Central America Books

Very good read. "The Women of Colonial Latin America" covers the many diverse people who were in Latin America. Excellent read.

Excellent condition, barely any wear on cover of book, no bent pages, no writing in book

It's a complete new perpective of the conquest and colonization. I read it for my history class and I loved it. It's an interesting reading.

The book was a very good collection of stories of the women of Colonial Latin America-but the stories were dull at times, and I just thought that there should have been more detail in regard to the actual women's lives.

I'll be honest, and say that I had to get this books bcause of an assignement I was doing in school. The professor just asked me to write on a couple of chapters, kind of like a book review, but I was hooked! After I was done with the assignment I HAD to read the whole book, because It was really imformative, and interesting to read. I'm a history major, and as other historians know, the subject of women historically, has been in the dark since the beginning of time. Only recently have historians began to write about women. Socolow does a great job in her book, which focuses on women in Latin America She begins with the Spanish conquest of the New world and talks about the indigenous people before Columbus. Socolow includes the arrival of African women along with European ones. She goes on to talk about women, marriage, and family, the religious women and all about how the elite ones spent their time. Socolow touches on women and work and about slavery, and of course about their social deviance, like crime, withcraft and rebellions. It really is an outstanding book and I truly recommend it!

Aiding Students, Buying Students charts the history of American student aid. Rupert Wilkinson provides an intriguing account of the progress of assistance over the past 300 years and the underlying factors behind its provision. Beyond the historical perspective it goes on to provide an insightful review of today's systems and proposals for reform. This book is written with authority and wit and unwinds a story that anyone with a professional interest in education will find both fascinating and thought provoking. Also, don't miss the pictures, a brilliant gallery from the 17C to modern times, with informative captions, sometimes funny, sometimes moving.

If we were to invent the ideal author for writing the history of American student aid, we might specify a person who knows the college scene very closely but has a distance on it, who has long nurtured a concern with the way elites are educated, and who writes with grace and vigor. Rupert Wilkinson began his career with a brilliant comparative study of how English elite schools such as Eton and Winchester prepared young men for leading roles in what was then an empire. He writes like an angel. As a professor of American studies at Sussex, Wilkinson had the opportunity to travel repeatedly to colleges in the U.S. to monitor his institution's exchange programs and as he went, to mine the archives on students aid and conduct searching interviews with officials. Aiding Students, Buying Students lays out a history engaging in itself and with obvious relevance to today's challenges in student aid.

America faces growing economic and social inequities--a problem that threatens the roots of our democracy. I was delighted to find that Wilkinson focuses on the the impact of financial aid on actual educational opportunities faced by students from low-income and middle-income families. I was also glad that he got beyond the erroneous conventional wisdom of addressing this problem solely in terms of ethnic minorities, and that he ends this historical study with a review of the current situation and proposals for reform.

Providing financial assistance to students has always been a complicated matter for academic institutions, and the complications have grown increasingly impenetrable, partly because of the mixture of motives that lie behind the provision of such assistance. Rupert Wilkinson has carefully examined a wealth of historical information on this topic, and he has achieved an admirable understanding of what lies behind that information. Possessed of a graceful and lucid writing style, he has elucidated his subject splendidly. Oberlin College is one of the institutions that he has studied, and as a retired member of its faculty I can attest that his treatment has been thorough, fair, and illuminating.

I am very pleased to see the life and work of Don Agustin Rivas in print. This man has and continues to lead a remarkable life. Having worked with Don Agustin as a teacher for several years and heard many of the stories, it is good to see that the book remains true to them and captures the heart of Don Agustin's adventures. The book focuses on Don Agustin's personal challenges and accomplishments, but also contains many teachings and wisdom from one who has sacrificed much to be of service to the people and to the Earth. I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to know more about ayahuasca shamanism and/or the life of Don Agustin Rivas.

