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Rating: 
Summary: A new way to see...
Review: Deliciously left wing, and direct and powerful, Ilan Stavans is not afraid to stand and be counted and he knows that you might not like what he has to say. And what he has to say is " Look here. This is good. This is powerful."He reaches out to inform -- and celebrate the culture-- with authority and panache. He speaks the truth about the oppressed and the oppressor and his book pulls no punches in a direct attack on any hint of a poor Latino self-image. No time for pity here because the time for ascendance is coming. This book is a necessary shakeup. It's a primer, albeit uneven at times, to folks outside the Latino community and a step in reaching out to those who don't know the truth of their (varied) civilizations. Rich and potent, this opinionated polemic stands out as a tool to understanding and pride.
Rating: 
Summary: Me divirtio mucho!
Review: Este libro esta bien bueno. Es pa' toda nuestra gente. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Bien sabroso!
Review: Este libro vale su precio. Hace falta buena literatura latina. Los autores hablan sobre temas de la historia que son importantes para nuestra comunidad. Creo que a los adolescentes en especial les gustaran mucho las caricaturas del Sr. Alcaraz. Yo lei el libro de jalon y me quede muy satisfecha.
Rating:
Summary: I really recommend it!
Review: I heard about this book on the radio in Washington, DC. I went and bought it. It is very funny, thought-provoking, and really worth the time. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: El Profe Y La Cucaracha
Review: Ilan Stavans studies and teaches Latino and Latin American culture and most recently authored Spanglish: The Making Of A New American Language. Lalo Alcaraz reaches the public on a daily basis through his most excellent comic strip La Cucaracha. Together they have joined to take the reader on a trip through Latino USA: A Cartoon History. Biting and sweet, biased and fair, incomplete but thorough, Latino USA is a good way to introduce yourself to the history of the majority minority in the United States. The scholarship is tight and Alcaraz's art makes it go down easy. I can't wait to get my copy into the school library, where I hope some of my not very cosmopolitan anglo students and not as self-aware as they could be latino students get pulled in by the drawings and learn a little history. I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: El Profe Y La Cucaracha
Review: Ilan Stavans studies and teaches Latino and Latin American culture and most recently authored Spanglish: The Making Of A New American Language. Lalo Alcaraz reaches the public on a daily basis through his most excellent comic strip La Cucaracha. Together they have joined to take the reader on a trip through Latino USA: A Cartoon History. Biting and sweet, biased and fair, incomplete but thorough, Latino USA is a good way to introduce yourself to the history of the majority minority in the United States. The scholarship is tight and Alcaraz's art makes it go down easy. I can't wait to get my copy into the school library, where I hope some of my not very cosmopolitan anglo students and not as self-aware as they could be latino students get pulled in by the drawings and learn a little history. I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Bien sabroso!
Review: My joy at hearing about a cartoon history of Latinos (not, you may notice, Latinas or even Latina/os) illustrated by Lalo Alcaraz was tempered only slightly by hearing the editor (not, I'm sorry Mr Stavans, the author) was self-styled Mexican kitsch authority Ilan Stavans. "A possible resource for teaching!" I thought. Reading the book, however, was such a great disappointment that I doubt it's going to make the cut for the classroom. Without denigrating at all Lalo Alcaraz' art, the book fails on several levels, not the least of which is originality. The first question I asked myself was "Who was this written for?" The introduction to what could have been a revolutionary book seems to veer between being too clever for its own good and winking in the direction of academics, intimating somehow that "comics" are a kind of Latino cultural icon that is kitschy and therefore useful for transmitting ideas. Stavans hasn't done much work on cartoons or comics, or the notion that cartoonish comic art is more (or less) appropriate to represent Latino history would have been more informed. Alcaraz' talent rises above this rather mediocre beginning and keeps the reader amused, even while Stavans (as a cartoon Mini-Me) keeps popping up exclaiming the inevitability of historical bias, insisting on the futility of "truth" in history, and generally sounding defensive. Instead of acknowledging the real social and cultural impact of how history has been and gets transmitted, Stavans seems to want to exist in an academic, vague vacuum, which he may believe protects him or makes him appear to be unbiased-- it does neither. Even some of us academics know that. More troubling, and the key to a two-star review of this text, the book cribs horribly its history from better texts, the most particular offenses being those against the Elizabeth Martinez-edited "500 Years of Chicano History". Several images (MANY images) are culled from that fine picture/word text-- somewhat surprisingly, since Alcaraz has talent galore. Martinez' book, far more complex in its use of images and commentary, should be read before this cartoon history. Also at stake is Stavans' perception of historical importance. We know from the text he loves Richard Rodriguez, but when we finally get to the real (non-idealized) Latinas, we get a few of them drawn on one page, and a digression all too brief of their importance. In what way was this book supposed to educate, inform, or revolutionize when it remakes history in the pattern of most history books before it? Reread Acuna's "Occupied America" and "500 Years" if you'd like to see history-as-usual turned on its head. A book which perhaps would have been better if left to Alcaraz alone, Latino USA trips over itself and its editor's need to academize and, ironically, oversimplify in trying for an audience (ANY audience). Next time, aim for the Academy, Mr. Stavans-- it deserves the hit better than Latinas and Latinos who are still looking for the past to make sense of the present and prepare for the future. Meanwhile, I'll keep reading L.A. Cucaracha.
