Voces sin fronteras. Antología Vintage Español de literature mexicana y chicana contemporánea. (Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicana and Chicano Literature)

Reviewed by Ana K. Bonfante, Berwyn, IL -- Críticas, 6/15/2007

tr. by Liliana Valenzuela. U.S.: Vintage Español: Random House. 2007. 252p. ISBN 978-1-4000-7719-9. $13.95. STORIES

García [Soñar en cubano; Random House Español, 1993 (Dreaming in Cuban; Ballantine, 1992)], a National Book Award nominee and recipient of the Guggenheim scholarship and the Whiting Writers’ Award, is a Cuban native raised in New York City. Here, she compiles the literary works by Mexican, Chicano, and Latin American writers. These short stories portray common social obstacles that Latin Americans face when migrating to the United States, as well as their struggles with identity, culture, religion, traditions, and nationality. Some are excerpts taken from longer stories, such as Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo, while others are short poems such as Jimmy Santiago Baca’s “Meditaciones del Valle Sur: Poema IX,” which narrates Eddy’s tragic story. Considered a problem child, Eddy took his own life, an act of rebellion against injustices society made him face. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s Cómo domar una lengua salvaje (“How To Tame a Wild Language”), the author explains that communicating in Spanish can be difficult for speakers in this country because they must adopt the language's numerous dialects (e.g., Spanglish, Mexican Spanish, Tex Mex, Pachuco, Chicano Spanish), depending on whom they are addressing. The book is divided into five parts: “Early Influences” (e.g., Alfonso Reyes, Juan Rulfo); “Chicano Voices #1” (e.g., Gloria Anzaldúa, Rudolfo Anaya); “Contemporary Mexican Voices” (e.g., Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz); “Chicano Voices #2” (e.g., Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo); and “New Talents” (e.g., Ignacio Padilla, Ángeles Mastretta). This book, which includes six works translated by the renowned Valenzuela, is similar to Anzaldúa’s Borderland/La Frontera (Aunt Lute Books, 1987), which includes short stories, poems, and excerpts of other works. Highly recommended for bookstores with a readership interested in Latino/Mexican issues.