1 comments about I Am Aztlán: The Personal Essay In Chicano Studies.

1. If you are teaching a class about research methods or the Chicana/o experience, this book can't be beat. Some famous scholars and others write about the challenges of being a Chicana/o intellectual, academic, and activist. They wrestle with childhood experiences of family and adult experiences of research in order to come to a better understanding of both. Parts of the book are incredibly moving; other parts are hilarious. It's just a great book

No comments about The Way It Was and Other Writings (Recovering the Us Hispanic Literary Heritage).

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4 comments about A History of Light.

1. A lovely book; it somehow transcends the childhood experience at the same time that it does evoke the joys and pains of first love. It can be read as an experience in the present, or how such an adult experience should be. A fresh, charming book.



2. Forget perfume! Read me words of love.

   "A History of Light" is straight from a bottomless well of the real stuff. This is the intensity, recklessness and sweetness I want from a lover. The innocence and abandon of a twelve year-old boy's first headlong plunge into his own heart, told over fifty years later with the seasoning and wisdom of a poet.

   Light the candles. Pour the wine. Turn the page. Read me words of love.




3. Forget perfume! Read me words of love.

   A History of Light is straight from a bottomless well of the real stuff. This is the intensity, recklessness and sweetness I want from a lover. The innocence and abandon of a twelve year-old boy's first headlong plunge into his own heart, told over fifty years later with the seasoning and wisdom of a poet.

   Light the candles. Pour the wine. Turn the page. Read me words of love.




4. I met Alvaro Cardona-Hine the summer after my Sophomore year in college, at his home in Truchas, NM. He was a charming man, who invited me in to his studio, and his home. He offered water or wine to drink, and then signed a gallery book of his paintings for me.

   Two years later, I discover The History of Light.

   I loved reading this book, I savored every minute of time that it took to read, and I walked away thinking love should be just like this

   It is an adult version of childhood romance; it's also a remembering of loss. Sometimes on the border of being sentimental, it's very sweet. The prose is elegant,the words and ideas simple, without being simplistic. My favorite passage reads "Whatever seemed unfinished once now is undefinable. I had thought God interested in creating puzzles out of life when He had meant for me to stand in awe of beauty. What an easy thing to feel that is when it's messenger stands before me."

   Another passage, worth noting, reads "Your fingernails, little as they are, have small white moons sailing over their crests. And your face has freckles, as though it had lain a whole night exposed to the elements and your skin had photographed the stars."

1 comments about Conversations With Rudolpho Anaya (Literary Conversations Series).

1. This book by Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, was a wonderful book. I like the way that he made the reader actually think about what he writes. It really kept me awake at night sometimes. It even made me question my religion! I liked the way Antonio said that God wouldn't forgive everyone, but the VIrgin Mary will forgive everyone. If you haven't read this book, I strongly encourage you to read this!

5 comments about Pedro, Carlos, and Omar: The Story of a Season in the Big Apple and the Pursuit of Baseball's Top Latino Stars.

1. The Mets have experienced a few great seasons among the 45 in franchise history: 1969, 1973, 1986, 1999 and a few others that could be argued. The 2005 season wouldn't make a lot of people's lists on the surface, but dig underneath, like Adam Rubin has, and you'll see that 2005--starting with the most successful offseason in 20 years--was the year that the building blocks moved into place. Willie Randolph's hiring, the wooing of Pedro Martinez, the signing of Carlos Beltran, created, in Beltran's words, the "New Mets." In one fell swoop the Art Howe Era was shovelled it into the trash can. Just as important was the hiring of Omar Minaya to put all these changes in motion and the realization by the Wilpons that owning a team for a quarter century doesn't mean you essentially know what's best. Adam Rubin, who wrote about all these things deftly removes these facts from the constraints of the daily newspaper and creates a cohensive storyline in a year that may well stand with 1968, 1984, and 1997 as years that signaled sea changes in the club's fortunes. Of course, we all may be wrong about this--Mets fans are, after all, a pessimistic lot--but Adam Rubin's solid book shows what it's like to start from scratch in a town where baseball means so much.