Amazon Magic by Jaya Bear is the astonishing biography of Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez, an ayahuasquero, or shaman who is skilled in visionary and healing plant medicines. From his childhood in a small jungle town beside the Amazon river; to his spending a year living with an Indian tribe; to visionary encounters with plant, water, and jungle spirits; Amazon Magic presents to the reader an evocative and amazing story of one man's journey to magic, enlightenment, healing, and wisdom. Amazon Magic is enthusiastically recommended reading for students of Shamanism, Metaphysics, and indigenous life of Peruvian Amazon indians.

This reviewer delights in learning, especially about people and cultures who can and did make an impact...and natural medicines that have their roots in a period thousands of years ago. So, when author Jaya Bear sent me her book, Amazon Magic, I discovered a wonderful opportunity and biography, as well as a narrative filled with mystery about a totally different reality.

Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez (1933-) was born in Tamshiyacu, Peru, a small jungle town along the Amazon River. What is was to grow up in this totally different (from us) environment...learn to be a shaman...and acquire the skills to use healing plant medicines such as ayahuasca, are the subjects of this fascinating new book.

Amazon Magic enables the reader to walk in the shoes of a shaman and understand his experiences and adventures...and his training and discipline to achieve his widely-regarded status as a profound healer. This reviewer was fascinated by not only plant medicines, but the spirits that reside in the jungle. And how ayahuasca, for instance, can help one see the spirits, and the demons. "Each of us has our demons, and ayahuasca shows them to us so we can face them and heal. Ayahuasca teaches us truth about ourselves".

Author, world traveler, artist and student of many spiritual cultures, Jaya Bear, felt drawn to travel to Peru after her husband died. She met Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez, and has continued to work closely with him since that time.

The result is Amazon Magic, a fascinating look at a culture and individual that have made an impact. Jaya Bear presents this revelation in an easily- read- and- understood fashion that captures Don Agustin's words, love and compassion!

Many years on from THE WIZARD OF THE UPPER AMAZON this book is an engaging adventure story of the same time. Endearing frankness ... from multiple sexual adventures to cannibalism ... combine with a fearsome determination to excel in his shamanic world, years of undergoing plant diets (ayahuasca the principle plant medicine but there are many more discussed here) ... all make this man seem oddly trustworthy. The directness of style is nicely free of many literary conventions ... these are Don Agustin's most striking memories, told in a clear way, worked into a book by Jaya Bear. I enjoyed it as a fine adventure story, a great jungle yarn.

This book is a breath of fresh air in a day when people would like to change the history of our country. Dr. Beller goes beyond even the declaration that our country is Christian...he goes to the heart of the matter; that Baptists had a major influence in the foundation of this nation.
Dr. Beller points out the facts that We as Americans have lost touch with our heratige, and those of us who are Baptist have lost touch with our heratige. Neither of which is a good thing! He remedies the problem by giving the facts, and in a way that it is a joy to read.
Dr. Beller has several other books which are worth the time spent reading them. He also gives lectures on the Coming Destruction of the Baptist People, which are also excellent!

This book has a wealth of information that can not be dismissed becasue of the facts and that the Baptist is not just another religon it is Bible.

This is simply the best Baptist/American history book out there. A real treasure in the Christians library.

"America is a Baptist nation"
From this quote on I was spellbound. This is unlike any other history book I have ever read. The facts are presented, but in a way to inspire, encourage, and enflame the child of God to run the race seeing "we are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses."
I had no clue that our nation was founded so firmly on Baptist principles. I knew our founding fathers were moral, but had no idea such a large majority were Baptist.
This book has deepend my appreciation for the Baptist and the doctrinal (Biblical) stance they have taken through the couse of history. I pray The Lord will once again bless our nation with more Shubal Sterns', Daniel Marshall's, John Clarkes, Isaac Backus', Obadiah Holmes', and others. Men who stand on the truth of Scripture - who live by it and die by it!
This is most definitely an absolute-must read for every Christian. If you haven't read it - READ IT! If you have read it - RE-READ IT!

