Cogan’s Reviews I should confess right off the bat that this one is out of print. Amazon.com doesn’t have any copies. However, I’m sure it’s still available in libraries or used bookstores. In any case, it’s worth looking for. It’s a collection of essays and travel pieces that resulted from Lawrence’s visits to Mexico and […]
Continue ReadingMoralistic, prejudiced, racist, misogynist, manipulative, sexist, daring, exciting, critical, sarcastic and passionate – these are just a few adjectives that commonly describe Mexico’s most widely-read publication: the historieta . The historieta’s origin can be thought of as rather diffuse, considering that it is based on a synthesis of icons and texts wound into a single message. But […]
Continue ReadingOne of the rewarding aspects of investigating the history and evolution of Mexico’s rich and varied cuisine is the availability of authentic sources. The Spanish chroniclers took painstaking notes on nearly every aspect of indigenous life upon their arrival, including food and cooking techniques, and continued, after the Conquest, to keep household journals, diaries and […]
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Cogan’s Reviews A Mexico book by Carlos Fuentes Here’s Fuentes at it again, publishing short stories and novellas under a single title and trying to interlink them into a cohesive whole as he tried to do in The Crystal Frontier. The connection here is the orange tree, the symbol of Spain. “Could any image verify […]
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Cogan’s Reviews In 1952, John Steinbeck won an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay of the movie, Viva Zapata! Many years later, however, a manuscript was found in UCLA Library in which it was discovered he had written extensively about his subject, other than simply the screenplay. It’s that document that makes up the major […]
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Cogan’s Reviews The simplest way to describe this novel is to say that it’s a kind of Mexican “Roots” – a big family survival saga covering three generations of two families, complete with a large cast of characters. Author Villaseñor has based his complex, sprawling tale on the experiences of his own family members and […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I wish I could say this novel was an enjoyable read but, frankly, this humble reviewer found it rather a chore getting to the end. Since finishing it, curiosity has driven me to go looking to see what other people had to say about it. And it would appear that the verdicts are […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews There have been several versions of the Zorro story since its initial appearance in 1905 in the novel The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley. My only recollection of the swashbuckling hero with the black cloak and hat and sword was decades ago when Tyrone Power was the star of a movie of the same […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews Frankly, I find this a rather lightweight collection of stories. And, as I’ve never read anything else by Garcia Marquez I’m left wondering where he got his great reputation. I guess I should get around to reading those better known works of his, like One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera and […]
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Cogan’s Reviews This novel is described in several places as a classic of modern Hispanic literature and it really is a powerful book. Since it’s appearance it has been published in more than 27 editions and in several languages. The edition I just read is a Signet Classic paperback. It comes with a very useful […]
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