The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature
*Starred Review* As we go through yet another time of questioning what it means to be American, the Latino community is thriving. This beautifully clarifying keystone anthology, therefore, couldn’t be more timely in its illumination of the full Latino spectrum in exceptional literature rooted in Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban American, and Dominican American cultures, as well in other Spanish-speaking countries. Prolific and versatile Stavans and his fellow editors have gathered a glorious chorus of 201 voices spanning five centuries and diverse traditions. Stavans lays the groundwork: “First, at its core, Latino literature is about the tension between double attachments to place, to language, and to identity.” Stavans and company subsequently track the interaction between Hispanic and Anglo perspectives as they succinctly yet vividly cover the historical and political events that have shaped and fueled Latino writing both reportorial and imaginative. With a great array of writers celebrated and too little known, and invaluable supporting materials, this grand and affecting treasury of culturally rich and aesthetically dynamic poems, fiction, drama, letters, diaries, and essays illuminates every aspect of Latino life. While the great poet José Martí writes of “weapons of the mind, which vanquish all others,” journalist Rubén Martínez begins his chronicle of the Mexican-U.S. border with a sentence laced with profound implications: “I am close to the line.” --Donna Seaman