Living in Spanglish: The Search for Latino Identity in America

by Ed Morales

To be Latino in the United States has meant a fierce iden-ti-fi-cation with one's roots, with the language, art, and food their people brought with them. America is a patchwork of Hispanic sensibilities-from Puerto Rican nationalists in New York to newly arrived Mexicans in the Rio Grande valley-that has so far resisted homogenization while managing to absorb much of the mainstream culture. In Living in Spanglish, Morales pins down a diverse community-of Dominicans, Mexicans, Colombians, Cubans, Salvadorans, and Puerto Ricans-that he insists has more common interests to unify it than traditions to divide it. He calls this sensibility Spanglish, 'a feeling, an attitude that is quintessentially American.'

Genres: Nonfiction, Latinx, History, Sociology

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ed Morales is an author, journalist, filmmaker, and poet who teaches at Columbia University. He is the author of The Latin Beat and Living in Spanglish. He has written for the Village Voice, Nation, New York Times, Rolling Stone, and other publications and is a regular commentator on NPR. His film Whose Barrio? premiered at the New York Latino International Film Festival. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Will Crews · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative book about the history of Latino culture in the US. Sometimes a bit scattered, but a good read if you want to hear a more personal narrative about the struggles of immigration and assimilation of multiple cultures. This book made me question the validity of my knowledge of Latino culture- given from the education system- and allowed me to see the perspective of our nations history from the side of another ethnicity.