"Chicano writers from El Paso are the most progressive, open-minded, far-reaching, and inclusive writers of them all."

Octavio Romano

Friday, October 01, 2010

Antonio's Card: Banned Book #5 - New Books from September and Aug Overflows Topics: Mexico, Cuban and Central America




Chicano Banned Book #5
Antonio's Card
Rigoberto Gonzalez book, Antonio's Card (Children's Book Press) was banned in some places in Texas and has received challenges. If no banned or challenged, its get its fair share of conversation on conservative websites. What am I doing reading conservative websites? All in the service of Chicano Lit.

Book Description: Antonio loves words, because words have the power to express feelings like love, pride, or hurt. Mother's Day is coming soon, and Antonio searches for the words to express his love for his mother and her partner, Leslie. But he's not sure what to do when his classmates make fun of Leslie, an artist, who towers over everyone and wears paint-splattered overalls. As Mother's Day approaches, Antonio must choose whether — or how — to express his connection to both of the special women in his life. 

NEW BOOKS IN SEPTEMBER
Note, the fall publication season is in full flow, so here are some left overs from September and August. We are including some books published in August 2010 as their book descriptions were unavailable at the time. Some are still unavailable.


Mexico


Ensenando rebeldia: Historias de la lucha popular oaxaquena
Spanish Edition - Paperback
PM Press August 1, 2010 Language: Spanish ISBN-10: 160486107X
Diana Denham (Editor), Colectivo C.A.S.A. (Editor)

Accompanied by photography and political art, this powerful compilation of testimonies from longtime organizers, artists, housewives, journalists, students, teachers, and others who participated in the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca provides a raw, honest look at the 2006 Oaxaca protests to the political situation in the Mexican state—protests that would become one of the most important social uprisings of the 21st century.

Acompañada de fotografías y arte político, esta compilación poderosa de testimonios de organizadores, artistas, amas de casa, periodistas, estudiantes, maestros y otros que participaron en la Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca provee un vistazo abierto y honesto de las protestas oaxaqueñas del 2006 contra la situación política en el estado mexicano—protestas que se convertirían en una de las revueltas sociales más importantes del siglo XX1.



The Baroque Narrative of Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora: A New World Paradise
(Cambridge Studies in Latin American and Iberian Literature) - Paperback
Cambridge University Press August 1, 2010 ISBN-10: 0521152755
Kathleen Ross

Carlos de SigÜenza y Góngora, one of 17-century Mexico's best-known intellectuals, was a writer of fascinating and complex narratives that exemplarize the heterogeneous nature of colonial Spanish American prose.

This book is the first critical study to place both the writer and his narrative within the phenomenon of the Barroco de Indias, or the Spanish-American baroque. Approaching SigÜenza as a criollo historian preoccupied with the placement of the New World within a universal context, Professor Ross develops a theoretical framework within which his texts can be read and understood today.

Professor Ross incorporates into her examination new critical trends, such as the use of narrative theory, the new historiography, and feminist criticism. 

Mexican Politics: Institutions, Political Economy, and Globalization
Hardcover-Routledge; 1 edition August 15, 2010ISBN-10: 0415964598
Allyson Benton
Description Unavailable


The Oxford History of Mexico
Paperback- Oxford University Press, USA August 3, 2010 ISBN-10: 0199731985
William Beezley (Editor), Michael Meyer (Editor)

The Oxford History of Mexico is a narrative history of the events, institutions and characters that have shaped Mexican history from the reign of the Aztecs through the 21st century. When the hardcover edition released in 2000, it was praised for both its breadth and depth -- all aspects of Mexican history, from religion to technology, ethnicity, ecology and mass media, are analyzed with insight and clarity. Available for the first time in paperback, the History covers every era in the nation's history in chronological format, offering a quick, affordable reference source for students, scholars and anyone who has ever been interested in Mexico's rich cultural heritage.

