Rating: 
Summary: My Big Fat Latina Reunion!!!
Review: It is the "My Big Fat Greek Weeding" for the Gen-xers. It doesn't matter where you're from, what color your skin is, what language you speak, or which God you believe in....it speaks to us all. You will have a ball reading this. The characters are well developed, and naturally, you will like and relate to some more than others. I think all women have found themselves sitting around a table, sipping their favorite drinks, and catching up with their "sisters". Thumbs up!
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book right now!
Review: I purchased this book through Amazon.com right after another great purchase, THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez, about an unlucky writer addicted to the personals in New York City. Both books are by new Latin/American authors, but that's where the similarity ends. THE DIRTY GIRLS SOCIAL CLUB is one of the hardest books I've had to review, because it's about more than what happens to people. It's got that whole deep culture thing going on: how different Hispanics are treated differently, and the Mexicana movement, and so much more! I was unfamiliar with so many of the political aspects, so this was really a learning experience for me. (This is also because I constantly found myself going to Altavista's babelfish for translations of the many Spanish phrases thrown in :D) Here are the basics: From the title, you can probably figure out a few things, namely: there are girls; they are dirty; they have a social club. These are all in fact, correct, so let's meet the Dirty Girls Social Club! They call each other "sucias" which means dirty girls. Thus, the name of their group of friends. They met each other in their freshman year of college, and have been meeting twice a year, every year, since then. There's... *Lauren. She's the only Latina writer at the newspaper she works for. Her boss expects her to write in a "you go, girlfriend" style, and Lauren finds him to be an idiot. She's told not to write about anything political or controversial, just light details of her life. She's probably the most depressing character to read about, because she's bulimic and has a small drinking problem. She's dating a man who's cheating on her; one of her more entertaining segments is when she tries to catch him in the act. She's very prone to blurting out how she feels, much to the chagrin of the uptight...
*Rebecca. She keeps her feelings to herself, including lust and longing for other men besides her husband, Brad. Brad doesn't work, but his parents are very wealthy. (Hmm, might this be why she married him?) He spends his time researching philosophy, but what appealed to Rebecca before doesn't now. She established her own successful magazine for Latina women: Ella, and as a woman of the business world, she soon finds out she may not be as happy as she pretends. The same goes for...
*Usnavys. She's big, she's loud, she's proud. Working for a non-profit charity, she's very prominent and certainly materialistic, but she knows it and doesn't care. There'd be no problem with this, but she's in love with a man (although she doesn't admit it,) who can't provide for her every desire. Juan tries his hardest to please her with what little she has, but she can't bring herself to realize that she's passing up on her true love.
*Elizabeth. She's the beautiful black Latina, loved by Boston as a morning news anchor. She's got a spot for for a national job, but her personal and business life may come crashing down when she reveals to the world a secret she's been keeping. She's a recently discovered lesbian, and the one person she loves doesn't know it, and probably never will. She's best friends with...
*Sara. She's got two twin boys, a huge mansion, and her husband Roberto has a wonderful, well-paying job. All of the sucias wish they could have a man like Roberto, but what they don't know, (because Sara doesn't tell them,) is that Roberto is violent when he's angry. Sara finds herself defending his outbursts, but real danger is inevitable as times passes.
*Amber. She's insanely hard to describe, because she's the real weirdie of the bunch. She's very involved in the Mexicana movement, and my basic understanding of it is that some Hispanics believe that they are an indigenous race, and they are resentful of the white man for committing genocide to their people. Amber is renamed as Cuicatl midway through the book, eats raw veggies only, and had an Aztec wedding ceremony with no rings. Need I say more? Yes, actually: she's pursuing a music career, and sings heavy rock about the troubles of her "people." Very bizarre, I know. Because I'm incapable of detailing this correctly, I'm going to quote Mickey Pearlman from the Star Tribune: "And after finishing this book, I now know every piece of dirt about the internecine struggles of Chicanas, Latinas, Miami Cubans, New Jersey Cubans, black and white and brown Hispanics, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans (on the mainland and on the island), Colombians and more." And this much is true. I thought a Hispanic was a Hispanic was a Hispanic- no matter what country they're from. Oh, how I was wrong. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez interweaves a political subplot that defies many stereotypes. This book is told from each sucia's point of view as time passes. It starts out with Lauren, who introduces the sucias, and in turn is told by each other sucia, and we find out more about them. Each section lasts about 20 pages, and the different perspectives keep the writing style fresh. Something that also kept the book interesting for me was how personality is given to EVERY character. Whether it's someone passing by a sucia on the street, or a protagonist, the reader is sucked in and feels like they're really there. It's amazing how the vivid imagery really attached me to the people like I was part of the circle. This is really a book about changing. Each woman goes through a change in her life, whether she decides to or not. They all end up changing for the better, and it's definitely an inspirational read.
Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining read, but slightly hokey
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book because of all the hype it recieved. The six women portrayed are extremely different, but united in the bond they created in college. It was interesting to read about the friendships within the group, how some were closer than others. It was a quick read but it ended so abruptly. All of the "sucias" lives went from chaotic to perfect in less than fifty pages. Perhaps if it was a little more believeable it would be more of a literary work. But if you take it for what it is (a fun read on a summer afternoon), it does the job.
Rating:
Summary: Can totally relate...
Review: When I first came across the title of the book I did think that it was a little offensive being that to call yourself or anyone around you a sucia is the worst insult to any woman. However, I decided that rather than judging it from the get-go, I should read it and find out why the word sucia was used to describe these girls. Now I'm glad I read it and I absolutely loved it. I also have a group of six or seven friends from college, (yes all Latinas) and reading this book made me see each of my friends in each one of the characters. We also get together every so often to catch up and just to show that we are still there for one another. We may not live down the hall from each other anymore, but our friendship has made it even in the "real world". So what if some of the story lines were far-fetched and implausible at times? Haven't you all encountered somebody in your own lives that has so much random drama happen to them that it seems more like a novel than real life? In terms of the stereotypes, i felt that Ms. Valdes-Rodriguez was giving her characters a personality. Again I defend her because guess what...stereotypes happen and they are stereotypes for a reason. And let's be real, many times there is basis for stereotypes. And can people please stop comparing her to Terry McMillan. She's not trying to be anything but herself and who she is is a wonderful writer who can hold her own and write about real issues that do affect real people. I've passed this book on to various friends and they absolutely love it too. I'm glad somebody is at least venturing into the realm of Latina literature as it happens in the United States and not in Latin America.
Rating:
Summary: Great for what it is
Review: Considering this book was from the onset compared to Terry McMillan, I didn't expect this text to indicate the second coming of Toni Morrison. Thus, I read it as a "beach book" and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I would say, though, that the book is somewhere in between mass market books and literary fiction. The book was much better than I expected it to be, and I stayed up all night to read it. It was fun and sad and it explored a lot of heavy issues without being didactic. Most Latinas/os writers tend to write literary works; Valdes-Rodriguez's offers something new, something that is light but still manages to show the hardships of life while still showing that Latina/o experiences do not simply circulate around issues of poverty and racism. I think it's important to have Latina/o writers writing about all aspects of life, not just memoirs that depict racism, poverty, etc. Valdes-Rodriguez does explore racism, homophobia, and domestic violence but this is shown in conjunction with everyday experiences. While many of us experience these issues every day, we also have messy break ups with our partners and have time to laugh; thus, I think Valdes-Rodriguez offers us charcters with complete lives, lives we can all relate to.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun But Dumb
Review: This book found me through an advertisement in The New Yorker and a well-orchestrated buzz in the trade press. St. Martin's went out of their way to market this novel as a literary work, to be stored between Alice Walker and Don Delillo. Alas, it's just fluff. Not that it's all bad. As a piece of chick-lit, it's got some compelling sections. And parts of the book ring true, if only to have their truth squelched by the cotton candy ending. Unfortunately, the book fails in its writing. Valdes-Rodriguez loves to toss in unnecessary scenic detail and a slew of adverbs that were probably pleasing to her freshman comp professor but come across as amateur in the reading. But those sorts of shortcomings would be forgivable if St. Martin's had printed this in paperback and stuck it next to Susan Margolis on the bookshelf. Next time, Ms. Valdes-Rodriguez and her publisher need to drop the pretense and give us a paperback beach read. It would be a sure-fire hit.
Rating:
Summary: Muy Excelente!!!
