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Title: The Hispanic Condition: Reflections on Culture and Identity in America by Ilan Stavans ISBN: 0-06-017005-0 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: March, 1995 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (7 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: The hyphenated condition
Comment: I must say I find very suspicious all of those brief, five-star anonymous reader reviews below, all supposedly from different parts of the country but all praising the book with the exact same language: "a classic", "insightful" and even comparing it to the classic by Octavio Paz 'A Labyrinth of Solitude.' The 'Labyrinth of Solitude' this book is NOT. I approached this book--and the work of Stavans in general--based on the blurbs by writers and authors of such high reputation as Henry Louis Gates, Gregory Barrasa and others but I am sorely dissapointed. I'm happy if Stavans can exist as a 'Hispanic' (rather than a Latino) in the 'hyphens' Americans tend to create to label non-whites, but language is not the only force shaping cultures. This books seems to shine only if you forget the historic forces that have forced millions of Latinos to be labeled with the hyphens of compound identities. His posturing on a number of important issues--bilingual education, Latino sexuality, affirmative action--is more often than not biased and superficial, and worse of all, feels like the posturing of an academic unconcerned with the fate and the condition of Latinos in general. This makes you realize that there is no such thing as a 'Hispanic condition.' A thought-provoking but ultimately confused and superficial book. Strictly to please white 'Hispanic' academics. Read or reread 'The Labyrinth of Solitude' by Octavio Paz and 'Massacre of the Dreamers' by Ana Castillo for more compelling reading on the 'Latino Condition.'

Rating: 4
Summary: Good
Comment: Ilan Stavans finally breaks the mold and tell is how it is. He breaks the myth that all "latinos" are short brown people and shows how it is to grow up in a culture dominated by Spanish. He showed me the identity crisis when I came to the US and was told I wasn't white, but "latino", a word that I had not heard before. His book opens up worlds.

Rating: 5
Summary: Worth the effort.
Comment: I think this book is a fine introduction to Latinos. It is easy to read and provocative. I learned a lot. I want to read other books by the same author.

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