Puerto Rico Books

I spent a week in San Juan relaxing, so I cannot comment on the book's relation to the rest of the island, but of the several travel books I purchased this is the one I referred to the most (even though I am not a backpacker or tight budget person). This book had good descriptions of sights, hotels, restaurants, ways to get around, information on Puerto Rican life and culture. Small enough to carry around, I did tear the city map out of the Fodor's Puerto Rico as that was the best laid out for the old city.
This book is a very good resource.

I have used Let's Go as a resource for many of my backpacking trips in the past and bough the PR version hoping to have the same sucess. However I found many inaccuracies in this "updated" edition including wrong times for the ferries to the Spanish Virgin Islands, incorrect prices for guesthouses, plane tickets, campsites and public transportation and failed to include when some beaches would be closed. It was a good guide for getting around the island as most of the directions were useful but just be aware that some information will not be the most up to date.

Reda this book a few times and go back to it occassionaly. A great read for those interested in the evolution of the Latino movement in teh US and to a lesser extent, Puerto Rico. I was always fasciniated by the civil rights movements and those who fought for equality. This book looks back on the leaders, organizations, and most improtantly the situations which led to the creation of The Young Lords, Puerto Rican Socialist party, and others. Anecdotes and analysis are provided by former members including Juan Gonzalez (formely Fox network, NY daily news).
This is not a "socialist" or "leftist" book but rather a historical tale of how and what came to be of those fighting for a better life for us. I have the utmost respect for a lot of the PRSP and Young Lords members who rose above the grain and demanded a better life with eual rights and access to resources not afforded to the Latino community. The personal stories lend a great touch to the read.
To dismiss this book would be to dismiss the history of the civil right movements. It shows how a few people can organize and make a difference, no matter how insignificant you may be viewed by the politicians, media or whoever. They had nothing to lose but everything to gain. May God bless those who fought for a better life for others after them. Those are true leaders.

This is not just a generalized book about Puerto Ricans. This is a packed anthology about the history of leftwing Puerto Rican organizations, both here and on the island. Let the reader be forewarned: it's purposely leftist and purposely focused on organizing. The book takes as a given that its writers favor independence from the United States. The book has a great chapter on PR gay and lesbian organizing along the East Coast. Many enthusiasts of Latino studies, leftist activism, and anti-racism struggles should purchase this. Just know that the book is written by progressives for progressives.

I just happen to know what the "Puerto Rican syndrome" is and its funny because while it doesn't happen much with my generation, it occurs within my mothers and more frequently within my grandmothers more. All this has to do with is social acceptance and while being graceful at all times is seen as appropriate in American culture being graceful in times of tragedy is not seen too positively in Puerto Rican culture- Puerto Ricans would know the word "Fria" in English Cold Hearted. Culturally having these sort of nervous breakdowns are accepted and seen as normal- as an expression of emotion- I witnessed my grandma go through it a handful of times when I was a kid. All this comes to is cultural difference- think about the cultures that see two men kissing as normal- would we call them depraved- not in todays world. However, if we saw two men in our culture doing the same we would be guestioning their sexuality. Culture people thats all but I most say based on the subject matter this most be a very interesting and to Puerto Ricans with a sense of humor an ammusing book.

The Puerto Rican syndrome is a psychiatric disorder "founded" by U.S. Army medical doctors in the 1950s. They were attempting to understand the symptoms seen in Puerto Rican soldiers returning from the Korean War. Instead of considering these wide range of behaviors in cultural context, they labeled them a disorder. Now, over 50 years later, Gherovici has provided us with a context in which we may better conceptualize the condition. Grounded in history, cultural critique, and Lacanian psychoanalysis, she shows that this group of symptoms is not a disorder, but rather a way that the "patient" tells us about the continued struggle of Puerto Ricans in U.S. society.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in social justice. It will surely be of relevance to those interested in Latina/o issues, the history of Puerto Ricans in the U.S., or psychoanalysis.

The "Off the Beaten Path" books are a great investment. Buy them for your home state, and buy them when you vacation...you will be building a great collection to your library. You will be amazed at the information in these easy to travel with books. I now own three: my home state, North Carolina (a grown son and I visited there for two weeks...the book was great.), and of course my favorite Puerto Rico (that one has traveled back and forth a few times). Loan them to friends and family when they travel. Writing this teases me to go buy another one for myself...the holidays are coming, maybe a neighboring state I could start to explore.