I need to declare first that I wrote the preface for the original US edition of this book, so obviously I think highly of it. Re-reading it again recently, I found that it moves me still, very strongly, with the vision that the steady strengthening of the individual human being is a force in history. The USA, whose world role is so complicated at this point, has had a great deal of strength in its "individualism" -- whether Jefferson's or Emerson's or the slaves, native Americans, women, immigrants, trans-continental migrants and all the rest who had to strive to establish their personal worth. This book helps me feel that we in the USA will find our way back to the humane ideals which are part of our true contribution to the world of the future.

Dr. Ben-Aharon's book is perhaps the most original contribution to the theme of Globalization, US, and social responsibility I ever read. He is not only an expert source of US policy and globalization' strategy, his unique contribution lies in the fact that he is capable of suggesting new, positive ways, socialy-and spiritualy productive. The concepte of Initiation, in particular, as developed in chapter 15, in connection with the evolution of consciousness and social life, is most illuminating. Its the first book on the topic known to me that combines depth of social analysis and spiritual insight, with wonderful sense of hope for the future of the US and humankind.

This book was amazing. It should be read by everyone concerned with what is going on in the world today and America's role in it. If you are wondering if you should get the hell out of this country or stay and fight for better solutions instead of running from the problem(and be "truly" proud to be an American)...read this book. The big plus about this book for me was its spiritual element in relation to world social events.
I just finished reading Owen Barfield's, "Saving the Appearances," before reading this book, unaware that it would be a great primer for what Mr. Ben-Aharon has to say. We definitely are living in interesting times.

All I can say is fascinating, in depth and very stimulating. I'm really glad I stummbled across this gem.

The author was the public relations spokesperson for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, thus he had a great insiders perspective. He includes insightful insider stories. Great read!

From the very first page, I felt like I was there. Dick Yarbrough combines incredible professional credibility and integrity with expert story-telling. What a great read!

I was always suspicious about the goings-on behind the scenes during preparation for the Olympics in Atlanta.While Richard Yarbrough's book has not completely convinced me that all was well, it awakened me to the fact that the folks working in the trenches performed admirably under very adverse circumstances. It also confirmed my belief that the Committee's goals were undermined by a selfish and greedy city government. Yarbrough's account of preparation for the games, the bombing of Centennial Park and the competition is must reading for those who, like me, need to know the truth. Good going, Richard!

Dick Yarbrough's well written book really tells it like it is (was) with no holds barred. It is a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek into the very political upper levels of planning and running the Atlanta Olympic games. I highly recommend it to everyone. It is a must-read for Atlanta residents!

This book is a MUST READ for ANYONE who deals with customers. My employer believes in this book so much, They designed a class around the book that every employee had or has to attend.

This is a great book for owners of businesses or people who work for corporations. I enjoyed the chapter about managing young workers.

A MUST READ for EVERY manager, employer, CEO, anyone who is a leader of just one or thousands of employees! It will literally change the way a leader looks at their company and what it takes to be successful by demonstrating how the employees MUST come first as the company's NUMBER ONE asset! It will cause a total shift in the leader's thinking, from "customer oriented" to "employee oriented" way of doing business. The author emphasizes as the company takes care of the employee, they, in turn will take care of the customer. Karl shows you how to do it with excellent concepts and ideas that work! Reading this book will cause the reader to lose sleep, to be haunted if they choose to ignore Karl's leading! Perhaps losing valuable employees in the process, never realizing why. Karl shares how companies spend thousands of dollars on learning how to catch and keep customers, when the real key, like Karl demonstrates, is how to catch and keep EMPLOYEES, who catch and keep customers. The business then thrives! Karl is an amazing author.

Karl Arlbrecht discusses customer service strategies and programs and the failed application of manufacturing ideas to service organisations. I was amazed how accurate his book was at describing many of the failures that my past two employers made. It was as if he had worked for us! An excellent reference book for management in service based businesses.

