Mexican Enough: My Life between the Borderlines (Paperback)

by Stephanie Elizondo Griest (Author)
Key Phrases: lucha libre, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, United States, Mexico City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Griest (Around the Bloc), whose mother is a third-generation Mexican-American, made a conscious choice to be white like my dad one day in elementary school and, initially, finds her Hispanic identity when a guidance counselor advises that given her SAT scores, otherwise closed doors would swing open (she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas in 1997). The realization that nearly every accolade I have received in life... has been at least partially due to [this] genetic link inspires her journey to Mexico to learn Spanish and to gain a deeper understanding of [her] cultural heritage. Roughly from January to June 2005, she lives in Querétaro (north of Mexico City), coincidentally with a bunch of gay men. Aside from learning about the gay scene, the art scene and Mexico's unique wrestlers, the timing of her trip places her there when the gay activist Octavio Acuña is murdered. In July, she goes to Chiapas (Mexico's southernmost state), Zapatista territory, and devotes the second half of her book largely to documenting a burgeoning social movement that shook parts of the nation to the core. Patches are interesting, but Griest is not compelling or profound about the harassment and violence suffered by homosexuals, for instance, nor seriously affecting about her personal dilemma, being biracial. (Aug.)
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Review
"Stephanie Elizondo Griest dances where others fear to tread. There were several places in this book where I said, 'No, you can't say that.' I am glad she did." -- Luis Alberto Urrea, bestselling author of The Devil's Highway

"I can't think of anyone who does a better job of capturing the people and places that inhabit the soul of a country. She grants us access into the hidden corners of a Mexico we've only heard about, with her own brand of humor, spot-on wisdom, and heart." -- Michelle Herrera Mulligan, editor of Juicy Mangos and Border-Line Personalities

"A revealing exposé of one woman's struggle to live between two cultures and two worlds, and yet not fully belong to either." -- Teresa Rodriguez, author of The Daughters of Juárez

"This is a travel journal for the new millennium, a biracial woman searching for herself among the complexities of the borderlands." -- Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street and Caramelo

"[O]ne thing is undeniable about Griest: This chica's got guts. The systematic self-incrimination she repeatedly displays and the frenzied compulsions fueling her quest to figure out just how Mexican she truly is -- if at all -- are what make Griest's work important. It speaks to the larger truths all biethnic individuals are fixated on but aren't always as willing to expose with such intense honesty and nerve. So we continue watching with an interest best described as uneasy. We know what is at stake for this writer, for all hyphenated Americans confronting their heritages, each curious to see what happens when Griest chooses to fling herself in front of the next moving vehicle, hoping the epiphany it heralds will be enough." -- Los Angeles Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416540172
• ISBN-13: 978-1416540175
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #112,682 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely, eye opening, must read!, August 13, 2008

By	S. Shokouhi - See all my reviews

I loved this author's other books, so I was really looking forward to "Mexican Enough." It does not disappoint. She routinely throws herself into the craziest situations (like sneaking into a prison in Oaxaca, or spending the night in a Zapatista camp in Chiapas) and finds the most amazing stories. I learned so much about Mexico, from the impact of NAFTA and immigration, to pop culture like lucha libre (think: Nacho Libre). Some of the stories are pretty heartbreaking, but there is a lot of humor as well. Even though I am not Latina, I can relate to her questioning her cultural identity, and whether or not she is "enough." It also reminds me of this ongoing debate about Obama being "black enough." That makes this an especially timely book.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Gripping work!!!, August 13, 2008

By	CW - See all my reviews

I found this amazing book to be very compelling. This author always gets to the very core of the people, visiting areas where tourists do not tend to tread. In Mexico, she not only does not hide the bad and ugly, but also takes us into the private lives of the good and the beautiful. Reading her book was like being her travel companion on her personal quest for the holy identity Grail. I highly recommend this book for anybody interested in Mexico. We all share in its history, its people and its culture. I also highly recommend this book to anybody wanting to take a journey of discovery into their own ancestral motherland. Stephanie inspires one to do so.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Her Best Yet, September 1, 2008

By	Deirdre NYC - See all my reviews

When she finally buried her shovel in Mexican soil she had no idea how rich the ground might be. No longer satisfied with simply being considered a Latina on applications, Griest, who learned Russian to travel in the former Soviet Union and Chinese to live in China, decided it was finally time to learn Spanish by traveling Mexico.

In her best and most heartfelt book yet, Griest documents both her amazing process of embracing the wild, dangerous, loving, and enthralling calliope that is Mexico and its volatile political and social atmosphere. Along her way, Griest meets farmers and activists, gay men and macho wrestlers, revolutionaries and victims of violence. Each encounter changes both writer and reader.

All the while the main question is hovers in the sky: What does it mean to be Mexican? Can a woman from Texas with roots in rural Mexico and the Kansas prairie find her reflection in brown eyes or blue eyes?

Read the book. Griest's journey resonates with all of us who struggle to define ourselves in a complicated world.

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