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Nonfiction
Fiction and non-fiction selections are included in this breathtaking compilation. Thanks to the editors, one can get a taste of those authors you've heard but not read and then take it from there. Many of the authors in our fiction section below are included in this collection as well as Helena María Viramontes, Rolando Hinojosa, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Rodolfo Gonzáles and many more.
This is a marvelous anthology for those interested in major aspects of Latino cultures including literature, cultural anthropology, ethnography, religion, the arts, community studies, and immigration studies. Fiction and non-fiction sources are included.
Better than an encyclopedia, this 600 page almanac contains biographical profiles and detailed summaries of the roles Hispanics have played and are playing in American history, labor, business, politics, media, art, literature, theater, film, music, and sports. Strongly recommended for your classroom or personal resource collection.
The question and answer format of this book makes it easy to consult at a glance, or enjoyable to read at length. At the start of each chapter, Novas lists all the questions she will answer in that section, so it is a breeze to turn to whatever interests you. Questions from the Mexican chapter, for example, include "What was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago?", " What's a curandera?" and "Who's a gringo?"
Ruben Martínez is quoted as saying of this book that Rodriguez explores themes "he once dismissed" when he wrote Hunger of Memory, his 1982 autobiography. Weaving each essay with multiple colors and textures, Rodriguez leads us to ponder the complexities of life through his eyes: the ethos of the U.S. and Mexico-comic and tragic; the ironies of gay life and death in San Francisco; his own quest for meaning and self among life's ambiguities. A master writer and poet, Rodriguez celebrates his personal and cultural vision by questioning routine assumptions and looking again at taken for granted things: "Just so did my father, who made false teeth, love sweets. Just so does my father, to this day, disregard warnings on labels. Cancer. Cholesterol. As though death were the thing most to be feared in life" (p. 204).
This author wrote nine novels and sixty-five short stories before he was published and now he is considered to have played a prominent role in bringing Chicano literature to the widest audiences. Rain of Gold is the Mexican American Roots, the portrait of three generations of Villasenor's family. Biography
An important book that takes us into East Los Angeles gang life, La Vida Loca-or the crazy life-shows us why teenagers choose gangs and why it is hard to change directions once one goes down that path. Luis Rodriguez, who found his way out of the gang culture, wrote this book for his son, who was finding his way in. Fiction
This "best of..." collection includes chapters from Anaya's greatest works including Bless Me, Ultima; Tortug;, and Albuquerque as well as short stories, essays and poems. Anaya's work is on the top of everyone's recommended list of Chicano literature, as he is one of the first and most prolific of Chicano authors.
This second of Cisneros' books has won several awards and placed her at the center of contemporary Latina fiction.
Described as a novel in monthly installments, with recipes, romances, and home remedies, this magical tale gives us a window into rural Mexican cultural traditions. No time to read? Rent the delightful film version the author created collaboratively with her husband.
Set in a fictional town on the Texas-Mexican border, this novel has been called a classic of contemporary literature. Prejudice outside and inside this Mexican American family plays defining roles in all of their lives.
Considered by many to be the seminal book in the Chicano search for identity, this book was written by the migrant worker who went on to become the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside. The book is set in 1952 and twelve-year-old Marcos watches his family struggle with prejudice and injustice as they move from Texas to Minnesota following the crops. In 1995, Paul Espinosa produced the documentary film version of this classic for PBS.
This collection by the founding director of El Teatro Campesino contains groundbreaking work in Chicano theater.
Cultures collide when an Anglo New Yorker comes to Las Vegas to oversee a construction project and falls in love with a Mexican American photographer. Through the main characters' eyes, we see cultural assumptions being questioned and new alliances forged. Although maintaining Hollywood's typical focus on the white male perspective, this film portrays the Latina with warmth, integrity, intelligence, and strength-characteristics she teaches to her new husband. With Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek. Rated PG 13.
Written and directed by Luis Valdez, the founding director of El Teatro Campesino, this film is the screen biography of Chicano rock-and-roll star Richie Valens (Valenzuela). Valens, like Valdez, was a Mexican American farm worker as a child. Issues of prejudice, interracial relationship, and family fidelity through difficult times are dealt with honestly and sensitively. With Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales. Rated PG 13.
This three-generation saga sensitively portrays the difficulties and triumphs the Mexican American Sanchez family experiences in Los Angeles. Perseverance, the indestructible bonds of family, and police brutality are central themes. Written by Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas with Edward James Olmos, Esai Morales, and Jimmy Smits. Rated R.
This version of the Tejano music star's short life gives us many examples of the difficulties of balancing assimilation with cultural maintenance when growing up Mexican American. With Edward James Olmos and Jennifer Lopez.
The film tells the story of the East Los Angeles math teacher, Jaime Escalante, who tested the seemingly crazy idea that high school students could learn higher mathematics. By learning about his students as individuals and helping them build their confidence and skills, Escalante eventually was accountable for 25% of the total population of Mexican American students in the United States who passed the Advanced Placement Calculus exam. A "must-see". With Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips. Rated PG. |
Books
Heyck, Denis Lynn Daly. Barrios
and Borderlands: Cultures of Latinos and Latinas in the United States.
1994. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-90394-7.
Islas, Arturo. The Rain God.
1984. Avon. ISBN 0-380-76393-1.
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