2. The story of how Omar Minaya refashioned the Mets - from perennial bottom feeders into genuine contenders, in two short seasons - is indeed an appropiately Amazin' tale. In fact, Minaya is not finished yet, and there is still work to be done. However, Adam Rubin has taken the first two of Minaya's moves - the enlistment of Pedro and Carlos Beltran in the winter of 2004/5 - as the basis for his book. Alas, his writing neither matches nor illuminates any of the very distinctive characters involved, nor does it shed any particular light on the sea-change that Minaya has instituted within the Mets organization. The book is enjoyable enough, at least for most Mets fans, simply because it replays two very enjoyable events - but it lacks depth. I know - it's only baseball - but still, more is required. The best of sports books have it - but this one doesn't.



3. "Pedro, Carlos and Omar" is essentially an extended compilation of Daily News articles about the 2005 Mets. The book is edited well and tells a coherent story about how Omar Minaya was lured back into the Mets' fold by an ownership group tired of three straight losing season, with the promise of complete autonomy over the roster. The Wilpons fired two managers, Bobby Valentine and Art Howe -- each of whom had recent playoff experience, Valentine in the World Series -- and replaced him with Willie Randolph, who'd never managed in the big leagues before but who did have four Series rings as a Yankees coach. What contributions could Minaya and Randolph bring to the team?
   
   Plenty, as it turns out. The Mets went out and did something they'd never done before -- signed a high-profile slugger under the age of 30 to a long-term, multi-million dollar contract. Say farewell to the shameful days of George Foster and Mo Vaughn. Along with Carlos Beltran came Pedro Martinez, fresh off his shutout in Game 3 of the World Series, with the hopes of getting Manny Ramirez right behind. Could Beltran bear up under big-market pressure? Could Pedro keep his sometimes whimsical, sometimes antagonistic attitude in check for a full year? Could he beat the Yankees?
   
   The Mets don't make the playoffs in 2005. That has to wait for a thus-far glorious 2006 campaign that will probably be summarized in an afterword to the paperback edition of this book. However, they did finish third, at four games over .500 -- their best finish since the 2000 World Series season. They re-energized the fan base, capitalized on Fred Wilpon's promise to play "meaningful games in September", and gave a full year's experience to two youngsters who'd energize Queens in '06: David Wright and Jose Reyes. Best of all, they got rid of Braden Looper.
   
   One caution: this is not hard-hitting investigative journalism. Apart from a few glimpses into the future, "Pedro, Carlos and Omar" is told one day at a time, in straight chronological order, and only with quotes taken from game-day articles. No-one is interviewed after the end of the season to provide perspective or commentary. This is not so much the untold story of the 2005 Mets, as a retelling of what we already knew from Rubin's Daily News articles from that year.
   
   However, read in the run-up to the '06 playoffs, this book is a nice training montage showing how the Mets started to put it all together a year ago.



4. I am a huge Mets fan, have been since I was old enough to understand baseball. I got this book from the library to read while I was on vacation this summer. I am not an avid book reader by any stretch. The most I read is either SI or the newspaper. But I read this book in just two nights. I couldn't put it down.
   
   Rubin really takes you behind the scenes of what was going on from the Winter of 2003 until the Spring of 2005. I was stunned to learn some of the things in this book. For example, the Mets thought they had a 0% chance of landing Pedro, so they were content with going after Ramon Ortiz and Odalis Perez.
   
   This book is a must-read for any NY Mets fan, or baseball fan for that matter.



5. I was very impressed with Adam Rubin's portrayal of the NY Mets in his new book, "Pedro, Carlos and Omar". Although his newspaper writing is excellent, he takes a different approach and gives a superb accounting of the behind the scenes look at the team. This book is packed with information that cannot be gotten from any other type of publication. You do not have to be a Mets fan to enjoy this book. I highly recommend "Pedro, Carlos and Omar" not only to all Mets fans, but to all fans of baseball.

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