Set in a Brazilian locale, this is the story of Pedro Archanjo, beloved rogue and fierce activist for social justice, who becomes a posthumous hero when an American intellect discovers his writings. The story flits between Archanjo's lifetime and that of the American professor decades later.

"Ilan Stavans has emerged as Latin America s liveliest and boldest critic and most innovative cultural enthusiast," states the "Washington Post." And the "New York Times" described him as "the czar of Latino literature in the United States." But his influential oeuvre doesn t address Hispanic culture exclusively. It has also opened fresh new vistas into Jewish life globally, which has prompted the Forward to portray Stavans as "a maverick intellectual whose canonical work has already produced a whole array of marvels that are redefining Jewishness."
Neal Sokol devoted almost a decade to...

From the mean streets of the barrio to the house on Mango Street, from the Mambo Kings to the Garcia Girls, the authors who contribute to this shocking, funny collection of fiction and nonfiction transport us across the geographies and through the cultures in an attempt to articulate the joys, struggles, defeats, and triumphs of growing up Latino in the U.S.

Ilan Stavans is one of the foremost Latino scholars and here his best essays are collected into one volume. These beautifully written pieces explore the breadth of contemporary Latino-American culture, depicting and analyzing what he calls "life in the hyphen". Illustrations.

Jews and Latinos have been unlikely partners through tumultuous times. This eclectic book of readings presents the ups and downs of that partnership. It includes some 70 canonical authors, Jews and non-Jews alike, through whose diverse oeuvre - poetry, fiction, theatre, personal and philosophical essays, correspondence, historical documents and even kitchen recipes - the reader is able to navigate the shifting waters of history, from Spain in the 10th century to the Spanish-speaking Americas and the United States at the beginning of the 21st century.

Jews and Latinos have been unlikely partners through tumultuous times. This eclectic book of readings presents the ups and downs of that partnership. It includes some 70 canonical authors, Jews and non-Jews alike, through whose diverse oeuvre - poetry, fiction, theatre, personal and philosophical essays, correspondence, historical documents and even kitchen recipes - the reader is able to navigate the shifting waters of history, from Spain in the 10th century to the Spanish-speaking Americas and the United States at the beginning of the 21st century.

An entertaining, provocative and often exhilarating collection, this anthology celebrates some of the most original and cutting-edge work to emerge from the cultural collide that is Latino life in the United States.

Not only do "modern" Jewish languages like Yiddish and Hebrew have their own Jewish writers, but every major Western tongue from German and Russian to English and Portuguese does as well. These writers are often at the crossroad between the two traditions: their Jewish one and their own national one. Is there such a thing as a modern Jewish literary tradition, one navigating across linguistic and national lines? If so, how should one define it?Ilan Stavans is uniquely qualified to answer these questions and to comment on the power and challenges of cultural margins and literary crossings. He...

The Hispanic Malcolm X. Writer. Activist. Civil rights attorney. Obese, dark-skinned, and angry. Man with a surplus of personality. Man of vision. All the above describe Oscar "Zeta" Acosta. El Paso-born, Acosta became a leading figure in the Chicano rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, winning landmark decisions in civil rights cases as an attorney. As a tireless writer and activist, he had a profound influence on his contemporaries. He seemed to be everywhere at once, knowing everyone in "el movimiento" and involving himself in many of its key moments. Tumultuous and prone to excess, he...