Hispanic-American Writers (Bloom's Modern Critical Views (Paperback))

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Summary: There are some good essays here; however...
Review: I think that this is a useful beginners guide of sorts, but I'm afraid Harold Bloom is a eurocentric patriarchal worshipper of white male writers, to the detriment of his critical judgement. The most important work being written today is by women and minorities, while white males continue to pretend that their writing is somehow both representative of everyone and 'better' than everyone else's. What a joke. What we don't need is another book edited by heterosexist white males like Harold Bloom.

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Summary: one contributor's comments
Review: You can imagine my surprise to find that an article I penned several years ago was included in the most estemmed Harold Bloom's compendium of "Hispanic Literature." I must admit, I was flattered that one of my articles had been included in a volume edited by one of American literature's most esteemed critics. But I was also a bit miffed that no one had bothered to ask me if I wanted my article included in this anthology. Truth be told, I don't even know who owns the copyright to my work; but I do know that someone was paid by Bloom's publisher to include my article, and Bloom will pick up a royalty or two from the anthology. Me, I get squat. But, that's the name of the game and we are forced to play it in the name of tenure, promotion, blah, blah, blah. But this is not really about the $. It's about not having a say on where one's intellectual property comes to rest. Had I had a choice in this matter, I politely would have declined the invitation for reasons that are far too complex--too enmeshed in the sticky goo of representation, power relations, etc. On the bright side, my work is flanked by the literary and cultural criticism of companeros y companeras whom I respect for their commitment to writing about Hispanic writers long before it was chic to do so; long before mainstream presses would bother to give us a second glance; long before mainstream critics would acknowledge that we deserved to occupy an office in the same building as they. That said, dear potential customers, do I recommend this book? Absolutely. In it Professor Bloom has gathered the salt of, if not of the earth, then certainly of Chicana/o literary criticism.

Rating:
Summary: one contributor's comments
Review: You can imagine my surprise to find that an article I penned several years ago was included in the most estemmed Harold Bloom's compendium of "Hispanic Literature." I must admit, I was flattered that one of my articles had been included in a volume edited by one of American literature's most esteemed critics. But I was also a bit miffed that no one had bothered to ask me if I wanted my article included in this anthology. Truth be told, I don't even know who owns the copyright to my work; but I do know that someone was paid by Bloom's publisher to include my article, and Bloom will pick up a royalty or two from the anthology. Me, I get squat. But, that's the name of the game and we are forced to play it in the name of tenure, promotion, blah, blah, blah. But this is not really about the $. It's about not having a say on where one's intellectual property comes to rest. Had I had a choice in this matter, I politely would have declined the invitation for reasons that are far too complex--too enmeshed in the sticky goo of representation, power relations, etc. On the bright side, my work is flanked by the literary and cultural criticism of companeros y companeras whom I respect for their commitment to writing about Hispanic writers long before it was chic to do so; long before mainstream presses would bother to give us a second glance; long before mainstream critics would acknowledge that we deserved to occupy an office in the same building as they. That said, dear potential customers, do I recommend this book? Absolutely. In it Professor Bloom has gathered the salt of, if not of the earth, then certainly of Chicana/o literary criticism.