"What's in a name? History! The African American community has their community in Harlem; the Dominicans are beginning to carve out a space for their people...Spanish Harlem is the soul and heartbeat of the Puerto Rican people...groups survive by controlling space and maintaining a viable and visible presence..." (p. 73). This statement, made by an activist and poet during a debate on the use of the term "El Barrio" to reference East Harlem, touches on one of the main issues that Arlene Davila so brilliantly expresses in her book, Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City. This rich ethnography focuses on the issue of space, particularly in the neighborhoods of El Barrio, or Spanish Harlem, located in the East Harlem district. She brings to light the cultural politics involved in the definition of space and its subsequent appropriation, as well as the commodification and marketability of ethnicity and race. Through extensive research, that includes interviews with local neighborhood residents, observations and participations at community meetings and organizations, and public hearings, Davila is able to put together a magnificent work that documents the complex effects of culture, space, commodification, representation and gentrification of space and the residents in El Barrio. In doing so, she is able to call "attention to the symbolic and representational processes that have tied race, ethnicity, and place in East Harlem within the public imagination...account[ing] for the value of these representations in the symbolic economy of contemporary cities" (p. 24).
El Barrio, a growing urban, Latino community is the foreground for Davila's examination of the politics of culture, urban space, gentrification of neighborhoods, and "the neoliberal policies that favor privatization and consumption" (p.2). Davila raises important questions in her work by focusing on the increasing attempts to create social change in urban communities through the introductions of new developments, businesses, museums, charter schools and tourist sites. In the chapters in her book, she devotes much time analyzing the complexities surrounding such gentrification issues, brining in to play the resistance of the local residents against developers. One particular impressive aspect of Davila's work, touches on the difficulties local residents face when they buy into the developer's ideas of programs that include home ownership and museums. Many residents agree that the image of Spanish Harlem as "poor, crime-ridden, and underdeveloped" sheds a negative light on their community (p.115). Developers, craftily pointing to the lack of value and marketability of Puerto Rican heritage or "Puerto Ricanness" reinforce the existing stereotyped image on El Barrio as unpopular (p.114).
Yet as Davila shows, the support of local residents of new projects can sometimes in fact lend a helping hand to the process of gentrification, resulting in residents jeopardizing their stake and claim in their own neighborhoods. In other words, "by supporting consumption and entertainment projects, such as museums and home-ownership programs, residents are furthering gentrification and increasing prices in East Harlem, thereby hindering their own future claims to the area" (p. 4). The Edison Project that Davila describes in her fourth chapter highlights the attempts of private organizations to claim stake in the urban communities of El Barrio, telling residents that "the project would educate residents about their own common heritage" while creating avenues "that would provide jobs and place the neighborhood on the map" (p. 129). But the price of these incentives was not free. Developers used culture as "the bait for a larger project for privatizing social services and further commodifying place in El Barrio" (p.129). Arlene Davila does an excellent job in bringing to light the complexities involved in the processes of gentrification and culture consumption and the desires of residents to reclaim their neighborhoods through highlighting their cultural values.
Another fascinating aspect of Davila's work touches on the issues of the relationships between the Puerto Rican residents of El Barrio and African Americans. Davila points out that both African Americans and Puerto Ricans share a common history, yet the introduction of a cultural space and the desire for "local control of resources" and "local electoral politics...has polarized the groups' relationship since the start of urban renewal projects and still mediates debates over space and development in the area" (p. 19). The advancement of African Americans in the political sphere is another point of tension between the two groups, as well as the dominant leadership roles of blacks in the urban development sectors. Additionally, Davila describes the tensions that exist between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. The rapid growth of the Mexican population in El Barrio is causing the "rapid transformations in the area's demographics and landscapes" resulting in "tensions between Mexican and Puerto Rican populations, raced to their different histories, citizenship status, and/or self-conception as residents, racialized minorities, or temporary immigrants" (p. 21). While illuminating, the relationships and tensions that arise between the Puerto Ricans, African Americans and Mexicans alike can sometimes be messy. Their fight for control over space and their commonalities as minorities, whose culture is being commodified by developers and outside organizations, all tie in and relate to one another in a complex web of defining space and cultural values. As a results, the neighborhoods in which they all reside are slowly changing, reflecting the backdrops of multiculturalism, neoliberalism and globalization that form a common thread between the various issues and projects that Davila discusses in her work.
Barrio Dreams is an exceptional piece of work that illuminates the debates and issues surrounding the ever increasing urbanization and gentrification of one of New York's most well known neighborhoods. Arlene Davila is truly a genius at work!

