5 comments about The Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping (Ballantine Reader's Circle).

1. This was one of my favorite books until I found out that the author made it up, and passed it off as memoir.



2. Nasdijj is NOT NAVAJO (Dine). He is a White guy from Michigan. He lied about being "Dine". His real name is Tim Barrus. As a member of the Dine Nation I am Truly disgusted with this fraud.



3. While it appears that memoirs that have been fabricated are now coming out of the woodwork, the knee jerk reaction that people have towards Million Little Pieces isn't really fair to apply to this book.
   
   First of all, when I was working in a bookstore when this book came out, there wasn't nearly the fanfare that there was for Million Little Pieces, even before Oprah started pushing it. A lot more people are now willing to reject this book before even taking a look inside, and that's a shame.
   
   Secondly, the book reads more like a novel than MLP did. I really wasn't expecting the complete truth the further I got in. While I was a little disappointed upon finding out the actual author, and while I'm sure that any actual Navajo would have every right to be pissed off, it didn't affect the telling of the story to me. It doesn't need to have happened to be worth reading.
   
   Last of all, Boy and the Dog is a better book. MLP was written by a self-aggrandizing blowhard, and it shows in the writing. While Nasdijj (I don't remember his real name) may have been just as self serving in the long run, his books aren't nearly as juvenile.



4. I read this book a few years ago as a publishers advance and it completely broke my heart. It ranks as one of my top 5 favorites. I really don't care if it's fiction or if Nasdijj identifies with the Navajo nation.
   
   What matters most, the quality of the writing or the veracity of it?
   
   For me a book doesn't have to be true to resonate.
   
   I also feel that the problem people are having with it is that he started out writing gay leather stuff and then tried his hand at writing about the love he supposedly had for a child.



5. As an actual, real Navajo tribal member and as a writer I'm pretty disgusted by this. A hoax it is and pretty pathetic. I'm always surprised at how little most Americans know about my people. It's pretty disheartening. Definitely read the LA Weekly article http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent&task=view&id=12468&Itemid=47 for more on the Navahoax. If you want real Navajo writing read Lucy Tapahanso or for great writing read Leslie Marmon Silko (a Pueblo writer).

No comments about Beisbol!: Pioneros Y Leyendas Del Beisbol Latino.

No comments about Harvest of Hope: The Pilgrimage of a Mexican-Americn Physician.

1 comments about The Hispanic World and American Intellectual Life, 1820-1880 (Studies of the Americas).

1. This is a wonderful book-in some ways definitive--about the great circle of 19th century scholars, mainly Bostonians, who inaugurated the study of Spanish history and literature in the United States: George Ticknor, who wrote an epochal history of Spanish literature (and was the first American to travel to Spain --in 1818-- for purposes of scholarship; William Hickling Prescott, author of a great history of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella; Washington Irving, whose biography of Columbus was a landmark in American historiography (for political as well as scholarly reasons); Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, not known to the general public as a Spanish scholar, but a great one and arguably still the best translator of Spanish poetry into English. The only fault I see is that the objective of this group transcended the academic boundaries of Hispanic studies. These men belonged to a wider circle, mainly of historians, that founded the discipline of history in the United States: George Bancroft, in particular, Jared Sparks (bioghrapher of Washington), and Francis Parkman. Secondly, they established the first great research libraries in this country: Harvard College Library, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Astor Library which, later on, became the New York Public Library. They also were the prime movers in the transmission of European books and of European literary and academic culture to America, a massive movement which was, without any doubt, one of the two or three most significant cultural achievments of modernity.

5 comments about Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation.

1. Beautiful and eloquent words crafted by Juan Santos in a wonderful memoir: "...he Anglicising of Texas..." is a polite term when murder and theft would be a better description. Killing of innocent Mexicans merely for being on a White's land and the indenturement (or limited slavery) of those seeking a better life, I was shocked, but not surprised, by the evil of the white Texans.
   
   The beautiful Mexican people should and will inherit the Patria.



2. Mr. Santos' lyrical and thoughtful storytelling provides welcome insight into the history and culture of south Texas. The book provided a window into parts of San Antonio about which I have been both ignorant and curious. This is a smart selection as the first read for the 1 Book 1 San Antonio program.



3. This book has been selected for the 2006 "One Book - One San Antonio" event, during which every reader in San Antonio will be encouraged to read and discuss this novel.



