Thursday, August 20, 2009

On a Book Review: America Libre

I was going to hold off on my review of Raul Ramos Y Sanchez's book America Libre for a bit but thanks to a certain book critic I have decided to do so sooner. The book critic here is Bob Minzeheimer, a reporter and editor who mostly covered politics for USA Today, until 1997 when he convinced them to let him write about books.

Ok, Mr. Minzeheimer has been doing these reviews for say a little over ten years so I would think that he would have really sat down and read this book. Based on his review he leaves me with the impression that he really didn't and that he, just like many other non-latinos, doesn't really understand the cultural demographics of Latinos in the U.S.

For me, as a Latino born and raised in the U.S., veteran and military retiree this book presented certain experiences that I could personally relate to. Plot, Mr. Minzeheimer, is not what this is really about but rather a perspective. It allows the reader to think in ways he/she would otherwise think. Maybe it's a Latino thing. Kudos, to Raul on such a wonderful book. Absolutely riveting!!

2 comments:

  1. Thank you, Efrain, for this review. When a U.S. veteran like you says he related to the book's main character, who is also a Latino ex-GI, then I feel the thousands of hours of work that went into AMERICA LIBRE were worthwhile. I'm certainly grateful to you for this review, but I'm grateful most of all for your service in uniform. Gracias, mi hermano.

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  2. De nada..the book has been a pleasure to read.

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