I met Alberto Rios at the Desert Nights Writers Conference at ASU in Tempe several years ago and was impressed by his literary acumen as well as his insights into the Hispanic community. I told him about my connections and interests in Latino culture and asked about participating in his literary interview show, Books & Co., which he hosted for eight years on PBS. He currently hosts an arts interview show “Art in the 48.” He was named Arizona’s first poet laureate in 2013, a post he still holds. I decided to start with one of his best-known books, […]
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On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts by James K. A. Smith Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
My middle daughter handed me this book and said she thought I’d appreciate it, as St. Augustine was offering the hitchhikers guide to the cosmos of wandering hearts—and she was right! The book is a travelogue of the human heart. And a road trip with a prodigal who’s already been where you think you need to go. The book was also timely, as Augustine was a great example of the influence and power of immigrants—he was a “mestizo”—born outside of Carthage in what is today Algeria and wandering the Roman Empire in Italy, which led to what anthropologists call […]
Continue readingLies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
With the controversy around critical race theory, which is a cross-disciplinary intellectual and social movement of civil rights scholars and activities who seek to examine the intersection of race and law in the U.S., not to mention the recent assaults on boards of education across the nation by “concerned parents” to assure that their children weren’t confronted by a history which might make them feel “uncomfortable,” this seemed to be an ideal time to pick up this book. Since its first publication in 1995, Lies My Teacher Told Me has become one of the most important history books of our time. Having […]
Continue readingHarsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa Reviewed by Mark D. Walker I immediately picked up this book upon learning it was available in English, as its story is so relevant to the challenges facing Guatemala today. I’m producing a documentary on immigration and social justice challenges in Guatemala, Trouble in the Highlands, and this book deals with international intrigue and the control of land by international/U.S. corporations. A Peruvian writer, Llosa is one of Latin America’s most significant novelists and some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer in […]
Continue readingAn Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I purchased this book for a trek through the Hopi and Navajo Nations in order to better appreciate a different culture, worldview food and lots more. They are two of five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people which once inhabited this country—the Navajo Nation is the largest. I chose this book to get a perspective from a Native American and how they resisted “Manifest Destiny” and a U.S. “settler-colonial” regimen, which is rarely presented in our history books. Spanning four hundred years, the bottom-up peoples’ history reframes U.S. […]
Continue readingThe Green Pope by Miguel Angel Asturias, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I initially read this book years ago in Spanish but decided to read and review it in English as its story is so relevant to the challenges facing Guatemala today. I’m also producing a documentary on immigration and social justice challenges in Guatemala, Trouble in the Highlands and this book deals with land tenure and the control of land by international/U.S. corporations. And the author is a Nobel Prize winner for literature. Much of my documentary and Asturias’s works are inspired by the Maya culture in the highlands of Guatemala. This is an overarching theme which influenced the […]
Continue readingRed Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation by Nick Estes, Melanie Yazzie, Jennifer Denetdale and David Correia Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Ironically, I finished reading this book on what was called “Columbus Day,” which is not what it used to be—there’s a new story/reality in town. And this book, written by four professors at the University of New Mexico—three of the four are from Dine and Kul Wicasa tribes, provides a decidedly different perspective on our country’s relationship to, and treatment of, Indigenous communities. A decidedly Indigenous perspective. And for the first time in our history, a U.S. President officially issued a proclamation marking “Indigenous Peoples Day.” Much of this was never taught in any of my high school history courses […]
Continue readingThe Scandal of the Century and Other Writings by Gabriel García Márquez, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
“I don’t want to be remembered for One Hundred Years of Solitude, nor for the Nobel Prize, but rather for the newspaper. I was born a journalist and today I feel more than ever that I am a reporter. It’s in my blood.” After all the accolades of his fiction writing, few appreciate how important journalism was to Marquez and overlook the importance to journalism to learning to tell a story and writing fiction. The author’s strong political sensitivity and involvement was impacted by the political violence which interrupted his academic. In April 1948 the assassination of the charismatic politician […]
Continue readingLove in Any Language: A Memoir of a Cross-Cultural Marriage, by Evelyn Kohl LaTorre, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I have a soft spot for books written by tough, honest women who bring an inner sense of who they are and what’s different and unusual around them. I also appreciate simply told memoirs from fellow travelers, especially Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. As I told the author, her timing couldn’t be better (the book drops later this month), since my Guatemalan wife and I are closing in on our 50th anniversary, making this an opportune time for me to appreciate, reflect and celebrate our matrimonial journey and what makes for a successful blended marriage. I’ve already reviewed the author’s […]
Continue reading“Solitude & Company,” by Silvana Paternostro, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Solitude & Company: the life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez told with help from his friends, family, fans, arguers, fellow pranksters, drunks and a few respectable souls. By Silvana Paternostro Reviewed by Mark D. Walker I picked up this book in search of a similar presentation of a writer’s life to a book I’m working on, The Moritz Thomsen Reader to strengthen my proposal to attract a publisher. Moritz wrote Living Poor, and my book will be an anthology of the writers who knew him best. And “Gabo” is one of the great writers of Latin America recognized with the […]
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