Review: I just finished this book in less than a week because I could not put it down. This book not only gives you insight about latin women but I think about women, especially ethnic women in general. I love that Alicia Valdes-Rodriguez represents all kinds of latinas from all different backgrounds and all different colors because that is how latinas come. You easily tap into the life of the sucias as they are called or the dirty girls and personally take Sara, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Lauren, Amber, and Usnavys into your hearts as if they are your best friends. Each sucia represents what true friendship is from after having get togethers twice a year to catch up to being their for each other through each of the girls personal problems and believe there are plenty, some very shocking and surprising. I hope to have friends like then when I leave college. I reccomend this book not only for latin women because I myself am not latina but for all woman because regardless you are understand and sympathize with all of them in some personal way. Two thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: well...
Review: I like a fun guilty pleasure read as much as anyone. As I started this book, I was encouraged by the novelty of a diverse group of Latinas in literature. Unfortunately, my excitement didn't hold. As a previous reviewer mentioned, none of these characters are particularly sympathetic or makes the reader feel an emotional connection. The storytelling often comes off as shrill and needs to be toned down. One gets the impression that this book was thrown together too quickly or without the aid of a skilled editor. What's worse is the author resorts to the typical literary female character flaws that we've all seen before. Aside from the protagonists background, it's similar to the recent glut of "chick" books which I have found lacking in plot and character development. In the end, it wasn't a fun read which is a shame because novels with a Latino-American perspective are eagerly awaited.
Rating:
Summary: Fluffy fun for the beach
Review: As long as you don't expect the second coming of Isabel Allende or Sandra Cisneros, The Dirty Girls Social Club will keep you plenty entertained on the beach or on your commute. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez debuts a nuanced, if unbelievable piece of "chica"-lit. The six women narrate the story, each from her own perspective. Lauren, Usnavys, Rebecca, Sara, Elizabeth, Amber encompass everything from rising from poverty to spousal abuse to living in a parent's shadow to identity crises. The women are typical girlfriends in their late 20's with hackneyed love, family, and career problems that all get resolved in a fairly (but not entirely) predictable manner. But what makes them fun to read is their distinctive voices and personalities. Often an author shouldn't attempt multiple narrators because they basically all sound identical (like Summer 2002's The Boy Next Door). To Valdes-Rodriguez's great credit, these women speak their individual minds in original ways. That, and the author's overall sure, clear writing (especially of the primary setting, Boston) made this book a pleasure to read. And it is funny - in a sarcastic, biting way. By all accounts, Lauren is modeled after Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. Thanks to her sharp descriptive pen, the characters came to life in a variety of ways. I found Lauren the least likeable although it felt as if she was meant to be the main protagonist. Rebecca was painted negatively initially, but I found her the most relatable and the most fulfilled. Valdes-Rodriguez writes each woman multi-faceted. They all have problems tailored to their situations, but don't all reach the perfect answer or solution by the conclusion. The same creativity cannot be applied to the men in the Girls' lives or the fantasy-like premises (magical $2 million investor, a number one record on multiple charts, a sensitive drug dealer). In short, interesting women, lousy side characters, poor plot construction. I am not Latina, but that didn't mean I didn't connect with The Dirty Girls. It got me thinking about the disparity between the Latino minority and my own. Contrary to popular belief, not all minorities bond over their status and this book really makes that clear just by exploring the six lives of women in ONE minority group. While other reviewers have criticized Valdes-Rodriguez's inadequate or awkward treatment of the vast scope of the Latino-American experience (which includes too many cultures and regions to list here), I think she makes her point by failing to live up to expectations. The matter is just too huge to be ever be comprehensive much less in a light, humorous novel. A great beach read, a page-turner, and if you're open to some more depth, it can get you thinking, although you should probably look elsewhere for more info.
Rating:
Summary: So what if it isn't a literary perfection? Loved it!
Review: Ok, so it wasn't a literary perfection! So what? Isn't reading supposed to be entertaining? I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and appreciated the emphasis on the different Latina nationalities (because yes, each Latin nationality is different). And yes, it may be compared to HBO's Sex and The City and Terry McMillan's "Waiting To Exhale", but that's just proof that the book depicts what some real women go through and are exposed to. Depicting the Latina aspect is just the icing on the cake. The author's style of introducing each character in first person form was interesting. Most of these characters were inspirational in that they came from low income families, families with issues (like most American families), and were able to make something of their professional lives. And like many women, these characters had struggles with their family, love interests, and coworkers. I highly recommend this novel to all Latinas and females of every heritage. Don't let the negative reviews dissuade you! I only hope that Hollywood will be true to the author and her characters, and cast the right actresses for the parts in this upcoming movie. Happy reading!
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