In Few Words / En Pocas Palabras: A Compendium of Latino Folk Wit and Wisdom (NEA Heritage & Preservation Series, Book 1) [Paperback]

José Antonio Burciaga (Author), Carol Christensen (Author), Tom Christensen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1996 | ISBN-10: 1562790935 | ISBN-13: 978-1562790936 | Edition: 1st

The author of Drink Cultura gathered this generous bilingual compilation of Latino folk sayings—dichos. Arranged by theme, these dichos express Latino wit and wisdom about subjects from Ability, Adversity, and Advice to Work, Writing, and Youth.

José Antonio Burciaga was born in El Paso and taught at Stanford. His previous books include Drink Cultura: Chicanismo, Spilling the Beans: Lotería Chicano, and Undocumented Love. He was a Literature winner of the Hispanic Heritage Awards. He died in 1996 as this book was going to press.

"José Antonio Burciaga has done it again! His book of Latino folk sayings is a mesmerizing goldmine of the wisdom and wit of a people who can laugh off any hardships. As a true poet, Burciaga has come out with real jewels. Some can make us laugh; others ca make us cry; all come from the deepest realm of our collective sould and heart."—Francisco X. Alarcón

"Our young people need to hear his voice and the older generation needs to remember the causes for our uproar."—Gary Soto

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is an inviting book. Its butternut squash and royal blue-edged cover evokes Southwestern and south-of-the border landscapes, the bark painting illustration intensifies the mood, and the succinct ,catchy title encourages readers to browse through the pages. The enticement continues inside where a frieze design adorns each page between attractive chapter headings. Peruse. Dawdle. Savor. Enjoy the flavors of words, pithiness, and everything that advertising can't do. Did you see the movie Like Water For Chocolate? Did you get the gist of the title? Check yourself at the top of page 55. On the same page, there are seven other sayings in Spanish that use chocolate imagery. Hispanic-American readers can probably come up with a few more if they call or visit older relatives. It is an opportunity for the lengthening and strengthening of Hispanic roots. Students of Spanish who have gotten past basics will recognize that, after a point, language learning is about culture. This bilingual book is for them too. It is also for poets, language lovers of all stripes, and comparative cultural-holics. Occasionally, a phrase translated into English needed but lacked an annotation. It is a mild lapse in an otherwise lovely book. -- From Independent Publisher

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Mercury House; 1st edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562790935
• ISBN-13: 978-1562790936
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Perfect, May 1, 2004

By 

"losojosdeunangel" (Kernersville, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Few Words / En Pocas Palabras: A Compendium of Latino Folk Wit and Wisdom (NEA Heritage & Preservation Series, Book 1) (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book. I began learning spanish Seven months ago and now I am offered numerous jobs as a translater because I speak it so well. I owe part of that to this book for teaching me the old metaphors of the latino world. I refered back to this book almost everyday and I learned so much. "cada subida tiene su bajada." "No hay rosa sin espina." "cuando nacio el ahorcado hijito pario su madre." These are just a few of my favorite dichos from this book. The only thing it needed was to literally translate the meanings so students of the spanish language could get even more from this wonderful compilation of hispanic wisdom.

3.0 out of 5 stars Spanish Wisdom, December 20, 2008

By 

T. L. Roe "crashtester" (TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Few Words / En Pocas Palabras: A Compendium of Latino Folk Wit and Wisdom (NEA Heritage & Preservation Series, Book 1) (Paperback)

I bought this book for my sister to impress her Spanish professor. It is a really neat book with Englsih and Spanish on opposite pages. It was a hit!