Various historical points reveal where the redefinition of culture took place due to economically driven motives, which have proven pivotal for empowering as well as defining cultures. From the Pledge of Allegiance to the current war in Iraq, the lines drawn around the essence of one's culture have been exploited by money-driven entrepreneurs and politicians. Arlene Dávila exposes this phenomenon in East Harlem, and more specifically in el Barrio, in her new book Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City. She is "concerned mostly with the specificity of current racial, ethnic, and spatial conflicts in the area" which, "become exacerbated by the cultural bases of many contemporary development initiatives at the very time that intraethnic and racial alliances among minorities are most impending and most needed." (5) Her book displays the reality of the struggle in El Barrio where "ethnic" groups have been battling for a place at the same time the "Latin" community as a whole has been fighting for a political position in order to gain control of the definition of their culture.
Culture, contrary to Dávila's belief that there was a time "when cultural demands commanded economic resources and political valence," (2) has almost always been advanced for economic reasons. Countries in the Arabian Gulf have attracted workers from all around the world to work in the oil and gas fields to an extent where now the citizen is a minority due to the influx of these workers-citizens of these countries have yet to object to the increasing number of workers. Surely when one's culture becomes the minority culture it will have a great impact on the shape it takes.
Dávila, author of Sponsored Identities: Culture, Politics in Puerto Rico and Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People, has done extensive study on the issue of politics in the marketing of the "Latin" identity. The use of "Latin" or "Latinidad" implies homogeneity-it is a remarkable how the author is sucked into this normative stereotypes constructed for categorization purposes. The author herself argues that the "Latin" community is not homogenous in any way, thus "these groups differ in mission and objective." (157) Hence we have El Barrio as an area where various groups are fighting for various ends-using the word "Latin" inevitably hinders our vision concerning the diversity of the "Latino" culture.
Nevertheless, it is not simply about homogeneity among the Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and Dominicans. It's about hierarchies within hierarchies; "the relations are mediated by existing racial and ethnic hierarchies that are shaped by racialist processes in the United States and in Latin America and also have particular manifestations that are historically and regionally situated" (171). Hence the "ethnic" groups are placed into hierarchies according to the basic social class and political participation in the United States, which finds El Barrio (in general) in the lower middle-class. But hierarchies exist within this hierarchy, which leads to the divide between the "Latino" groups. Their stance in this category revolves around several classifications such as devotion to work, crime rate, longevity in the community and other such ingredients. The "stereotypes of Mexicans as less educated or unsophisticated" (173) have been a catalyst for Mexicans to attempt to present themselves in a picture they believe suite their community most and thus they have considered themselves as "hard working, and ethical Mexicans" (173). But other than the competition between the "Latino" groups, in the one specific group there is a hierarchy. The example of Puerto Ricans "with a longer history in El Barrio, criticized Puerto Rican newcomers just as forcefully, despite their Puerto Rican nationality and pro-Puerto Rican leanings." (79) The complexity of these levels and allegiances causes conflict in the group, which ultimately leads to the dismantling of the "greater community"-the "Latin" one.
How does Dávila define culture? She states that culture is an "ethnic or racial identity" as well as an "object of entertainment." (10) Culture is almost always associated with tradition and history and it is ironic how modern means can reshape our concept of culture in addition to molding the minds of `outsiders' in regards to their perception of a community's culture. Culture is man-made and it is "imagined." It is interesting to note the use of Benedict Anderson's "imagined community" in Dávila's study of El Barrio. She throws it in on page 65 whilst talking about Puerto Ricans and their creation of their community. It is a shame that this notion of "imagined community" is not introduced earlier in her work. That is the foundational base of conflict in any society where various communities live and fight for elements of their own culture so as to proclaim its exclusivity to them.
But what is especially ironic is the fact that culture is not tangible and Dávila seems to miss a step between providing us with her definition of culture and the various problems that have taken shape in El Barrio due to gentrification, which ultimately means the exclusion of some communities-the exclusion from political representation in New York City is center to Dávila's study. She argues that the "Latin" communities are losing grip of the fate of El Barrio due to the lack or representation in organizations that decide the final outcome of El Barrio. Her argument is clear and impressive because of the depth of her research in the politics of representing a community; the author provides us with several examples of how tenants are defined by race and social class, and thus reshape the community.
Overall, the study is extremely interesting in seeing the impact of marketing and politics on culture and vice versa. El Barrio is not a unified force and culture-Dávila proclaims, "sure El Barrio continues to be "de todos." Which is obviously a partial todos." (96) The complexities that the author examines is impressive and brings to light the power of marketing and advertising that are politically motivated in a society. She is an anthropologist and it is a study that presents us with extensive examples and theories but leaves the door open, as anthropologists tend to observe and not interfere.

