4 comments about MUDDY CUP: A Dominican Family Comes of Age in a New America.

1. This is the story of everyman, the struggle of stepping off into uncharted universe to make a better life. As the US continues to attract record numbers of immigrants, this book provides a seamless look at just who these people are, the conditions they left behind and their expectations for the future. It also reminds us that the experiences of today's immigrants are not unique, that they are a mirror for all of us.



2. Barbara Fischkin tells a universal story in her chronicle of the Almonte family's coming to America, the painful choices and formidable obstacles they face, their setbacks and successes as they leave behind their beloved Dominican Republic. Muddy Cup is full of rich detail, compassion, and a narrative focus that makes it read like a novel. Treating a little-covered topic with depth and insight, this is the way journalism should be done. There are more than one million Dominicans living in the United States, and Fischkin does a wonderful job of giving faces and names to a group of people who are increasingly visible and vocal in this country. Most important, she shows how similar their hopes and dreams are to those of the many immigrant groups who made America.



3. I just finished reading "Muddy Cup" and feel like I know the Almonte family personally. That could be because I'm familiar with the Dominican experience, my wife emigrated from Santo Domingo at age 16, and I also grew up in the predominantly Dominican Washington Heights neighborhhod. But even if I didn't, the book is so detailed and intimate that someone who has never met a Dominican will feel like they truly have. Barbara Fischkin set out to do a piece for New York Newsday on the Almonte family. The Almontes are from a very small village, known as el campo, called Camu outside of Puerto Plata. She met the mother, Roselia, and her three children( Cristian, Elizabeth and Mauricio ) at the US consulate in Santo Domingo. That newspaper piece ended up as the book "Muddy Cup." Mrs. Fischkin became close with the family, including many relatives, and followed their journey from the small village to Santo Domingo and eventually to Queens, NY. The Almonte story is like many other Dominican families who came before and after them. The youngest child, Mauricio, who is know studying to be Spanish professor in Tennessee of all places, is the child who I could relate to the most. He didn't speak a word of English when he arrived in Queens at age 11, and now is a very educated, English professor in the making. That is amazing to me because the Dominicans, like many other immigrant groups get sterotyped all the time. They are all uneducated drug dealers, or the ones who "made it" are all baseball players. Like the Irish in the last century were all called potato eating, job stealing parasites. Dominicans happen to be the largest( if they are not they are almost there ) Hispanic group in NYC. They have made their presence felt all over the Northeast and beyond, and althougn this book was written in the early/mid nineties, it reflects Dominican experience of today. More have arrived and are arriving every day. Guillermo Linares was elected the first Dominican City ouncilman back in 1991 and many others are entering politics as well. Mrs. Fischkin did a fantastic job of telling their story and it just so happens that her family, Ukranian Jewish immigrants almost a century before, took the same journey as the Almontes. The only difference is that they traveled across the ocean on a boat, while the Almontes traveled on an airplane. I have read quite a few stories about Dominican immigrants and this is by far the best and most heartfelt. I look foward to reading more of Barbara Fischkins work as it is apparent that she is a gifted and entertaining writer.



4. I'm an Anglo American whose daughter has taught in the Dominican Republic for 5 years. I have visited 3 times and I'm an avid reader of Dominican history, culture, and I especially love a good novel. Muddy Cup is by far the best novel I have read. It paints a descriptive and sensitive portrait of the different generations of one family, showing those who chose to remain in their homeland, and others who sacrificed to come to the U.S. I enjoyed how the author shared her feelings about her new friendships and relationships with the different generations of the Dominican family. Anyone who wants to know more of the Dominican culture should read this novel. I was sad to finish the last page, wanting to read more.

4 comments about Working in the Dark: Reflections of a Poet of the Barrio (Red Crane Literature Series).

1. " Working In The Dark " by Jimmy Santiago is a full- blown self portrait of survival. It's as much a trip through the mind- jail of Baca's disadvantages and a tossed past as the tale of an autodidact who longs to save himself- through words. Jimmy is a young man working in a hospital on the night shift. Most of the time he is working all by himself, and he always hears weird sounds coming from all over the hospital. Jimmy consider himself to be in a gang in his younger days and as he grows older, he becomes a man and does not want anything to do with a gang.

   This book will have a great influence on Mexican American men and women because alot of them in this world are gang members and do not realize how much trouble they are getting themselves into. For instance Jimmy knew he would get in trouble with the law if he kept hanging out with gang members all of his life. All gang members should read " Working In The Dark". "Working In The Dark" is the best book I ever read written by an Mexican American author.




2. Jimmy Santiago Baca's "Working in the Dark" is a novel of extreme importance. Baca gives life and voice to imprisoned people who because of their ethicity, language, culture, and imprisonment have ben reducaed to cultural and social marginality by the dominant white culture and by those foriegn to Southwestern culture. "Voices From the Dark" is a must read for students of Chicano culture and the Southwest. It is a modern classic which may not be realized as such for decades to come!



3. Jimmy Baca attempts to talk about his life and his poetry! If you own this book, get the movie, Blood in Blood Out Bound By Honor!



4. Jimmy Santiago Baca talks about his film Blood in Blood Out Bound By Honor. I consider him on the best Chicano Authors of our Time!

