In Mexico, writes Ilan Stavans in the introduction to this
provocative new collection on Mexican culture and politics, ? [the
essay] is embraced as passionately as a sport.? While the American
essay may be personal and confessional or erudite and academic, it
is presumed to be truthful. By contrast, the Mexican essay pushes
the boundaries between fact and fiction as writers seek to make
their opinions heard?in literary journals, in newspapers, and even
on cereal boxes. What is real and what isn t in a Mexican essay,
only God knows,? concludes Stavans. In Hurricanes and Carnivals,
Lee Gutkind, a pioneer in the teaching of creative nonfiction,
brings together fifteen essays by Mexican, Mexican American, and
Latin American writers that push the boundaries of style and form,
showing that navigating truth? is anything but clear-cut. Although
creative nonfiction is widely thought to be an American art form,
this collection proves otherwise. By blending fact and fiction,
story and fantasy, history and mythology, these writers and others
push the bounds of the essay to present a vision of Mexico rarely
seen from this side of the border. Addressing topics that include
immigration, politics, ecology, violence, family, and sexuality,
they take literary license on a whirlwind adventure. C. M. Mayo
shows us Mexico City as seen through the eyes of her pug, Picadou;
Juan Villoro examines modern Mexico through the lens of demography;
Homero Aridjis uses the plight of nesting sea turtles to document a
slowly changing Mexican attitude toward natural resources; and Sam
Quinones documents the decline of beauty-queen addiction in
Mazatlan and tells us about the flower festivals where, according
to lore, only two things matter: hurricanes and carnivals. For
readers interested in a literary view of contemporary Mexico, as
well as students of the creative nonfiction genre, this volume is
essential
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