A little bit of Latin American flair

     So I have just finished three books and though I didn't initially plan it they were all written by Latino/a authors!
I read two by Junot Diaz (a novel The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao and a series of short stores titled Drown) and The Book of Unknown Americans by Christina Henriquez.

     I really loved this triad of books because it really let loose on one of the big downfalls of American literature...all English and all white (minus the "African American section" of book stores, that also holds a lot of amazing work, but yet, has to be housed in a different section, as if the authors are not just telling the story of the real American experience). Anyways, all three of these books are full of just real American stories from the non-whiteys, it's very refreshing to for someone who is in the process of becoming aware of her white, English-speaking, middle class, college educated, able-bodied (ongoing list) privilege and the implications that has on my surroundings. I am by no means fluent in Spanish, in fact, I know very little Spanish. I did well in it as a subject throughout high school but German is my main zweite Sprache now. I would recommend having a little background knowledge in Spanish as it is slipped in very seamlessly. But don't be turned off if you know literally nothing, just be willing to work a little harder, like every non-native English speaker ever. Here's a quick break down...

tio- uncle
tia-aunt
puta- derogatory word for women
fea- ugly woman
mujer- woman
viejo- old man

Okay, you should be set on Spanish 101 now (no). Don't be like JOB and Michael in Arrested Development who couldn't figure out what "hermano" meant and let that mess up their lives (it means brother, guys).

Alright, I'm going to break down the books in the order I read them...starting with...
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao













Awesome awesome book! My roommate in college actually recommended this book to me like 3 years ago but I just never got around to it. Which I think is ridiculous considering how much I loved this book. Like, it should have been shoved in my face until I started reading it. This book has a lot of Dominican history in it, that you should definitely read the wikipedia page on, at the very least, before jumping in. Wild shit. History class would have been so much more interesting if curricula included what happened south of America, considering we are the ones who really caused a lot of this mayhem. But this is more than a history book, obviously, it is a creation of a mythology and an extension on a well established tradition. This novel is funny and deep and heart wrenching in all of the ways. The story jumps from character to character and thank god it does. Diaz develops the characters well and it has a good mix of modern pop culture, old traditions and just enough super hero. Would absolutely recommend that you pick it up right now and not 3 years from now like I did.

Next,  The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez.
I am wild about this book. Maybe it has to do with my current job, being an English teacher for adults, primarily from Latin America, this book just gave me a new context to think about the lives of my students. Some who have been in America for 20 years and only now want to learn English and others who moved here in the middle of the semester. With varying levels of educational backgrounds and legality in the American immigration system I have learned a lot more about the power of an individuals story, especially those who have been over looked for so long in my experience (back home in Buffalo I didn't come across too many immigrants from Mexico/Latin/South America...we have a lot of people coming through Canada but still). But more so this book is (1) a super fast read (2) is a great story. Oscar Wao took me about 2 weeks to get through and I loved it while I was reading it but it was a little slower. Unknown Americans FLIES by.
Broadly, this book also jumps between point of view characters but they are all connected by the apartment complex they live in, although with hugely different backgrounds and experiences within the complex. If you are looking for something quick but thoughtful (definitely evokes a lot of the emotions.) My mom recommended it to me. She's great, you should listen to all her suggestions.

And lastly,
Drown
I just finished this one last night so I'm still trying to process all that it was, sorry if I don't do it the justice it deserves. But as I mentioned at the beginning this is a series of short stories, so it is easy to pick up--read a story, come back another day. A good one for the busy reader I would think, I don't know, I'm not particularly busy. All these stories do seem connected, although they are not a continuation of one specific story. The style is very much Diaz so I would recommend Oscar Wao beforehand (or This is How you Lose Her, another one of Diaz' books that I am wanting to read in the near future, just gotta get my hands on it) to get a sense of how he truly does not give a damn about the reader and it's really awesome once you get a sense for it. The stories are crude, but they are real, so that's life? I tried to put down the book after each short story to try and process it but I am very tuned to just keep going (and I was bored at work so I had nothing to do but keep going). This also has some Dominican history but it is very much about interpersonal relationships and it was heart breaking. But so good.

So, there you have it. 3 super awesome reads. I have a few long drives ahead of me so I guess I should start figuring out what books are going with me on that...