A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano [Paperback]

Ruben Navarrette Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1994

In this nationally acclaimed account of a young Latino's coming-of-age at America's most prestigious university, Navarrette engages the reader in a challenging discussion of affirmative action, racism, and liberal education in America. (Education/Teaching)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A young man's appraisal--Navarrette is only 25 now--of his turbulent years as a Mexican-American undergraduate at one of the nation's most prestigious universities. Navarrette starts with a declaration of independence, spurning the labels ``people of color'' (offensive) and ``Hispanic'' (too general), preferring ``minority'' and ``Latino.'' The man thinks for himself. That trait, along with a superb intellect (straight A's, valedictorian), gets him into Harvard--but you wouldn't know it from most of his teachers and classmates, who assume that affirmative action is his ticket. Confronting that particular bigotry and others becomes Navarrette's job. He darts his barbs at two chief targets: the old Wasp elite that stifles the university with exclusive rules and expectations, and the new Mexican-American contingent, equally exclusive, that tries to shoehorn him into an ironclad rad-chic ideology. Friendship with Mexican-American essayist Richard Rodriguez; the arrest of a Harvard Latino chum on armed- robbery charges; and a provocative question posed to Cesar Chavez when the labor leader visits Harvard--all are milestones in Navarette's process of self-definition. And that, in fact, is what this book is, for the gripping ethno-political issues ride atop a very conventional coming-of-age tale, replete with new buddies, homesickness, adolescent rebellion, loss of virginity, love affairs--familiar fare and ho-hum reading for those indifferent to Navarrette's emotional life. Powerful, though, for its two-fold message: that America must do more to educate Latinos (our fastest growing minority), and that freedom of thought belongs to everyone. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553374273
• ISBN-13: 978-0553374278
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #552,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Watch him grow in arrogance, November 22, 2002

By 

Marcela C. Musgrove (Portland,OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano (Paperback)

This book is worth reading since it is provocative and has interesting observations about being Latino in the Ivy League. Particularly interesting is his encounter with Richard Rodriguez, who starts out as an enemy and becomes a friend and intellectual mentor of sorts. However, as the book progresses, it feels more like a revisionist explaining away of his shortcomings--why he couldn't commit to his girlfriend and how his confrontations earn him enemies, who of course are mean, petty people in his version of events. Navarette makes everything seems so extreme--it's either Fresno State or Harvard, with nothing in between. He seems shocked that almost every institution in his life from UFW to Harvard's RAZA group turns out to be imperfect so ends up basically condemning them as evil. It seems as if he is very good at pointing out the imperfections in everything around him and is obsessed with making people agree with him. The book ends abruptly and on a note of frustration as he gets fed up with the shortcomings of the educational system and leaves graduate school. You really have to start over to the introduction to get any sense of resolution that he has learned something from his experience and not just grown in cynicism and ego.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book, April 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Darker Shade of Crimson, A (Hardcover)

I loved this book because it describes the experience of those who are often overlooked: English speaking Mexican-Americans whose families have been here several generations. Navarrette questions the ethnic labels that have been imposed upon him (Latino, Hispanic) and rightly wonders why one can be considered Italian and American, or Irish and American, but not Mexican and American. For some reason the latter is seen as a contradiction. This book is interesting, well written and provides a good first person account of the college experience and the subsequent process of constructing one's own identity. I highly recommend it!

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars True-To-Life: An Interesting Read, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Darker Shade of Crimson, A (Hardcover)

I've experienced much of the same situations and feelings as a student at Berkeley and (later) as a law student at Stanford. I'm sure that one does not need to be an ethnic or racial minority to feel like a "fish out of water" at any major university, yet it still interesting to find out there are others like oneself. As a Mexican-American, I welcome the day when our presence on an elite (or any) campus is not an oddity, or a source of resentment ("You kept out my more-deserving cousin!").