Rating: 
Summary: A great idea destroyed (as many are) by academe
Review: My joy at hearing about a cartoon history of Latinos (not, you may notice, Latinas or even Latina/os) illustrated by Lalo Alcaraz was tempered only slightly by hearing the editor (not, I'm sorry Mr Stavans, the author) was self-styled Mexican kitsch authority Ilan Stavans. "A possible resource for teaching!" I thought. Reading the book, however, was such a great disappointment that I doubt it's going to make the cut for the classroom. Without denigrating at all Lalo Alcaraz' art, the book fails on several levels, not the least of which is originality. The first question I asked myself was "Who was this written for?" The introduction to what could have been a revolutionary book seems to veer between being too clever for its own good and winking in the direction of academics, intimating somehow that "comics" are a kind of Latino cultural icon that is kitschy and therefore useful for transmitting ideas. Stavans hasn't done much work on cartoons or comics, or the notion that cartoonish comic art is more (or less) appropriate to represent Latino history would have been more informed. Alcaraz' talent rises above this rather mediocre beginning and keeps the reader amused, even while Stavans (as a cartoon Mini-Me) keeps popping up exclaiming the inevitability of historical bias, insisting on the futility of "truth" in history, and generally sounding defensive. Instead of acknowledging the real social and cultural impact of how history has been and gets transmitted, Stavans seems to want to exist in an academic, vague vacuum, which he may believe protects him or makes him appear to be unbiased-- it does neither. Even some of us academics know that. More troubling, and the key to a two-star review of this text, the book cribs horribly its history from better texts, the most particular offenses being those against the Elizabeth Martinez-edited "500 Years of Chicano History". Several images (MANY images) are culled from that fine picture/word text-- somewhat surprisingly, since Alcaraz has talent galore. Martinez' book, far more complex in its use of images and commentary, should be read before this cartoon history. Also at stake is Stavans' perception of historical importance. We know from the text he loves Richard Rodriguez, but when we finally get to the real (non-idealized) Latinas, we get a few of them drawn on one page, and a digression all too brief of their importance. In what way was this book supposed to educate, inform, or revolutionize when it remakes history in the pattern of most history books before it? Reread Acuna's "Occupied America" and "500 Years" if you'd like to see history-as-usual turned on its head. A book which perhaps would have been better if left to Alcaraz alone, Latino USA trips over itself and its editor's need to academize and, ironically, oversimplify in trying for an audience (ANY audience). Next time, aim for the Academy, Mr. Stavans-- it deserves the hit better than Latinas and Latinos who are still looking for the past to make sense of the present and prepare for the future. Meanwhile, I'll keep reading L.A. Cucaracha.
Rating:
Summary: Clever and Creative
Review: The mezcla of the cartoons of Lalo Alcaraz (of the comic strip La Cucaracha) and the scholarship of Ilan Stavans creates a lively and informative overview of the history of US Latinos, cleverly incorporating traditional Latino theatrical characters and symbols as the storytellers. The book is great fun to read; its format makes it accessible to readers of all ages, and anyone fuzzy about the role Latinos have played in US history and culture during the past 500 years or so should RUSH to buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible fun!
Review: This book made me laugh a lot. It is very witty! I loved the cartoons and the text and the way they are connected.
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