- by Dena Burroughs
PARDON MY SPANGLISH. by Bill Santiago
Queondas, peeps! Si me entienden este sentence, this article is for you.
I’m talking to those of you who are perfectly fluent in both English and Spanish, or at least quite comfortable in both languages, who can follow without a blink people’s stories while they jump from one language to the other and can answer back in the same fashion without missing a beat. A ustedes me refiero, mis colegas bilingües, who, whether you (or your family) came from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Costa Rica or beyond, have this in common with me: Spanglish.
Many of you should be getting what I’m saying. In Los Angeles, Latinos make up a great part of the population. In our subculture of Salsa, even more so. Sure, some of you are not completely bilingual because your folks did not make you speak Spanish when you were little. But be that as it may, even those of you only slightly bilingüal go about town (and the clubs) doing the Spanglish thing. I hear you all the time: “’Tas crazy, man!” or “Gotta go now, te hablo luego,” or, like it’s often the case on the dance floor, “Bailas?”
To those of you who identify with what I’m saying, I want to recommend the book “Pardon my Spanglish,” written by comedian Bill Santiago. The book is funny. It will make you laugh out loud at the most unlikely places, like in the quiet of your cubicle (where you should be working by the way!), or while you sit in front of your coffee cup at Starbucks. It will make you laugh because you will hear yourself in it, and your family, most especially your grandma! However, while the book is worth reading just for the sake of entertainment, what I most value in it is the way it underscores that speaking two languages is actually a plus; that someone able to conjure sentences in two idioms has more power of expression than one who is monolingual. More importantly, it brings up the idea that some of us speak Spanglish, consciously or not, because doing so connects us in an interesting, sort of psychological way, to other people who do it; that it provides a few of us a common background, a similar history.
In case you think Santiago is just a funny guy with a book, let me say that he is, in fact, college educated. He went to NYU for film, and according to the cover of his book, “became a stand-up comedian after narrowly escaping a career in journalism.” His comedy work has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, and the LA Times. He is “a native Spanglish speaker” of Puerto Rican descent, and declares himself to be “a self-ordained Spanglish evangelist.” If we take him by his word, his book may just turn out to be the first Spanglish classic. But even if he doesn’t become the first Shakespeare-o, his book is fun, realistic, thoughtful, and it will make you stop and appreciate your heritage. And what is best in the world but to love one’s roots! Como dicen los dominicanos… Es la cosa!
Pardon My
Spanglish
Bill Santiago
Quirk Books, $14.95
This is Grisham's latest book. Easy to read with beautiful descriptions of an Italian town, and of football moves that will entertain the sport's lovers. I am willing to bet you can not read it and not go to the store for the needed stuff to cook an awesome Italian meal! My family scored big with Italian food while I was reading it!
Just over $12 at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Pizza-Novel-John-Grisham/dp/0385525001/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199387479&sr=8-2
I am thrilled because I am part of this anthology. I wrote two of its stories. One about Benny Hollman, a musician from San Diego, CA, and a personal one. This project was funded by the Commission for Arts and Culture of the City of San Diego. The book contains the biographies of the following San Diegans, of Latin heritage, who have been instrumental to the community: Dolores Banner, Abigail Campa, Beatriz Lopez Campos, Zenaida and Benjamin Cueva, Natalia Galena, Sally and Henry Gonzales, Benny Hollman, Virginia Barron de Hueso, Franciso LIzola Jazo, Maria Berta Lopez, Elvira Mendez, Rosa E. Molina, Luis Moronoes Pelaez and Connie Zuniga.
I realize this is the sort of book that one would be interested in mostly when one knows either the people interviewed, or perhaps the writers, but, just in case, I want to give you the contact information to get a hold of a book: losbilingualwriters@cox.net
Los Bilingual Writers is a great organization dedicated to provide writing classes and workshops for adults and children, readings, publications, book signings, resources, cross cultural exchanges and writing conferences.
Grisham's first work of non-fiction is an interesting story. Scary to realize the injustices that can still happen in our presumed advanced society and legal system.
I enjoyed the book, although, honestly, I hope he goes back to writing fiction. That's the Grisham I rather read.
Hard cover $28.95
Any of you motorcycle enthusiasts will love this book. William Queen, a cop, went undercover as Billy St. John, and infiltrated the Organized Motorcycle Gang called The Mongols. Have you ever seen them, riding around and wearing their vests?
The results of his investigation has him and his children, and ex-wife, somewhere in the U.S. under new identities. It was that serious!
Read this book and the next time you see The Mongols, The Vagos, The Hell's Angels, etc .... you'll be more curious than ever!... but you'll also be veryyyyy careful.
The story will be a movie soon, with Mel Gibson doing the part of Bill Queen. I'm looking forward to it!
Hard cover $25.
I'd hear of this book way before I watched the movie. Once I watched the movie... [gosh... I'm a girl!]... I couldn't resist picking it up at the bookstore.
It's fun book! In a read-instead-of-watching-sitcoms sort of way. And the movie, even with its differences from the book, stayed close enough to make the read-watch combo enjoyable.
More about the author here http://www.laurenweisberger.com/
$13.95 at Borders.
This book was expected to be one thing upon purchase, and it turned out to be a completely different one. It does have a few cultural references, as it is narrated by a 13 year old girl, -- daughter of a Lebanese father and an Irish mother -- but it is mostly a sexually charged story, a coming of age of sorts, that may or may not bother your sensitivities.
Erian is an entertaining writer. This is one of those books you can read in two sittings. But it's not a book that will teach you much. I wouldn't read it for its intellectual value.
