Las Mamis

Rating:
Summary: Unimpressed
Review: Esmeralda Santiago edits Las Mamis, a powerful gathering of Latino authors who recall their mothers. The fourteen women portray a cross-section of Latino culture and economic backgrounds in this loving memoir of influential parents.

Diane C. Donovan Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I bought this book for a Mother's Day gift. No way will I give it to my mom. Graphic stories with sensitive content. Sure, it pays homage to mothers in some ways. But, I don't relate to it at all--not even on the "hispanic" level.

Rating:
Summary: Touching Stories
Review: I read this at a Barnes & Noble store. I had a hard time putting it down. I believe that most of us (hispanic women) can relate to the stories told.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT STORIES ABOUT OUR MOMS.
Review: IT IS A TREAT TO READ ABOUT DIFFERENT STORIES ABOUT VARIOUS MOTHERS. THIS BOOK REMINDS US HOW IMPORTANT OUR MOMS ARE.
WE SHOULD ALWAYS GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR THIER GUTS ON BEING MOMS.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional, poetic and moving
Review: One has to bear in mind that writing about people one knows is very subjective, and this is the author's right. People simply are not objective about those close to them. The writers of this book have accomplished a creation that has resulted in a beautiful specimen of literature, rich in description and sentiment, both amusing and tragic.

How can one not laugh when Jaime Manrique quotes the only comment his mother makes after she sees her son's pictures in a magazine spread for the first time: " You look fat, You'd better lay off those pies" and how can one not cry when he writes "The most wonderful tribute I can pay to my mother is to say that whereas most children automatically love their mothers, I've grown to love Soledad." But these quotes don't mean much without reading all that precedes them.

And then, who will ever forget, once read, Alba Ambert's haunting search for a mother she has never known and how she consciously forms a life for herself based on this lack of knowledge?

If you are looking for straight storytelling, you will find it here, but you will also find great sentiment and poetry within these pages. That in itself is worth the read. One no longer cares as one reads along if it is true or not; it still touches the soul.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional, poetic and moving
Review: One has to bear in mind that writing about people one knows is very subjective, and this is the author's right. People simply are not objective about those close to them. The writers of this book have accomplished a creation that has resulted in a beautiful specimen of literature, rich in description and sentiment, both amusing and tragic.

How can one not laugh when Jaime Manrique quotes the only comment his mother makes after she sees her son's pictures in a magazine spread for the first time: " You look fat, You'd better lay off those pies" and how can one not cry when he writes "The most wonderful tribute I can pay to my mother is to say that whereas most children automatically love their mothers, I've grown to love Soledad." But these quotes don't mean much without reading all that precedes them.

And then, who will ever forget, once read, Alba Ambert's haunting search for a mother she has never known and how she consciously forms a life for herself based on this lack of knowledge?

If you are looking for straight storytelling, you will find it here, but you will also find great sentiment and poetry within these pages. That in itself is worth the read. One no longer cares as one reads along if it is true or not; it still touches the soul.

Rating:
Summary: Unimpressed
Review: When I first saw this book in the bookstore, I could not believe that someone finally put together a book about Latin mothers. As a person with a Mexican mother, I was hopeful that my unique experiences would finally be told. I was wrong. The writing in this book is dishonest and pretentious. I kept getting the feeling that the writers were trying to impress the readers with their clever writing and big words. It certainly did not help that the editors chose to exhaustively list all of the awards and accolades ever bestowed upon the writers. What does this have to do with writing about your mother? Even though some of the stories were potentially touching, I did not shed one tear because I simply could not get over the "look at me" writing. If someone wants to read a beautifully written book about a mother that made me cry and think about my own mother, please read Growing Up by Russell Baker. Russell Baker's mother did not have to be Mexican for me to be touched by her son's honesty and the beauty of his writing.