4. Santos' writing style is as enthralling as it is articulate, a language so alive that it immediately befriends the reader. At times this autobiography is more of a prose poem than a narrative: "On those chilly nights he slept in the open country, having heard stories of Texas ranchers shooting Mexicans they found on their property. To him, it all looked like high Coahuila desert land. There weren't many fences then, so you could walk long flat stretches of the parched land with only bird shadows for shade...it looked like home, only, he pointed out, there were more stones on the Texas side" (50).
   
   Such lines are not surprising since Santos is also a poet, and we see this style reiterated throughout as he delves deeply into the family histories of his father and mother. Some of us may think we know old Southwestern cities like San Antonio, but Santos' takes us into a hinterland of Texas, and Coahuila, Mexico, that we have never seen, one where the strength of memory endures amid a pervading and eloquent tone of pastoral loneliness. At times Santos is hauntingly prescient, as when he speaks of viewing New York City's Twin Towers as dolmens -- upright tombs from prehistoric times.



5. So often the essence of Hispanic culture, especially when addressing Mexico, Central and South America, is referred to as "Magical Realism". Whether referring to the literature of Marquez, Allende, Arenas, the paintings of Kahlo, Rivera, Bravo, Marquez, Borges, or the music of Ginestera, et al - the unifying element usually refers to this genre. Few authors have been successful in describing the origins or even the meaning of the term...that is, until John Phillip Santos elegantly warm memoir PLACES LEFT UNFINISHED AT THE TIME OF CREATION. Santos revisits his history through the immediacy of immigrant (yet unaltered) Old Ladies, creating from their tales a lush, incendiary canvas of passion, faith, commitment, hardship, and resilience. He adroitly mixes the two languages (Spanish and English) with finesse, at times translating for the non-Spanish reader, and at times allowing the beauty of his Spanish phrases to sing for themselves. This book is a paean to the sanctity of the souls of the immigrants who have endured the agony of expatriation, who have entered El Norte to find, if not their fortunes, then their integrity as human beings. This beautifully written book should be on the shelves of the libraries of schools throughout the USA...but it should also be in the library of everyone who wonders about the beauty of the Hispanic heritage - which for lack of a better name we call Magical Realism.

No comments about Modern Latin-American Fiction Writers: First Series (Dictionary of Literary Biography).

5 comments about Latino Wisdom: Celebrity Stories of Hope, Inspiration, and Success to Recharge Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

1. Latino Wisdom offers more than wisdom from high profile celebrities and newsmakers. It celebrates the human spirit through stories about resilience and reflection, passion and conviction, purpose and creativity. As a writer & journalist, I appreciate Cathy Areu's journalistic style in capturing the essence of successful and driven Latinos. Latino Wisdom is a treasury of inspirational stories that I'll be able to read over and over again.



2. You do not have to be Latino to be inspired by Latino Wisdom. In her introduction, Cathy Areu states the most important, fundamental theme of her book--Believe In Yourself. It's a theme that can apply to anyone, whether you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth or not. This theme crops up time and again in Areu's interviews with a variety of self-made successful people, everyone from actresses and singers to politicians, football players, and business men and women. Areu, herself, is a shining example of this principle. Her story, told in her inimitable, breezy style, is every bit as inspirational as those of the people she highlights. As she says, she wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but, applying the believe-in-yourself principles that are the theme of her book, today she's a successful author, magazine publisher--and much more.
   Areu's writing is warm and conversational. In her interviews she conveys a sense of ease with her subjects so that their personalities-and hers-come across the page very naturally. Latino Wisdom isn't only inspirational; it's interesting and fun to read!



3. In a thoughtful series of interviews with famous Latinos and her own views on their varied accomplishments, Ms. Areu does a wonderful job of showing how true it is that success is in large part due to hard work and believing in yourself. From well-known celebrities to politicians to Ms. Areu herself, you are inspired by stories of how all of these people pursued their dreams and found success. A worthwhile read that will challenge you to reach for your own dreams!



4. I love books that make me want to be a better person -- books that offer inspiration by giving examples of what success looks like. LATINO WISDOM is one of those books. Ms. Areu has interviewed people that most of us think of as special, and showed that they are really like us. Successful people aren't that different, though the author identifies specific qualities that the interviewees share. These are qualities that most of us possess to some degree. So, by reading the tips and wisdom of others, those of us who are still seeking success now have many voices telling us that we can do it. This is a book I know I will read again and again any time I want to be inspired, or on days when I think I want to give up.



