Dear Readers: A couple of columnas ago, I published a short list of my favorite books regarding Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, and urged ustedes to submit better choices so that gabachos can have a Christmas shopping list for their favorite Mexicans—or at least understand nosotros better. Muchos responded, and below is a list of the most-recommended tomes, along with my brief descriptions. But before empezamos, let's start with a surprise—the only author or publisher to have recommended his own book. What's wrong with the rest of you wab authors? Humility won't get you anything in the publishing world (other than water).
Be sure to add my Aztlán & Viet Nam: Chicano and Chicana Experiences of the War, so [gabachos] learn that our gente fight in their wars. Also, fiction by Tomás Rivera (. . . And the Earth Did Not Devour Him), Dagoberto Gilb (the collection called Gritos), and Alejandro Morales (The Brick People). —Jorge Mariscal, Professor of Literature, University of California, San Diego
Mark Dancy
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I'll also give space to reader Vanessa Montez:
After reading your response to Proud To Be Latino, I decided to send an e-mail with a list of my favorite Chicana authors (hombres can read these, too): 1) Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands—La Frontera: The New Mestiza; 2) Maria Herrera-Sobek's Reconstructing a Chicano/A Literary Heritage: Hispanic Colonial Literature of the Southwest; and 3) Cherrie Moraga's Loving in the War Years (Lo que Nunca Paso por sus Labios).
Always has to be a feminist in the olla of beans, ¿qué no? Although with Herrera-Sobek, I'd recommend her excellent treatises on Mexican music, Northward Bound: The Mexican Immigrant Experience in Ballad and Song and The Mexican Corrido: A Feminist Analysis. Now, onward to the list. Please buy these at your favorite local independent bookstore.
• North From Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the U.S., Carey McWilliams: Though first published in 1948 by the legendary former editor of The Nation and updated only twice since, this libro is nevertheless essential, setting the template for Chicano studies by treating Mexicans with respect instead of maracas.
• Pocho, José Antonio Villarreal: Another oldie but goodie—published in 1959, but still a lyrical examination of Mexican assimilation into los Estados Unidos.
• Chicana Falsa: And Other Stories of Death, Identity, and Oxnard, Michele Serros: Assimilation, the chica way.
• The Devil's Highway: A True Story, Luis Alberto Urrea: 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction finalist detailing Mexican immigrants trying to cross the Arizona desert.
• The Labyrinth of Solitude, Octavio Paz: The intellectual cover for nearly every stereotype Americans have about Mexicans—thanks a lot, Nobel Prize laureate!
• Drink Cultura: Chicanismo, José Antonio Burciaga: One of the literary godfathers of the Mexican, this collection of essays never ceases to entertain or inform.
• Charro Claus and the Tejas Kid, Xavier Garza: Seasonal, bilingual, and for the kiddies.
• Orange County: A Personal History and ¡Ask a Mexican!, Gustavo Arellano: Remember what I said about book publishing and humility?
