Critical Insights: The House on Mango Street

by Sandra Cisneros, María Herrera-Sobek (Editor)

This volume offers a comprehensive introduction to Sandra Cisneros’s acclaimed novel. The opening essays describe the critical reception of the novel and its simple prose and reliance on suggestive metaphors and similes. A collection of classic essays offer a feminist approach to the work, an examination of gender stereotypes, a critique of patriarchy, and the role of female friendships. Other essays examine how Cisneros uses the novel to cross the boundaries of gender, class, language, and genres.

428 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2010

About the author

Sandra Cisneros is internationally acclaimed for her poetry and fiction and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lannan Literary Award and the American Book Award, and of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacArthur Foundation.

Cisneros is the author of two novels The House on Mango Street and Caramelo; a collection of short stories, Woman Hollering Creek; two books of poetry, My Wicked Ways and Loose Woman; and a children's book, Hairs/Pelitos.

She is the founder of the Macondo Foundation, an association of writers united to serve underserved communities (www.macondofoundation.org), and is Writer in Residence at Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Reviews

[Patty Curran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find this book to really show the life of the developement in young girls becoming women. Esperanza moves into a house on Mango street making two new best friends and finding her self quickly growing up- becoming sexual and liking the attention she gets. Its funny seeing a girl go through puberty because all of us go through it and not realize it. We don't see us changing and becoming an adult so to see this happen to a girl in a book makes me realize what we all go through. Great book (:

[Anson Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again. I read the House on Mango Street again. However, some of these essay sound very interesting, so maybe I will read some of them too!

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ngl all papers/chapters were super insightful