5. Latino Wisdom gave me great info and insight into the lives of successful people and how they became successful. Each chapter has inspirational nuggets, in the successful people's words, that I can use. And Cathy Areu's chapter introductions perfectly set the tone. I think this book is a great read for everyone looking to feel recharged.

No comments about People Person: The Story of Sociologist Marta Tienda (Women's Adventures in Science).

No comments about Cesar Chavez: A Voice For Farmworkers (Latino Biography Library).

5 comments about An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal [Or How I Became the Most Hated Hispanic in America].

1. Linda Chavez has led an interesting life and has a great story to tell. Unfortunately, I found the writing style of this book to be completely flat. There seemed to be no highs or lows, everything was weighted equally. Rather a chronological bullet-pointed life rather than a real storytelling. I kept with it because of interest in her rather than being gripped by any powerful writing.



2. This lady cannot resist savaging people she feels did her wrong. And like many people on the far right, there is a very dysfunctional home life. I swear to you, the Rush Limbaughs, the Newt Gingriches, the Tom DeLays all have had super unhappy childhoods. Maybe this is why their politics are so sour and anti-people.
   
   I don't like this lady - she took advantage of affirmative action whenever she could in her youth, now she has some problems with it and would like to throw the whole program out the door SO NO ONE ELSE CAN BENEFIT FROM IT. She makes me ill.



3. This is an awesome book that covers many issues, but as an author of a book on California politics, I would not have been able to write about English language issues in K-12 without this incredible resource.
   
   Linda Chavez has written "the" book for all parents and all voters who want to understand, first-hand, how the Left tricks the rules in the battle over English-only instruction in schools, and those who use race-over-reason to defend bilingual classroom instruction.
   
   The state of California had gone from award-winning public education status 30 years ago, to a dreadful 48th out of 50 in scholastic aptitude today. Much of this condition can be attributed to leftist Democrats, and teacher's unions, who savor power over what is best for children.
   
   California in 1998 overwhelmingly passed Proposition 227 (English-only) into law. Funny how this works. A millionaire businessman, Ron Unz, saw a need and responded to the FACT that poor working-class Latino parents were appalled by the lack of opportunity for their children who speak only Spanish in the world's richest English-speaking country.
   
   Linda brilliantly lays out how the Left worked to demonize Unz, and anyone else who opposed bilingual education. Linda also demonstrates in this book, how California Democrats, instead of looking out for parents, millions of immigrant children who want to learn English (the "keys to the kingdom), and frustrated educators - ignored the will of the people.
   
   The book is timeless as the battle over English literacy in schools continues.
   
   I highly recommend this book as well as the articulate and well-researched content brought forth by a dedicated soldier who, for all the false criticism, continues to place her passion for fact over fiction in her writing.
   
   The truth doesn't make the loudmouths on the Left happy. Nothing new there.
   
   Nice job Linda! Keep up the good work.
   
   Patrick Mallon
   Political columnist and author



4. My wife read the book and told me I should do so. It was impressive to see this woman use the experiences of her past..good and bad..to grow into someone who is successful, respected, and most of all Brave and Courageous.

   I admire the way she learned to think for herself, use her talents and ideas and find a path that often eludes many. I doubt I would be so clear thinking as she and I doubt I would be brave enough to write about the adventures along the way.

   She represents all that is truly good about our Great Country and all that is available to those who really want to achieve a better life. She took her experiences, both happy and sad, and built upon them. Despite serious disadvantages in her early life, she worked hard to advance and used her intelligence to think cleary and create her own set of beliefs and ideals.

   She has certainly shown us that by working hard, overcoming barriers, and by facing challenges one can still grow and bravely face those who are lining up against you. When in the end you have the respect of your friends and the public..and you can look around at those who were not brave enough to strike out and think on their own and do for themselves, the very ones who attack her daily..those who are still stuck in their own quagmires, it makes one truly think. This amazing Lady is an example of What ONE COULD BE if one has only the Courage to ignore those who say your time has not come. More people need to read this inspiring book ...maybe those very people who are still in the same old place despite years of phony promises..perhaps it is time for them to strike out and stop thinking they cannot achieve what this Brave and Courageous Lady has!




5. Ms. Chavez is a wonderful writer. She's been through alot and describes her journey in very realistic terms. For those of you who would like to form your own opinion, please read the book. It's great!