Scholars have contributed fascinating essays ranging from thematic ("Faith and Morals in Colonial Mexico," "Mass Media and Popular Culture in the Postrevolutionary Era") to centered around one pivotal moment or epoch in Mexican history ("Betterment for Whom? The Reform Period: 1855-1875"). Two such major events are the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821) and the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), the subjects of several essays in the book. Publication of the reissued edition will coincide with anniversaries of these critical turning points.

Essays are updated to reflect new discoveries, advances in scholarship, and occurrences of the past decade. A revised glossary and index ensure that readers will have immediate access to any information they seek.

William Beezley, co-editor of the original edition, has written a new preface that focuses on the past decade and covers such issues as immigration from Mexico to the United States and the democratization implied by the defeat of the official party in the 2000 and 2006 presidential elections. Beezley also explores the significance of the bicentennial of independence and centennial of the Revolution.

With these updates and a completely modern, bold new design, the reissued edition refreshes the beloved Oxford History of Mexico for a new generation.


Paperback Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
August 15, 2010 ISBN-10: 0802865844
Ron Austin



Peregrino serves as a map for those open to the wonderful discoveries made while wandering. But Austin doesn’t limit his pilgrimage paean to those who undertake physical journeys; he also reflects on the inner human journey common to us all. His spiritual exploration of Catholic Mexico — a journey of body and soul — beautifully reveals the profundity of a specific culture — and moves us to view ourselves in a new and different light. 

Ron Austin has been a writer/producer in Hollywood for over forty years. Having worked on such TV shows as Charlie’s Angels, Matlock, and Mission: Impossible, he is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has been honored with lifetime achievement awards by the Writers Guild of America for his contributions to the Hollywood community. He has written many articles on film and taught at several film schools around the world.



A Map of Mexico City Blues: Jack Kerouac as Poet
Paperback
Southern Illinois University Press August 6, 2010
ISBN-10: 0809330067
James T Jones

In this pioneering critical study of Jack Kerouac’s book-length poem, Mexico City Blues — a poetic parallel to the writer’s fictional saga, the Duluoz Legend — James T. Jones uses a rich and flexible neo-formalist approach to argue his case for the importance of Kerouac’s rarely studied poem.

After a brief summary of Kerouac’s poetic career, Jones embarks on a thorough reading of Mexico City Blues from several different perspectives: he first focuses on Kerouac’s use of autobiography in the poem and then discusses how Kerouac’s various trips to Mexico, his conversion to Buddhism, his theory of spontaneous poetics, and his attraction to blues and jazz influenced the theme, structure, and sound of Mexico City Blues.

Jones’s multidimensional explication suggests the formal and thematic complexity of Kerouac’s long poem and demonstrates the major contribution Mexico City Blues makes to post–World War II American poetry and poetics.

Bordering on Trouble: Mexico's Violence and American Security
Prometheus Books August 24, 2010 ISBN-10: 1616141824
Brian Michael Jenkins
Description Unavailable


Cuba


Paperback - Ocean Press; Second Edition edition
August 1, 2010 ISBN-10: 0980429234
Enrique Cirules

"A meticulously accurate and superbly written history of the Cuban underworld in terms of the interactions between the American Mafia, US businesses and governmental intelligence agencies. . . . The Mafia in Havana is a seminal and strongly recommended addition to the personal and academic American Organized Crime historical studies and supplemental reading lists."—Midwest Book Review

"We invented Havana, and we can goddamn well move it someplace else if [Batista] can't control it."—Meyer Lansky, in Sydney Pollack's movie Havana

Here is a vibrant picture of the Mafia's Caribbean empire, when Havana was the playground of the rich and infamous. With a novelistic eye for detail and drama, prize-winning author Enrique Cirules presents a shockingly glamorous and fantastically seedy picture of the world of Frank Sinatra and showgirls, mambo and marijuana, corrupt cops and politicians, run by shady characters like "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky.

In this extensive investigation into the Cuban underworld, the author exposes the close ties between the Mafia, US business interests, and intelligence agencies—and their often brutally enforced reign over pre-revolutionary Cuba.