It is no secret that our society continues to thrive and grow out of the economic structure of capitalism. Globalization provides more opportunities for free trade, and in the process our economy becomes increasingly privatized. These concepts of neo-liberalism, which require less government intervention, have been expressed through policies that deregulate 'big business' and further the gap between the affluent and the impoverished. Although many are bearing the fruits of this growing interconnection of trade and exchange, it comes at the expense of those who remain indefinitely at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Through her book Barrio Dreams, Arlene Davila uncovers many repercussions concerning the growing competitive housing development market in El Barrio or East/Spanish Harlem. Davila discusses the process of gentrification that has resulted in a pauperized community within New York City. The book aims to characterize the cultural and political interactions between different groups of Latinos as well as between those within the greater community. Their attempts to shape the future of their barrio while understanding their own cultural capital are also constantly revealed. Davila portrays the politics of marketing ethnicity as culture, and how it is treated as industry to further the process of gentrification. This book highlights the increasingly significant role of Latinos in American society and their struggles to gain power and authority in their communities.
In areas such as New York City, where property value only has the ability to grow with time, impoverished neighborhoods such as East Harlem are susceptible to development from outside private companies. Government policies have further contributed to the gentrification in the Empowerment Zone in NYC and have opened the door for private development. Davila states, "Since the 1980's, similar policies involving tax incentives to the private sector, as in today's EZs, have consistently replaced publicly financed community-based development strategies as the dominant urban development strategy (pg 9)." In compliance with the philosophies of neo-liberalism, governmental organizations have shifted the responsibility of social housing onto private development organizations, which are solely driven by profitability. Unfortunately, this has rapidly decreased the amount of affordable housing in East Harlem. Local businesses and residents have been displaced and neglected as a result of this rapid gentrification. "East Harlem's real estate is not advertised in El Diario or other Latino and local newspapers...many believe, (they) intend to keep Latinos out of the area (pg 54)," said one the area's residents. This process is a result of the lack of representation from Latinos and residents of the community. Even those Latinos from the area who have shown upward mobility have been consequently displaced outside of East Harlem and thus do not intend to return. Spanish Harlem symbolizes the romanticized version of Latino culture and will unlikely relinquish its reputation of being underprivileged. Roberto, a union leader Davila interviewed, describes why he can not live in El Barrio: "I saw a lot of brutality...El Barrio will always be El Barrio, not the Puerto Rican Barrio, but the barrio of immigrants and the poor (pg 38)." Roberto's comments shine light on the fact that this neighborhood is not able to develop without providing outlets for upward mobility and representation.
