Las Mamis

by Esmeralda Santiago (editor), Joie Davidow (Editor)

A marvelous anthology from the editors of Las Christmas —the bestselling author of When I Was Puerto Rican and the founder of L.A. Weekly —in which our most acclaimed Latino authors share unforgettable memories of their mothers.

The women lovingly portrayed in Las Mamis represent a cross section of Latino life and culture. They come from rich families in the big cities of Latin America, from rural immigrant families, and from the worlds in between—and they share an extraordinary inner strength, often maintained against incredible odds. Pressed by conflicting cultural expectations, circumstance, and religion, they have managed the challenges of motherhood, leaving enduring legacies for their children. Now, in these vivid, poignant, and sometimes hilarious reminiscences—all of them infused with distinct sabor latino— Las Mamis celebrates the universality of family love and the special bond between mothers and children.

Contributors Esmeralda Santiago, Piri Thomas, Marjorie Agosin, Junot Diaz, Alba Ambert, Liz Balmaseda, Mandalit del Barco, Gioconda Belli, Maria Escandon, Dagoberto Gilb, Francisco Goldman, Jaime Manrique, Gustavo Perez-Firmat, Ilan Stavans.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Esmeralda Santiago (born 1948 in San Juan, Puerto Rico). Is a renowned Puerto Rican author In 1961, she came to the United States when she was thirteen years old, the eldest in a family that would eventually include eleven children. Ms. Santiago attended New York City's Performing Arts High School, where she majored in drama and dance. After eight years of part-time study at community colleges, she transferred to Harvard University with a full scholarship. She studied film production and graduated in 1976 magna cum laude. Shortly after graduation, she and her husband, Frank Cantor, founded CANTOMEDIA, a film and media production company, which has won numerous awards for excellence in documentary filmmaking.

Her writing career evolved from her work as a producer/writer of documentary and educational films. Her essays and opinion pieces have appeared in national newspapers including the New York Times and the Boston Globe, and on mass market magazines like House & Garden, Metropolitan Home, and Good Housekeeping.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our book club chose this book and I was really surprised at how much I connected with the stories. I dont have a relationship with my mother as so i was a bit anxious about reading others connections with their mamis. Each short story was beautiful and varied. The book surpassed my expectations in the variety of mother/child bonds. Now that I have had my first child the book served as a model of what our relationship could be like.

I especially connected with the one author whose mother died when she was 2, she talks about how she can feel that void in her life and even the lack of motherly prescience has shaped her life. It is a great collection of stories about all of our first relationship and the joys and shortcomings that are inevitable in a relationship.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories about latina mothers. Esmeralda’s is very good. Did not bother with the rest.

[Carolene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology is sometimes poignant, funny and compelling, but not consistently so. I expected a bit more.

[Daniele Atza · Rating 4 out of 5]

qué joya de libro ✨️

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to be blatantly frank about this...the introduction/preface to this collection of autobiographical essays on mothers was a lot more heart-wrenching than the rest of it. On the one hand this makes me kind of sad as I was looking for something a lot more tearful, but then I probably should have just picked up a copy Chicken Soup for the Soul. On the other hand, I did appreciate the great frankness and guts these authors had in telling/recounting the ways their mothers impacted their lives. And as I made my way through each of these stories, I realized I myself had no idea where to begin.

A lot of the writing seemed to be strained or read like a writing exercise, where you until you have no more thoughts coming to you. And that makes sense, a mother and child relationship is the first relationship you ever have and therefore one of the most intimate painful, inspirational, headache inducing, and loving relationships you'll ever have.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for something a bit therapeutic or for a beach bum book. But if you're looking for something that gonna have you reaching for the tissue box, just pick a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul - Mom edition.

[Lilybeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful book.
Latino authors honoring their mothers the best way they know how, with their words.
The stories range from sad to funny to regretful to full of wonder.
I love that the stories run the gamut of emotions. Our mothers are everything to us.
My favorites were Esmeralda Santiago (of course!), Mandalit Del Barco, Alma Albert (this one was so emotional for me that I had to stop reading the book for a while), Liz Balmaseda, and Junot Diaz (another of course!).

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very touching. Made me want to reflect on my own mother-child relationship. A little difficult to read all at once, mainly because each chapter, while very different from one another, surrounded the same topic.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short biographies on the mothers of latino authors. An interesting read.

[Elvira]

I was only interested in the part that Esmeralda Santiago wrote. I didn't like the rest of the book.