The Mafia in Havana won the Casa de las Américas Prize for Latin American Literature and the Critics' Prize in 1994. It features stunning photographs of the famous personalities who hung out in Havana in the era before the 1959 revolution.

Enrique Cirules was born in Camaguey, Cuba, in 1938. He is a great storyteller and the author of several novels and short stories, including Conversation with the Last American. He won the 1994 Casa de las Americas prize for The Mafia in Havana.


Hardcover - University Press of Florida (August 15, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0813034833
Kenneth Routon

Despite its hard-nosed emphasis on the demystifying realism of Marxist-Leninist ideology, the political imagery of the Cuban revolution--and the state that followed -- conjures up its own magical seductions and fantasies of power. In this fascinating account, Kenneth Routon shows how magic practices and political culture are entangled in Cuba in unusual and intimate ways.

Routon describes not only how the monumentality of the state arouses magical sensibilities and popular images of its hidden powers, but he also explores the ways in which revolutionary officialdom has, in recent years, tacitly embraced and harnessed vernacular fantasies of power to the national agenda. In his brilliant analysis, popular culture and the state are deeply entangled within a promiscuous field of power, taking turns siphoning the magic of the other in order to embellish their own fantasies of authority, control, and transformation.

This study brings anthropology and history together by examining the relationship between ritual and state power in revolutionary Cuba, paying particular attention to the roles of memory and history in the construction and contestation of shared political imaginaries. 

Hardcover - ]Candlewick (August 10, 2010) ISBN-10: 076364305X
Rosemary Wells (Author), Secundino Fernandez (Author), 
Peter Ferguson (Illustrator)

A young Cuban immigrant eases his homesickness by re-creating the city of Havana in a poignant tale that will resonate with readers today.

"You’re always drawing in that notebook of yours," Dino’s friend teases. To the small boy, 1950s Havana is alive with color, music, and glamour, and he itches to capture it on paper. When Fidel Castro and the Communist Party take over the Cuban government, Dino’s family must move to New York, where the lonely boy pours his heart into making a model of Havana’s archways and balconies, buildings and streets.

Rosemary Wells composes a tender ode to an immigrant boy who grew up to be a U.S. architect, while Peter Ferguson’s atmospheric paintings evoke two vibrant cities as they were half a century ago.

Rosemary Wells has written or illustrated more than sixty books for children and has received numerous awards. She is the creator of the beloved Max and Ruby stories and the illustrator of MY VERY FIRST MOTHER GOOSE, edited by Iona Opie. She lives in upstate New York. Dino Fernandez moved from Havana, Cuba, to the United States with his family in 1959. He lives in New York and works as an architect. Peter Ferguson is a comic and editorial artist who has illustrated three books and written two novels for children. He lives in Montreal, Canada.



(La Otra Historia de America Latina) (Spanish Edition)
Paperback - Ocean Sur September 1, 2010
Language: Spanish ISBN-10: 1921438606
Sergio Guerra-Vilaboy (Author), Oscar Loyola-Vega (Author)

This book is the perfect companion to the more than thirty travel guides on Cuba available today.


Beginning with the pre-Hispanic period, through to Cuba's struggle to maintain the revolution in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and finally ending with Fidel Castro's decision to step down in 2008, this slim volume provides the reader with an overview of the history of the tiny Caribbean island that so often has been at the center of world politics.
Including a bibliography for further reading, this is a most useful introduction to Cuba's history for students, teachers, and others, as well as those visiting the island.

This book is published to coincide with the expected lifting of the US government's ban on its citizens' travel to Cuba and will be actively marketed through travel agencies, in-flight magazines, and more.

Available in both English (978-0-9804292-4-4) and Spanish (978-1-921438-60-8).


Central America



(Makers of the Modern World Series) – Hardcover
Haus Publishing Limited (September 30, 2010) ISBN-10: 1906598258
Michael Streeter (Author), Alan Sharp (Series Editor) 

They were in the United States' backyard, and in some cases under her direct protection. So in many ways it was little surprise when Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama and Honduras joined the war on the Allied side in 1917 and 1918. 