Part of reshaping the marginalized perception of El Barrio is being provided by activists in order to "secure the identity of (their) place (pg 24)." The current commercialization and outside marketing contradicts attempts and assertions that are being made to redefine the associations to the Latino identity. Many of the residents that reside in East Harlem are not a homogenous culture or ethnicity. Specifically, Puerto Ricans have struggled to assert their identity as a community in American society. As a group, they have attempted to downplay the stereotypes and negative associations that are being exaggerated by cultural marketers. In attempting to understand the own accurate identity, Puerto Ricans must be able to understand their significance in El Barrio. Puerto Ricans have been commonly linked with other ethnic groups such as African-Americans, who reside in West Harlem. Davila discusses the movement of Puerto Ricans to differentiate themselves as a functioning and successful ethnic group. Mexicans, who are the fastest growing immigrant population in the United States, experience similar struggles of re-signification in East Harlem. They have tried to establish themselves as "worthy and hard-working immigrants," and separate themselves from the marginalized reputation of other Latinos in the area (pg 156). Davila cites one man who commented, "We Mexicans are hard workers and don't depend on welfare as do Dominicans...many Mexicans are deported because they are illegal. Each month, Dominicans are deported because they've been jailed for selling drugs, committing robberies, crimes and fraud (pg 172)." The US depends on Mexicans to fill the lowest positions in the workforce - those jobs that require extensive manual labor for very little pay - but our government and policies prevent these immigrants from gaining rights and representation in their communities. The Mexican Day Parade was one example of a culturally-specific event that was marketed and organized by non-Mexicans for corporate interests. Davila emphasizes that the control of such cultural events by marketers who do not represent the Mexican community actually undermines the purpose of such ethnic celebrations. Further, she stated that the outrage of Mexicans in such situations "asserted ethnicity over industry and challenged the inequities in the production and consumption of ethnic events (pg 167)."
Artists have become catalysts for publicly marketing the real Latino identity with images that represent both the past and present. This initiative contradicts the growing commercialization of Latino culture geared toward economic gains in the EZ. The author adds, "Heritage is ancillary to tourism, put in the service viable tourist districts containing cultural, entertainment, dining, and recreational attractions (98)." The various cultural projects in East Harlem that would further allow the appropriate exposure of Latino heritage, such as el Museo del Barrio and the Edison Project, were centered around tourism, economic interests, and employment. This only furthered the process of gentrification in East Harlem. To inhibit this process, artists began to show an effort to represent Latino aspirations and dreams through non-profitable murals and graffiti. Their actions signify that ethnicity is more than just a business venture. Davila posits, "The fact is that current ethnic and cultural identifications are being concurrently fueled by a variety of political and commercial interests, and are thus not about to fade, as long as they are profitable, politically marketable, and viable (pg 214)." Thus, the need for further artistic expression of the actual Latino ethnicity is vital.
Through her book, Arlene Davila clearly represents the position and role of many Latinos in American society today. Neoliberal policies further prevent these groups from taking hold of their community and ethnicity, and allowing private companies to consolidate affordable housing. This book can only shine light on the rapid gentrification of all cities around the country. It is difficult not to think of the re-urbanization process going on in Durham over the last five years, and in doing so I hope those involved think of places like East Harlem. Many of the same efforts to improve the image are fueled by economic interests, however without considering the history and diversity of this culturally-rich city, the future of Downtown Durham will continue to be tainted.

