New Mexico Books

Very interesting history necessary to understanding the Lincoln County War in Territorial New Mexico.

The Life and Times of Commander E.C. "Zeke," Cortez, Jr., USNR (Not Just Scuttlebutt) by David Wilde. Albuquerque: Wilde Publishing, 1998. 187 pp., appendices, photographs, map. $25.00 paper, online version http://www.unm.edu.com/~wilde . Historians have dedicated many a weighty tome to the Spanish colonial past of New Mexico and such tow-ering figures as Juan de Onate and Diego de Vargas. Studies of the lives of twentieth-century Hispanic New Mexicans, however, are very few on the ground. Into this breach David Wilde, a peripatetic Welshman, has launched himself with this narrative of the life of Commander Zeke Cortez. There is an interesting local connection: Cortez spent some of his youth in Las Cruces. His mother wrote a column for the Las Cruces Sun during the years of the Second World War. After attending Midshipman School in 1942, Cortex served with distinction in the Mediterranean and in the invasion of the European mainland. In the late 1960s he became responsible for recruitment for Naval and Marine Reserves for the state of New Mexico. He logged twenty-eight years of service to the Navy before retiring in 1970. Wilde points out that his subject was not a famous man. This, then, is at some level the story of a typical, successful native New Mexican. Like so many such persons, Cortez's roots in the land are long, tracing his ancestors to their arrival in New Mexico in the late seventeenth century. Still, this slim volume is something else again, for in this book, the reader is asked to travel on an adventure into the mind of David Wilde. By his own count, author Wilde has written sixteen books about the Albuquerque area and about his world travels. This book is replete with unexpected literary allusions, snatches of poetry, flights of whimsy, and lyricism. It is also clearly and unmistakably about a friendship between and author and his subject. All this is packed in under a hundred pages. The remainder of the volume is devoted to a series of appendices, most representing the writing of Cortez himself, and to a collection of photographs. To say this book makes an interesting read is a bit of an understatement. Rick Hendricks, Las Cruces. (Dr. Hendricks is Editor for the Southern New Mexico Historical Review).

This book analyzes several Chicano/a classics, as well as other books that are less well-known but well written (like Puppet, The Mixquiahuala Letters, and Peregrinos en Aztlan). Martin-Rodriguez takes the theories of Iser, Jauss, Hayden White, and Angel Rama, and applies them skillfully to Chicano/a literature.
He takes into account linguistic issues, the gendered reading and writing of Chicana texts, and the literary production of texts (cover art, Chicana/o presses, etc). Martin-Rodriguez also discusses historiography and the recovery of Chicana/o texts, and how that affects the Chicana/o literary history.
Perfect for the Chicano/a writer, professor, and advanced Chicana/o literature courses!

This book is a must for everyone residing in New Mexico. It has excellent information on powers of attorney and wills that apply to everyone, not just seniors. Seniors and their families will appreciate the clear, concise explanations and suggestions that this book has to offer. There is an updated supplement available for the 1997 edition at Abbogada Press.

The resurgence of interest in daguerreotypes (witness the the recent auction record of $315,000 for one image) has resulted in a host of beautiful books, of which this volume ranks as the best. Delores Kilgo has done a masterful job of presenting the unparalleled collection of the Missouri Historical Society. Nowhere else will you find the work of one photographer so magnificently displayed and critiqued.

Aside from Lilus Kikus being a great novel by prominent Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska, professor Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez does a maginificent job introduccing the English reader to Poniatowska and the history and impact of Lilus Kikus in her introduction. The introduction itself is a facinating read to anybody interested in Elena and her history as a writer. I strongly recommend this book not only because it is Poniatowska's first novel and because of course it was written by her, but also because Martinez' introduction does justice to Lilus Kikus and teaches us the preconceived notions that a society had about this novel. As if this wasn't enough reasons, the English reader too gets introduced wisely into Poniatowska's novel and her work as a prominent and outstanding writer. I strongly recommend this novel to any English-reader!

Examines every aspect of the Lincoln County War in such detail that you feel as if you know more about what happened than the actual participants did. I would recommend it to any Lincoln County afficionado.

In this work, Holt makes a strong case for women's agency in the domestic economy movement. Focusing on the rural midwest, Holt looks at how women accepted and participated in educational programs run through the Children's Bureau and the Department of Agriculture, which served to make rural farm life more attractive to women. Her examples provide insight into early twentieth century life for rural women and the challenges they faced.

Beautiful photos and interesting stories behind them. If you love staring at photos for minutes at a time, this is eye candy!

This is the book to buy if you've ever floated through the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos and, as you passed beneath the John Dunn Bridge, someone on your trip asked, "who exactly was John Dunn?" As a river guide you have full authority (and some would argue a professional obligation) to make up whatever answer you like, but I've found it helpful to occasionally sprinkle facts among the many assertions I've made to trusting passengers over the years. This slim volume, only 163 pages, is full of wonderful information about the life of John Dunn for whom that bridge is named, as well as northern New Mexico from the late 1800's through 1953, the year Mr. Dunn died. By reading this book you will be well prepared for passengers' questions and, as a bonus, you'll glimpse a lifestyle that predates most of us. For me the few early photos of the Rio Grande, all from pre-boating years, and the building of the John Dunn Bridge are alone worth the price of the book. The regional history and the life of John Dunn are exquisite bonuses.

John Dunn apparently was an irascible and only sporadically honest fellow, the sort of individual whose life story is fun to read about. His is not an exception. You'll learn about his early years in Texas, his later life in New Mexico, and the various legal and not-so-legal enterprises in which he was engaged throughout. I don't think I would have liked being around John Dunn, but I did enjoy reading about his adventures. I suspect you will too.