Latinos: A Biography of the People [Paperback]

Earl Shorris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

"Brilliant.... A loving and detailed celebration of a diverse, beautiful and often astounding people."—Laurence Gonzales, Chicago Tribune

They are sometimes called the people who died twice, once at the hands of the Spaniards and their brutal process of civilization, then at the hands of Anglos, practicing a subtler exploitation. They are Latinos, the fastest-growing minority in the United States. Earl Shorris's deeply moving narrative—enlivened by biographical sketches of Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, and many others struggling with the burden of a rich and terrible history—illuminates every aspect of the Latino experience in America, from language to education to social and political organization. "[A] powerful, beautifully-written and thoughtful book...likely to remain unequaled in its sweep and profundity for some time to come."—J. Jorge Klor de Alva, The New York Times Book Review "A smart, perceptive and wonderfully readable book.... Should be required reading for anyone who would hope to understand America."—Gerald Volgenau, Boston Globe

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Harper's contributing editor Shorris presents a magisterial, heterogeneous portrait of the culture, history and aspirations of Hispanic Americans. BOMC and QPB selection in cloth.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Using an oral storytelling style and chapter vignettes, Shorris attempts to cover the history and the current condition of all the North American Latinos, who are identified as descendants of the Spanish conquest of the New World. Beginning with Columbus's subjugation of the native populations in the West Indies, Shorris, a contributing editor of Harper's magazine, recounts the struggle of the Latino people (Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, etc.) against Anglo racism, language barriers, and economic and political discrimination. He also offers an unflinching look at the condition of Latinos in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. Shorris's meandering style makes his book a difficult tool to use academically, however, and the abundance of detail at times overwhelms his message. Still, this is a worthy purchase for urban libraries or any library serving any size Latino population.
- Sharon Roman, Carroll Cty. P.L., Westminster, Md.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393321908
• ISBN-13: 978-0393321906
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Hispanic & Latino

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raised my consciousness as a whole, as a people., May 11, 2002

By 

Ulysses Mendez - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latinos: A Biography of the People (Paperback)

This is just a fantastic book. It will be one of my classics from here on. I appreciated where he started, "the plan of the book and the name of the people", from that moment on - I was hooked. It really raised my consciousness of which we are as a whole, as a people.
I have recommended this book to everyone I know to have as part of his or hers library or on coffee tables.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars muy buena biografia de un pueblo, June 9, 2000

By 

Luis Méndez (Republica Dominicana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latinos: A Biography of the People (Hardcover)

esta historia es instructiva, me ayudo aenterarme de cosas que ignoraba y cosas que no queria admitir. el llama a los latinos las personas que muerieron dos veces y nos muestra una radiografia historica de nuestros origenes y de nuestra presente adaptacion al medio norteamericano. algunos conservan restos de su cultura, los mas viejos conservan su lenguaje y sus tradiciones, los mas jovenes son absorbidos por la cultura que las trasnforma en seres sin raices ni tradiciones, que no son ni de aqui ni de alla. es un buen libro para conocernos y saber que no importa cuantos anos permanezcamos fuera no es bueno olvidarnos completamente de nuestros origenes.

LUIS MENDEZ [e-mail]