Arlene Davila's BARRIO DREAMS is simply amazing. It grapples with the diversification of New York's Latino population, asking important questions about community solidarity and alliances. The final chapter on Mexican immigration to El Barrio is especially informative. Professor Davila is a stellar scholar whose ground-breaking work is helping shape the future of Latino/a studies. A must-have book indeed!

As a frequent traveler to Belize I found this book a wonderful guide to all the natural beauty of Belize.

I actually saw this book while travelling in Belize and wanted it to help me identify all the great animals we were seeing, but it was rather expensive. I got it on Amazon when we got home and it really helped identify some of the things I had taken pictures of. Next time I visit Belize I will be taking it with me. Nice colour photos and descriptions with some interesting information about the natural history.

From Planeta journal:

An impressive first edition, not as much a tourist's guidebook as a naturalist's handbook. Color illustrations document native birds, mammals and reptiles. The author provides a brief eco-history of the region as well as background on environmental threats and conservation. Excellent!

Great book, but where's the picture of the red footed booby?

The nomenclature "Bebop" referring to an extension of American jazz development is, in itself somewhat unfortunate. It is not surprising that many of the musicians at the core of the movement hated the phrase "Bebop" themselves. The jokey sound of the word tends to trivialize the significance and the integrity of the music to which is referring. We tend to think of Bebop as an amusing, but irrelevant, phase of the urban jazz scene. The contribution of Bebop to musical development is both pervasive and irreversible.

Scott DeVeaux's book, "The Birth of Bebop" takes on squarely the issue of the Bebop's place in American music and in America's cultural development of the middle of the 20th-century. He has made excellent use of first-hand accounts, anecdotes, and obscure or original recordings to bring this story to life. He has applied an academic's discipline to documentation of his source material with a high degree of integrity. He achieves a remarkable balance between understanding and dealing with the details of the musical construction in the context of the "race" environments of the 1930s and '40s

This was an important era of American history. In a sense, we would like to forget the gross cultural inequities of the time. There are not many tangible reminders around, although the cultural imprint is still here and not likely disappear in the near future. Fortunately, the music of the era, Bebop, is still accessible through CD re-issues and is continuing to influence modern musical performance right through to a saxophone-toting Lisa Simpson. A key value of "The Birth of Bebop" is to remind us of this continuing connection. This book helps us appreciate the courage and commitment of the proponent musicians exploring this new medium, particularly in the context of nearly-overwhelming daily obstacles in the form of American cultural "Jim Crow" mores and laws.

In a perfect World, this book would come with a companion CD filled with aural samples of the music Mr. DeVeaux discusses organized to illustrate his musical points. This short-coming means that the fullest appreciation of the author's points is only available to those with access to fabulous recording collections of the era or, even more remotely, those with sufficient age and musical memory to bring the musical notation to life.

I am a music major at the University of Virginia, particularly interested in jazz studies, and have had the pleasure of taking several classes under DeVeaux, in particular, one based on this book. DeVeaux's humor, in combination with his musical genius when it comes to the topic of jazz, is expemplified by this book. He explains the hayday of jazz as well as the transition from the swing era into the bop era with incredible detail. Special features in the book are vignettes into the lives of the great artists such as Hawkins and Parker. He compares the styles of several of the pioneers which causes further investigation on the part of the reader to trail the modern jazz progression from the 1940's and 50's on into today. If you've ever wanted to know why the cats play the way the do and how jazz moved from big band swing clubs into bebop jam sessions, this is the author you're looking for.

It's hard to explain the excitement a 13 year old had on first hearing Dizzy Gillespie's THINGS TO COME on Side A and TWO BASS HIT on Side B. Or for that matter, as a 25 year old, on hearing KUSH from AN ELECTRIFYING EVENING WITH DIZZY GILLESPIE relayed on the VOICE OF AMERICA by Willis Conover. Undoubtedly there was something electrifying about the music which Mr Deveaux suggests had a "sense of frustration embedded in its core" p.446. Certainly, it was a musical world away from that of the great Thomas Fats Waller for example whose genius was usually sublimated beneath jumping and jive. It was SERIOUS music and demanded attention. This fine book by Mr Devaux puts the evolution of this revolutionary music in context and inspires one to revisit many of the records including those who inspired the great John Coltrane - Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. It is also of interest to musicians, musicologists, sociologists, historians but as a general reader who loves America's classical music - called jazz - it is a very fine read indeed and about the best book I own on Bebop.

A 500-page history of bebop that takes 400 pages to get up to the "Groovin' High" Bird & Diz recording session? Whose first 164 pages are all about Coleman Hawkins? Unusual, to say the least, but DeVaux shows how it all makes sense. Hawkins is portrayed as the central motif around which everything else turns: Hawk welcomed progress and a new style, played on the first bop record date (done for Asch in 1944), and opened at Billy Berg's in Los Angeles before Bird & Diz got there. DeVaux is a very good writer, thorough and judicious. Highly recommended.