No comments about The Stanford Law Chronicles: Doin' Time on the Farm.

1 comments about Baseball's First Mexican-American Star: The Amazing Story of Leo Najo.

1. I'm glad to see a book on this forgotten player.
   Here's some information about the author from a newsletter I get:
   "I am happy to announce the release of the second of a series of books I'm writing based on local history and culture. My latest book is a biography of Mission's own Leonardo 'Najo' Alaniz, who was one of the very first Hispanics to play professional baseball (in the early 1920s) in the U.S. Titled Baseball's First Mexican-American Star: The Amazing Story of Leo Najo, this book was an incredibly exciting adventure for me, as it reconnected me with my own past, and also brought me into contact with Leo's wonderful family, most of whom still reside in the Mission area.
   The Washington Post once called Leo 'one of the greatest baseball players of all time.' He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 1925, and although a serious leg injury kept him from sticking with the majors, he achieved great success and fame in the minors, mostly in San Antonio. My dad, who was a devoted baseball fan, knew Leo personally, saw him play many times, and spoke of him often. This book, which is the first biography ever written about Leo, was inspired by the stories of Leo that I heard from my dad.
   In writing this book, I spent many a long evening on the third floor of the UTPA Library, reading newspaper articles from the 1920s and 1930s regarding Leo's amazing baseball career. I am so thankful for the outstanding work that the university has done over the years to assemble such an outstanding collection of historical periodicals, without which I could not have written this book."

5 comments about Americanos / Latino Life in the United States.

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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.




4. 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.




5. The photographs were excellent -- just looking at them makes you want to know and like these people.
   
   The narrative brought me up short. I'm one of those (apparently) rare individuals who believe American values aren't so bad that we should feel grateful to foreigners who come here and teach us how to live.
   
   Most Americans feel a certain sense of good fortune for having been born in the United States. The narrative in this book leaves the impression that "Americanos" don't think America is so great, have no intention of "being assimilated" (in other words, becoming Americans), and feel they by rights already own the place anyway.
   
   I'm no xenophobe, but this book left me with a strong bad impression. Maybe I should have given it 5 stars. Maybe it's a book every American ought to read carefully.

3 comments about Dionicio Morales: A Life in Two Cultures.

1. Reading this book made me feel like I was sitting around the campfire, listening to my grandfather tell about the old days. It tells about the struggles of a family leaving Mexico during the revolution in search of a better life in the United States. I especially found it interesting since I live in the Los Angeles area because you learn a lot of history about the area. It is very fast, easy reading and hard to put down. It's a great story to read at any age.



2. I think is a great book that tells the struggles of Mexican American family emigrating to the United States. It is a great source of information for people like me, who would like to learn more about another culture. The struggle and the rewards, the suffering and the satisfaction that the author goes through is compelling.



3. This is the story of a boy growing up with little, but always yearning for more and eventually achieving his goals. In a sense a modern ethnic Horatio Alger story, but with cultural respect as the goal rather than financial success. The book was definitely a page-turner, Dionicio had quite a childhood and I always wanted to know the next anecdote that would come out. At the same time, I was shocked at how my country has treated those we consider less desirable.
   
   Being biracial I look like a typical white American, and hence have no experiences of such discrimination. However, I have often wondered about what discrimination my father may have gone through, or especially what my father's parents went through when they were new Mexican immigrants to California. This is sure to be a topic of conversation next time I meet the grandparents.

1 comments about Analyzing Leaders, Presidents and Terrorists.

1. This is an unique approach to a biographical study of the leaders as presented in this well researched book. To analyze these men (and woman) is to explain what caused them to be great leaders or tyrants. There is a great deal of previously unknown information which is very revealing to enable the reader to better understand their actions. We can only wait for the sequel which would surely include Clinton and George W. Bush.

1 comments about Defying the Inquisition in Colonial New Mexico: Miguel de Quintana's Life and Writings (Paso Por Aqui).

1. Francisco Lomeli and Clark Colahan have made a major contribution to the colonial history and literature of Hispanic New Mexico in this book about Miguel de Quintana's life and writings. I am amazed that Quintana's writings were discovered in the archives of the Inquisition in Mexico City. I appreciated the contextual analysis of Quintana's thoughts expressed in his poetry. Readers of English will appreciate having his writings available for the first time in English. My profound "gracias" to Professors Lomeli and Colahan.

No comments about Tommy Nunez, N B A Reference: Taking My Best Shot (A Mitchell Lane multicultural biography).

3 comments about Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa.

1. I am (...), so I couldn't read this by myself, but my mom read it to me. It was very good. I liked the pictures and the story of how she became the Queen of Salsa.



2. From the moment of first reading this book, I was drawn in by the flowery language that described the life of a real person who influenced so many with her God-given talent. It, also, opens the door for discussion on why there are not more books for little girls of color to relate to. The illustrations and the language are absolutely "awesome" together.



3. Books like these constitute treasures to share with your child. This book is no exception. It's prose and art make it a celebration to share every story time. My child loves to have it read to him almost as much as I love to read it; and we value the chance to celebrate Ms. Cruz's rich life every time.