, heartfelt, first-person experience of what it is like to grow up in two cultures, two cities (Tijuana and San Diego) and two worlds. He writes with passion, heart, and a gift for words in two languages. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the English translation of the dime-novelesque biography of one of the most infamous bandits in the history of the Old West, a source of fear and legend in the state of California for decades following the Mexican American War. Ireneo Paz's Spanish-language biography was first published in Mexico City in 1904 and translated into English by Frances P. Belle in 1925. This edition includes line-drawings that appeared in the original volume. ... Read more

Book Description

"This book fills a void in bringing together Hollywood stereotyping and Latino self-representation in one study. With clarity and insight, Berg demonstrates why it is so important to take such an approach." --Chon Noriega, author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano CinemaThe bandido, the harlot, the male buffoon, the female clown, the Latin lover, and the dark lady--these have been the defining, and demeaning, images of Latinos in U.S. cinema for more than a century. In this book, Charles Ramírez Berg develops an innovative theory of stereotyping that accounts for the persistence of such images in U.S. popular culture. He also explores how Latino actors and filmmakers have actively subverted and resisted such stereotyping.In the first part of the book, Berg sets forth his theory of stereotyping, defines the classic stereotypes, and investigates how actors such as Raúl Julia, Rosie Pérez, José Ferrer, Lupe Vélez, and Gilbert Roland have subverted stereotypical roles. In the second part, he analyzes Hollywood's portrayal of Latinos in three genres: social problem films, John Ford westerns, and science fiction films. In the concluding section, Berg looks at Latino self-representation and anti-stereotyping in Mexican American border documentaries and in the feature films of Robert Rodríguez. He also presents an exclusive interview in which Rodríguez talks about his entire career, from Bedhead to Spy Kids, and comments on the role of a Latino filmmaker in Hollywood and how he tries to subvert the system. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Beautiful Tapestry of Latino Life in the United States
As the largest growing ethnic group in the United States, Latinos/Hispanics have made inroads in many fields due to their strength, organization, and family values. Although differences among Latinos are as common as differences in other groups distinguished by a common language root (e.g., Slavs, Arabs, Romance languages speakers, etc.) the common struggle of all nationalities that are found in this classification is the same: success.

Edited by one of the greatest activists and advocates for Latinos all around the world, actor Edward James Olmos, "Americanos: Latino Life in the United States" is a collection of beautiful photographs and stories of Latinos throughout the United States. From Mexican-Americans in California to Puerto Ricans in New York City, Olmos and a team of other editors have produced a book that perfectly and respectfully captures the beauty and realities of Latinos all around. Available in hardbound and paperback editions, "Americanos: Latino Life in the United States" is a must have for Latino/Hispanic Studies students/enthuasists or for anyone who tuly appreciates cultural photography. The book, which was accompanied by a U.S. museum tour of photographs featured in the book, is truly a milestone for a community that has risen from a long sleep and awakened to become the most dynamic and promising group in the Americas.

If I can use two words to describe this book, I would use "moving" and "beautiful." It's a must have book in your library, especially if you're Latino.

Manuel Monterrey
Esto es un libro hecho muy bien con el editation gráfico muy bueno hecho por Manuel Monterrey. Recomend I él.

This is a very well done book with very good graphical editation done by Manuel Monterrey. I recomend it.

Very Important Book
Edward James Olmos has done alot of WOnderful things in his career. and this Project is one of them.it's very Important to Show the World The Beauty of the Latino World.every culture deserves the right to be seen and heard at full Zenith.everybody wants a better Future and to Be Respected.This Book is very much like the book i have of African-AMericans in America the Many different shades of us and the many visions.it's important to Know the World around You.

A Glory beyond Words
After being honored with the presence of Mr. Olmos at the Penn State University this past November, I have only grown to respect what our culture has done and continues to do. This book exemplifies what we were, what we are, and what we are to become. I have only pride in my heart and a joy in my sould for what we have been capable of doing in this the United States of America. I hope that everyone has a chance to look at this book and, like I did, see themselves in these pages.

A not to be missed work!
I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Olmos talk in person about the making of "Americanos" and now have the pleasure of enjoying the book again and again. The photos are hauntingly charming, poignant and vital and I can guarantee they will stay in your heart and mind long after you put the book down.

What "Americanos" has to say about Latinos is so vitally important. Olmos, in his preface, says "...Too often, only one culture of Latino culture is apparent. That is the culture that we see from our car windows, on newscasts, in restaurants and from stadium seats..." "Americanos", however gives us an insider's view, a look into the very heart and soul of our Latino brothers and sisters and reveals a people, in Olmos's words, "...who are diverse in culture, color, ideas and dreams..." ... Read more