Their involvement in the war was minimal, indeed scarcely noticeable, but it was enough. It earned these small relatively powerless nations in Haiti's case barely a functioning state an invitation to sit alongside the Great Powers at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and sign the Treaty of Versailles.


Broadcasting the Civil War in El Salvador: A Memoir of Guerrilla Radio
(Translations from Latin America Series)
Hardcover - University of Texas Press August 1, 2010
ISBN-10: 0292722850
Carlos Henriquez Consalvi (Author), Charles Leo, V Nagle (Translator), 
A.L. (Bill) Prince (Translator), Erik Ching (Introduction)

During the 1980s war in El Salvador, Radio Venceremos was the main news outlet for the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), the guerrilla organization that challenged the government.

The broadcast provided a vital link between combatants in the mountains and the outside world, as well as an alternative to mainstream media reporting. In this first-person account, "Santiago," the legend behind Radio Venceremos, tells the story of the early years of that conflict, a rebellion of poor peasants against the Salvadoran government and its benefactor, the United States.

Originally published as La Terquedad del Izote, this memoir also addresses the broader story of a nationwide rebellion and its international context, particularly the intensifying Cold War and heavy U.S. involvement in it under President Reagan. By the war's end in 1992, more than 75,000 were dead and 350,000 wounded--in a country the size of Massachusetts.

Although outnumbered and out-financed, the rebels fought the Salvadoran Army to a draw and brought enough bargaining power to the negotiating table to achieve some of their key objectives, including democratic reforms and an overhaul of the security forces.

Broadcasting the Civil War in El Salvador is a riveting account from the rebels' point of view that lends immediacy to the Salvadoran conflict. It should appeal to all who are interested in historic memory and human rights, U.S. policy toward Central America, and the role the media can play in wartime.


Spanish Edition - Paperback
Ocean Sur (August 1, 2010) Language: Spanish ISBN-10: 1921438827
Roque Dalton

This is the classic history of a troubled Central American nation, El Salvador, written by one of its most famous literary figures. With poetic illumination, Roque Dalton describes his homeland's national heroes and its great social struggles against oppression and imperialist domination, always hopeful of a better future.
Roque Dalton (1935-1975) was an enormously influential figure in the history of Latin America as a poet, essayist, intellectual and revolutionary. 

As a poet who brilliantly fused politics and art, his example permanently changed the direction of Central American poetry. The author of 18 volumes of poetry and prose, one of which (Taberna y otros lugares) received a Casa de las Américas prize in 1967, his work combines fierce satirical irony with a humane and exuberant tenderness. His legacy extends beyond his achievements as a poet to his political writings and political work in his native El Salvador



Paperback - Lynne Rienner Pub (September 30, 2010) ISBN-10: 1588266818
William Stanley

William Stanley tells the absorbing story of the UN peace operation in Guatemala's ten-year endeavor (1994-2004) to build conditions that would sustain a lasting peace in the country. Unusual among UN peace efforts because of its largely civilian nature, its General Assembly mandate, and its heavy reliance on UN volunteers to staff field offices, the mission (MINUGUA) focused initially on human rights; beginning in 1997, however, its scope expanded to include verification of the full range of peace accords designed to end nearly four decades of civil war between the government and the revolutionary insurgency. 

MINUGUA faced a challenging political context: the government that signed the peace accords proved unable or unwilling to implement them, and the progress of successive governments was modest at best. Left to do the heavy lifting politically, the mission also grappled with uncooperative political elites and persistent state corruption, organized crime, and social inequality. Stanley chronicles a series of strategic -- and sometimes experimental -- choices from the UN's point of view and provides a cautionary tale about the limits of international benevolence.


The Literature of Spain and Latin America
(The Britannica Guide to World Literature) [Library Binding]
Rosen Educational Publishing; 1 edition (August 15, 2010) ISBN-10: 1615301054
J. e. Luebering (Editor)

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