The Best of What We Are: Reflections on the Nicaraguan Revolution [Paperback]

John Brentlinger (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Pr (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870239856
• ISBN-13: 978-0870239854
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,035,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > History > Americas > Central America > Nicaragua

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my top books on Nicaragua, February 10, 2008

By 

Ronald Garcia "nicamerican" (Pittsboro, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of What We Are: Reflections on the Nicaraguan Revolution (Paperback)

I have to strongly disagree with the previous reviewer. I have read the book twice now, and greatly appreciate it for its' ease of read, its insightful and critical analysis of Nicaraguan Sandinistas as well as progressive Americans visiting Nicaragua, and the fact that it covers the post-revolutionary period, for which there are very few books out there.

I always recommend this book to Americans who want to know more about the Sandinista Revolution, along with "My Car in Managua" by Forrest Colburn, Gioconda Belli's "The Country Under my Skin", and Ernesto Cardenal's "La Revolución Perdida". Belli and Cardenal formerly occupied top posts in the Sandinista Revolution, and are now dissidents of the FSLN, having joined the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS). Brentlinger and Colburn's books, on the other hand, both write their accounts as outsiders who did not occupy top leadership posts, but were committed to the revolutionary process.

"The Best of What we Are" is very hard to put down, yet it provides an excellent political and social analysis of the country, and is able to get to the heart of what the Sandinista Revolution meant for Progressive Nicaraguans and U.S. Citizens in solidarity with this Central American nation. "The Best of What we Are" has the added benefit of showing us how the revolution lives on after the FSLN's electoral defeat of 1990, in the work carried out by nationals and foreigners all over Nicaragua, in the institutions created or inspired by the 1980s revolution, and above all, in everyday examples of people transformed by this decade-long event.
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10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Anecdotally interesting book of little objective value, July 25, 2000

By 

JJ "A Fan of the Game" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of What We Are: Reflections on the Nicaraguan Revolution (Paperback)

I picked up this book while studying 20th century Central American history because I was interested in getting a personal account of a North American visiting Nicaragua during the period of Sandinista leadership. Brentlinger's work is certainly interesting, particularly his account of a visit to a campesino artist's colony, and I enjoyed reading about his interactions with his host family and locals in Managua and various villages he visited. However, the book is suffused with the kind of naive, the-Sandinistas-can-do-no-wrong tripe that so often populates accounts of Central America written by liberal white academics. Don't get me wrong, I'm as sympathetic towards the FSLN cause as anyone who has any idea of the pre-Revolution conditions that existed in Nicaragua, and yes, the knowledge of the Reagan and Bush administrations'involvement with the Contras leaves me less than proud to be an American citizen. However, the only way to avoid these kind of horrors in the future is to understand the whole story of what happened and why, and not fall back on knee-jerk reactionism. Understanding Central America means acknowledging that none of the various factions are blameless, even the Sandinistas. For a truly well written and insightful piece on this time and place, try Salman Rushdie's THE JAGUAR SMILE or, similarly, SALVADOR, Joan Didion's account of the Salvadoran killing fields.