Let me summarize it this way, when you hit the end of the book, in the "About the Author" section, you learn that her latest fiction appeared in Playboy. Go from there.
I read the entire book... but to be honest I wouldn't want my kids to get a hold of it just yet.
About $10 at Borders in the Fiction section
Seierstad is a Norwegian author and journalist who arrived in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001. One of the first people she met was a bookseller, who befriended her and eventually agreed to allow Seierstad into his home so that she could record the real day-to-day dealings of his family.
This book is the result of her three months as part of the bookseller's family. It describes candidly the good, the bad, and the ugly.
It is, in my opinion, a great book. Furthermore, the author dedicated $300,000 of the royalties of this book to a project of education and health care initiatives in Afghanistan.
About $13 at Borders in the Asian Studies section.
'Latifa' is the 20 year old writer's pseudonym. She kept her real name private for fear her book would bring trouble to her family and friends left in Afghanistan. This book was written in 2001, just after 9/11 and as the US intervened on the Taliban. It is more graphic than other books I've read when describing the atrocities suffered under the 'Talibs', and it is written in simpler language. It is a page turner.
I found the book at Borders in the Asian Studies section. It sells for $11.
Azar Nafisi was a Literature professor in Iran and now is a university professor in the US, where she has lived for the past nine years.
'Reading Lolita in Tehran' is a memoir of her years in Iran, particularly her interaction with seven of her Literature students. As a group, they risked the disapproval of the fundamentalists ruling their country, and immerged in studying the works of Western writers, such as Austen, Fitzgerald, James, and others.
A good look into life in Iran. Also a great motivator to keep on reading. Nafisi goes into interesting discussions about 'The Great Gasby', 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Lolita', and other books. For those of you who have also read those other works, this book will feel as if attending a Lit class thought by the writer.
It's also inspirational. It talks about our inner strength as humans, and about our drive. What we want to do, we can do. What we need to do, we must do.
I found the book at Borders in the Asian Studies section. It sells for $15. More about the author here: http://www.azarnafisi.com
I recommend to read this novel after reading 'A bed of red flowers', by Pazira. [see below]. Reason being much of the information provided in the latter comes to use while reading the former. This is Hosseini's first novel. Again, novel, not memoir, with the story set in the Afghanistan of the last decade.
Although sometimes predictable and a bit implausible, the story is engaging and has its exciting, and culturally enlightening moments, which surely account for the book's popularity.
To learn more about it see http://www.khaledhosseini.com/
Found this book in an antique shop last weekend. Bought it for a dollar. The title caught my attention, and the picture on the cover made me think of my friend Shelly who's spent the last year learning to play the drums. I got it thinking it'd be biographical; figured I'd read it and then pass it on to my friend.
It turned out to be a young adult novel. Took me about three hours to read it, very easy reading, almost like watching TV. Cute story about a girl who grieves the death of her brother while searching for a band to belong to, music being her calling. It has a happy ending and it leaves you with a smile just like any Friends episode would.
I discovered a new writer, and found out that he has a 2006 novel called "The Valley". Something to recognize in the New Releases section one of these days.
Here's a nice quote out of 'The Band Never Dances':
"I think I am the answer, I think I hold the key. And if I am the dancer, my dance is danced for me."
I like it.
It's a 1989 book, saw used copies of it at Alibri.com for $3 and above.
This is an enlightening book about the quality of life in Afghanistan, particularly during the past decade. It is biographical of the author and her immediate family, all forced to escape Afghanistan, first to Pakistan, then to Canada.
The first 300 pages or so contain stories of hardship and survival that we, as Westerners, can barely imagine. The conditions and situations the Afghans have historically survived are beyond what we could gather from just watching TV news, but it is a strong picture coming from the author, who lived it herself.
The last two chapters though, just about 50 pages, become more about her personal opinion on U.S. foreign policy, which the reader may or may not agree with.
I recommend reading this book as a fascinating way to learn about the history of Afghanistan and the countries that have affected it.
I found the book at Borders in the Asian Studies section. It sells for $15. More about the author here: http://jfilm.org/rtk/neloferbio.htm
This one has nothing to do with dancing, but it will leave you with an impression of what life in prison is, the customs of the Hopi [a Native American tribe], and the recipe to cook meth ::gasp!::
It is the story of a girl who was born one person and grew up a different one. Each chapter is told by one of the main five characters, therefore you get one same account from five different perspectives.
Similar to life, I suppose, we see things only as thoroughly as we can from where we happen to be standing.
The book is found in the New Releases section and sells for $14. More information on the author at http://www.JodiPicoult.com
Faith in Carlos Gomez - A Memoir of Salsa, Sex and Salvation, by Samantha Dunn
If you like Salsa, you'll like this book. But if you were once a regular at Sportsmans Lodge, then you must read it.
I read its 209 pages in one weekend. When I picked it up, encouraged to do so by another dancer, I did not know that a bunch of the people-turned-into-characters in the book are folks I happen to know in 'real life'. In fact, whoever recommended to book to me is one of the characters himself! It took a unique perspective for me. At times it felt like I was around the coffee table gossiping with the author... "omg! he did that!?!"
Samantha is funny. She very effectively describes Salsa the way most of us dancers see it, with its pleasurable side, its sometimes ridiculous side, and ultimately, with the specific value that it has for us individually... that one thing for which each of us embraced Salsa, for what it made us forget, or remember, loose or find. It may be that we all have a similar love story with this dance, but she found a nice way to talk about hers, worth reading.
The book goes for $14 and I found it in the Music Books section at Borders. Enjoy!
