The Chalupa Rules: A Latino Guide to Gringolandia

by Mario Bosquez

The Host of Martha Stewart's "Living Today" on Martha Stewart Living Radio (Sirius 112/XM 157)brings you this insightful look at how a colorful Mexican game of chance inspired him to succeed in life. "The Chalupa Rules" combines his family's timeless proverbs,traditional Spanish sayings, and powerful imagery to create a blueprint for success. Mario grew up facing tremendous challenges that included poverty and living in a government-sponsored home. With his handcrafted rules-of-life Mario went on to become the first full-time, Mexican-American news anchor in New York City's English television. An award-winning playwright and Emmy-Nominated news anchor/reporter, Mario shares his insights into how your own cultural background can provide the inspiration to reach the American Dream.Part autobiography, part instructional manual, The Chalupa Rules offers readers of diverse cultural backgrounds a universal message of success and fulfillment in the career of your choice.

Mario Bosquez, nominated for a James Beard Award for Excellent in Broadcasting, lived the Chalupa Rules and shows us all how we can do the same.

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2005

Reviews

[Darryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mario Bosquez, a Chicano television journalist, playwright and producer, writes about his experiences growing up in an impoverished and abusive family in Texas, as he overcame overwhelming odds to become the first person in his family to graduate from college and have a successful professional career. He uses chalupa, the Mexican game of chance, to generate a list of rules for success for Chicanos to use in the United States, or Gringolandia, where many do not respect Mexican or Chicano culture. Some of these rules have broad applicability, such as respect for family and remembering where you came from originally, but his style of writing began to wear on me, particularly in the last section, which was written as if listening to a radio program about the Chalupa Rules called the author for personal advice. Although I admire Bosquez's personal story and his aims in writing The Chalupa Rules, I found this book to be overly repetitive.