2 comments about Killer Cronicas: Bilingual Memories (Writing in Latinidad).

1. Clever, sassy, intelligent, poetic... continual code-switching is a wonderful vehicle to convey the sensations and experiences of a multi-cultural life. Her poetry invokes the intimacy I often feel when back in a long-lost land. Her quick wit and carefully-chosen details chronical well the feelings of isolation and observer-looking-in that seem to dog me wherever I land.
   This is well worth the read.



2. Killer Crónicas asks the following questions, among others:
   
   * What is the nature of the exquisitely ambiguous pleasure we experience in passing as members of the local community?
   * What are the costs of being identified as an insider, or outsider, by members of the communities in which we travel?
   * How might the experience of being at once inside and outside be specific to pan-Latin and Jewish post-holocaust cultural identity, without regard to location?
   * How to develop a language limited enough to connote specific geopolitical contexts, yet broad enough to denote the simultaneity in memory of related circumstances separated by distance and time?
   
   Killer Crónicas draws from multiple genres, such as the literature of travel in Spanish (cartas de exploración, of discovery) and in English (here, the Anglo-American category of life-writing, which includes biography, autobiography, and letters, is helpful.) Particulary original is the sustained and studied attention to the traveler's status as a consumer. Underlying the internationalism and bilingualism of Chávez-Silverman's accomplishment is a creativity comparable to Latino performance artists such as Coco Fusco (author of English is Broken Here) Guillermo Gómez-Peña, or code-switching poets such as Tino Villanueva.
   
   I personally find Gloria Anzaldua's work almost unreadable (there's no rhyme, reason, or inventiveness) while I think that Cherrie Moraga is good for her work's characters and dynamic. In Killer Crónicas what's original is how the writer focuses attention on the relation between what we say and how we say it in one or both languages, showing how the mind moves at the moment of the "switch." This work demonstrates a mode of thought familiar to those of us who work in multiple cultural locations, reproducing the habit of thinking in multiple languages. This challenges the hegemonic attitudes about what constitutes linguistic propriety in either Spanish or English by pointing up the complexities of both languages. Also the mixture of languages legitimates a practice that is very widespread: the INVENTIVE use of multiple languages, registers. Read this very contemporary, brilliant book for the puns, for the writer's inspired, faux, alternative, and refused translations. Killer Crónicas is steeped in multiple literary traditions: Argentine, CalifAtzlan, On the Road-Trippers, but most of that incomparable Spanish-language genre that is so definitive in the New World: the Crónica. Let Susana Chavez-Silverman be your guide and you will travel far, far indeed.

No comments about Diego Rivera: Artist and Muralist (Fact Finders Biographies: Great Hispanics).

5 comments about Gabriel's Fire: A Memoir.

1. I bought this book because I enjoy reading life stories, especially if it is about mexican/latino life. I just could not get into this book, so I didn't bother to finish it. The story just didn't seem to tie together or flow. I think the premise was a good start but it should be rewritten.



2. I really enjoyed this book. As someone who grew up in Chicago around the same time, it's a realistic portrayal of life on the South Side. Some may complain about all of the profanity used. I say, hide in a corner and listen to teens talk. As a matter of fact, don't hide, they'll probably swear anyway.
   The alcohol abuse, violence and love of music is a very real aspect of many people's lives. Even the affair with the teacher is well-done and not sensationalized.
   This is a must read for anyone interested in what life is or was like for some young people in our American cities.



3. I read this book because I've been studying Latino youth and gangs in Chicago. I kept waiting for "something" to happen in this book. The author doesn't really have enough interesting things to say for a memoir, and it seems kind of like he just wants to hear himself talk.
   If anyone has any other suggestions about quality books on Latino youth and gang culture (particularly in Chicago/NYC) let me know: jlockey79@yahoo.com



4. I knew the author and his family. I attended S.S. Peter & Paul too and if memory serves me right, I think his mother IS still alive. I thought memoirs were supposed to be true? Guess this author didn't get that memo. Not everything is fiction though. He did have an affair with his teacher that everyone knew about but shame on the author for lying about "Father Tom"!! He knows damn well that &$%!# did happen. What a disappointment!



5. The fact that this book was chosen by the University of Chicago Press is no small feat. The other reviewers must be seeking action, resolution, or Hollywood storytelling. This is not the point. This book is a clairvoyant entry into a very special voice that became witness and part of the surroundings and established a deep, confident, thoughtful, methodical, positive, and productive psyche through the chaos that unfolded (sometimes via the protagonist's own doing, mind you!).

1 comments about Memoir of a Visionary: Antonia Pantoja (Hispanic Civil Rights).

1. As an ASPIRAnte, Dra Antonia Pantoja is one of my biggest role models, and I feel that through me and the other young ASPIRAntes she still lives her life. This book taught me sooo much about the life and struggles of this great spanish role model

No comments about Latino Athletes (A to Z of Latino Americans).

No comments about Knight Without Armor: Carlos Eduardo Castaneda, 1896-1958.

No comments about Historia de la Monja Alferez, Catalina de Erauso, escrita por ella misma (COLECCION LETRAS HISPANICAS) (Letras Hispanicas / Hispanic Writings).

No comments about Dominican Americans (We Are America).

3 comments about Selena (Real-Life Reader Biography).

1. It was an easy to read interesting book. The pictures were great! Anyone interested in Selena should read this book.



2. this book is a book of basic info you could find out anywhere,it has 24 pages for the cost,personally I thought it was a waste of money.



3. This book was great. The story was fascinating and covered both her life and death very well. I found out a lot about her family life and their troubles making money. Her death was really sad and moving. She was a wonderful singer and this book does a good job telling her story. Any Selena fan should definitely buy this book!

1 comments about Songs My Mother Sang to Me: An Oral History of Mexican American Women.

1. This book brought back many fond memories of stories, songs, and my cherished familia. A must have for the busy Muchacha who can still taste the warm tortillas with butter from her Nana's kitchen. This is Mexican Albondiga Soup for the Soul!