I bought this book right before a trip to Puerto Rico. Although I wished I'd had more time to read it thoroughly before I left, I took it with us and we referred to it from time to time throughout our vacation. I believe if I had had enough time to read it cover to cover before leaving I would have been able to mark the pages of the things we wanted to do while there.

Some of the information concerning El Yunque was incorrect when we visited, but it wasn't too much a problem. First, when we visited the Caribbean National Forest, our cost was $3.00 per adult and children under 16 were free. This was cheaper than the book said, but it also has a disclaimer that all price information was accurate at the time of printing so that was just a pleassant surprise. The other thing was that the road (PR 191) to the El Yunque lookout was closed, and appeared to have been for some time.

Thanks to the book, we discovered a new Puerto Rican rum and we were able to do a free rum tasting while we were there. Helpful tip, make sure you don't go when the cruise ships are in. When we went the piers were empty and we had the place to ourselves.

The maps in the book are helpful in a pinch, but I would highly recommend purchasing a road map from Walgreens and using it instead, as the maps in this book are not very detailed.

his book contains helpful little lists of hotels, retsaurants and night clubs, and we did refer to those lists a time or two when trying to decide where to eat for the evening.

All in all, I would recommend this book to someone who is going to visit Puerto Rico, and I would also add that you should try to find time to read it thoroughly before you go.

Interconnection is real. Earth is real. The violence of patriarchy, colonization, anti-semitism, and genocide are real. Our lives continue to be shaped by these violences; both intergenerational and contemporary. Healing grows organically and is nurtured by roots of understanding, storytelling, compassion, courage.

These are some of the ideas that clarified for me in reading this wonderful book full of stories that saved my soul from amnesia, numbness, and ignorance. I am a white woman now on her own path of unearthing stories from my past that can tell me who I am, where I come from, and how to heal a legacy of racism and sexism that still persists.

Read about Jigonsaseh, a Seneca woman alive around 1560 who served as a peacemaker who helped to form the Iroquois Confederacy. Read about the Hammer of Witches, a treatise written in Germany in 1487 that outlined various marks and signs by which a woman could be recognized to be a witch and how to torture the Devil out of her. Read about the 1097 invasion of Muslim Syria by the Franj, Christian invaders from the north and south.

Most of all, enjoy the beautiful prose of Levins Morales...
"We are the ancestors of whom no record has been kept. We are trace elements in your bodies, minerals coloring your eyes, residue in your fingernails. You were not named for us. You don't know the places where our bones are, but we are in your bones. Because of us, you have relatives among the many tribes. You have cousins on the reservations. Do not forget how wide your roots are in this America. Do not forget." (92).

As she does in Medicine Stories, Morales involves an innovative form in her writing. While following a chronological timeline, she weaves together many historically based stories. What at first seems confusing, eventually melds to show that Morales is writing about the women left out of history. She presents personal stories about each woman and crimes of history. Then she adds herbs used in healing to supplement her intent to be a historic curator, helping to heal the problems in history.

Contiene puntos claves y muy pertinentes de la situación en la isla, aunque tiene muchos detalles que mejorar. Pero, para ser la primera edición es un éxito.

This is about a Chilean novelist of a century ago, a disciple of Tolstoy who briefly set up a Tolstoyan colony, and who wrote several novels, among them the Cura Deusto novel mentioned in the title, which is about a homosexual pedophile priest who, like Anna Karenina, throws himself under a train.

Excenlte trabajo, con una descripción completa de los murcielagos del Puerto Rico, mapas e infpormació de de la distribución de cada especie en la isla y sus habito alimentarios, entre otros detalles
Jonsy

This guide is useful for a vacation on a cruise to the caribbean. The reviews of the excursions are very helpful for planning your own excursions. It tells you if it easy or difficult to use ship's excursions versus your own transportation. It also highlights popular atractions in each port.

This book is the best book and perhaps the only book that gives special emphasis to seashells found in Puerto Rico. Scientific as well as popular listing of the shells is included. The textual description of the shells is quite adequate. Also, a general location of where the shells can be found is frequently included. On a less positive note, most all the pictures are in black and white and often the resolution leaves something to be desired. In all fairness, the book is in need of an update being last published in 1975. Since its last publication, several new shells previously unlisted or listed as "not found" have indeed been located. In spite of these few short comings, this book is still an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Puerto Rican seashells.