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A recent spate of nonfiction and fiction set in Mexico and Cuba offers readers the
opportunity to explore the cultures of those countries from a number of different of
perspectives. A survey of seven books, three focused on Mexico and four set in Cuba,
reveals a wide array of genres ranging from magic realism to mystery, culinary to coming
of age, adventure to autobiography. Despite these differences, however, the books share
much in common, including an underlying eroticism and an emphasis on the role of food in
the cultural and personal lives of both Mexicans and Cubans.
What truly binds these books together, however, is that each makes some sort of political
or ideological statement about the lives of its protagonists. The issues differ from book
to book, as do the approaches to dealing with those issues, but for these seven authors,
political considerations form either the central premise of their books or provide a solid
foundation from which the plot proceeds. In either case, these books introduce important
questions about life in Mexico, Cuba, and throughout the Western world. The best of them
do so while telling their story with artistry and subtleness.
--- Rob Cline (RJBCline@aol.com)
(c)
Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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