Book Description
Hunger of Memory is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum.
Here is the poignant journey of a “minority student” who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation — from his past, his parents, his culture — and so describes the high price of “making it” in middle-class America.
Provocative in its positions on affirmative action and bilingual education,
Hunger of Memory is a powerful political statement, a profound study of the importance of language ... and the moving, intimate portrait of a boy struggling to become a man.
From the Paperback edition.
Download Description
Hunger of Memory is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum.
Here is the poignant journey of a "minority student" who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation -- from his past, his parents, his culture -- and so describes the high price of "making it" in middle-class America.
Provocative in its positions on affirmative action and bilingual education, Hunger of Memory is a powerful political statement, a profound study of the importance of language... and the moving, intimate portrait of a boy struggling to become a man.
"Arresting... Splendidly written intellectual autobiography."
THE BOSTON GLOBE
"Superb autobiographical essay... Mr. Rodriguez offers himself as an example of the long labor of change: its costs, about which he is movingly frank, its loneliness, but also its triumph."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Customer Reviews:
Among the Educated.......2007-07-18
Esteemed a classic, this work has the merit, upon first reading, of making the reader feel he has been initiated into the long lost tribe of truth tellers, something akin to the book readers of Fahrenheit 451. We meet somebody for whom education is a real thing, something that is life changing, enlightening, and it estranges him from his family, and of course from all people, because the sophistication he gains from his education makes him an enemy to the ignorant. Much is lost, but what is gained far outweighs that loss. He knows it, and we get the message. Bravo, Richard Rodriguez.
Whine, whine, whine.......2007-04-09
I read this book as a part of a college class on marginalized/minority writers. Out of a class of eight, I and another girl both thought this fellow was an unmitigated whiner and the book was terrible. The rest of the class thought it was compelling and thought provoking (or else they just wanted a good grade that week.) It seems to me that it is almost forbidden to express dislike of a minority writer in a classroom environment these days for fear of being branded a racist. I did not like this book. I was in the minority--read it and decide for yourself.
not exactly a great autobiographical read.......2007-02-28
*Hunger of Memory* was an ok read. There was nothing unforgettable in the book. So, that left me somewhat disappointed. Rodriguez provided his personal accounts on some topics, such as assimilation, language, bi-bi education, Catholicism, affirmative action, etc.
I enjoyed reading about his views and experiences with assimilating with American values and whatnots. For those of us who are minorities, I believe that we can relate to that. His personal accounts kind of became reminders of my childhood and helped me re-evaluate how I was assimilated.
The other thing I enjoyed reading was about his college education and "moving up" as a minority in regards to scholarships and job offers. As a minority, you never really know if you're being sought after due to your minority status or your expertise/specialty. Rodriguez was honest about his feelings and views on such things.
His portrayal of his mother reminded me so much of my mother. I had to laugh and groan in memory. It is interesting to see how he portrays a separation between him and his family due to his being an academician. It as if his family expect him to know everything because he's educated. Yet, when he gives answers, those answers are "over the top" for them. They just dismiss him and move on. At the same time, they still encourage him for further achievements...as long as he leaves out the family because it is a private matter.
What I didn't like about the book was that he droned on and on about language (Spanish & English). I'm guess I was bored with this as I had just finished reading *Breaking Through* and *Growing Up Latino*. Both of these books mentioned this. I realize it is a common experience by Hispanics in regards to Spanish and English. But in Rodriguez, he dwells on language forever.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked half of it and hated the other half. It was like he wrote about himself but at the same time, he didn't. This book was more of his views on things rather than getting to know him.
I was born in Mexico and faced similar issues. This is awful........2006-08-03
Richard Rodriguez whines and complains in his book. I have similar experiences. I was born in Mexico. I was reared in America and went to Catholic schools. I have a darker than average complexion. People often ask me what country I was born in just by looking at me, but that did not warp my wife like it seemed to for Rodriguez. I have a friend who went to Stanford, like Rodriguez, on scholarship, but he did not whine about it. I googled Rodriguez and found a published speech where he continues to show weak character. Here is a quote from one of his speeches: "... if you really want to scare the United States of America, all you would have to say to the United States of America is "I'm going to marry you. I'm going to start dating your son." " This is pretty sad and tasteless. Besides showing weak character, Rodriguez is a poor writer. I have never seen so many sentence fragments. At one point in his book he admits he never liked writing when he was in school. It shows. This book is an insult to the Latin-American community from a condescending publisher. We deserve better.
Going beyond his weakness as a writer and as a person, I would say Rodriguez realized his life was inauthentic (re: Heidegger). He was thrown into his life and rebelled at the life he was given (a degree from Stanford, many job offers in spite of incomplete and inferior creditials). He rejected the life for which he was prepared, but he sunk into an unending cycle of complaining instead of creating an authentic life for himself. He needed to find some way of creating a meaningful life for himself. There are many ways to create for yourself a meaningful life. "Achieve Lasting Happiness" by Robert Canright is good book based on the principals of self-cultivation. If Rodriguez had success in creating for himself an authentic life, this book might have had some merit. As it is, it is just sad.
I hate this book........2006-06-16
This is one of the worst books I have ever read. I understand that is fine writing, but the book is tasteless. I find Rodriguez arrogant and lonely. Is he trying to say that the turning point of his life was when the nun's came to his parents home. I hate this book it is one of my worst reads ever.
Customer Reviews:
AN EDUCATIONAL ODYSSEY AND POWERFUL POLITICAL STATEMENT... .......2007-08-31
In this autobiographical work, the author attempts to put forth his views on a number of topics within a personal context. He does this within the framework of his being Mexican-American. His parsing of the effect that education had on his life is both interesting and food for thought. While education provided a means of connecting to the world outside his cultural enclave, it also created a distance between him and his cultural roots. As he assimilated into the larger world outside his immediate cultural milieu, it created a divide between him and his parents. As they remained in their self-contained, unassimilated world, only their mutual love for each other was able to bridge the chasm that education created, for figuratively they no longer spoke the same language.
Likewise, the impact and influence that his early Catholic parochial school experience had on him resonated with me, as I myself was a product of such schooling. His reminiscences brought back many memories for me, most of them positive ones, despite some of the obvious pitfalls inherent in that sometimes narrow, parochial education framework that often favored rote learning over intellectual or critical thinking. Indeed, his love of reading, as is mine, emanated from that early educational experience, which greatly emphasized reading. The impact and influence that Catholicism had on him had are fertile grounds for discussion in the context of liturgical reform and its effects upon community. As a Catholic having lived through the reforms initiated by Vatican II, I understand and appreciate his analysis on the demystification of the liturgy and the loss of the mystical in its transition from Latin into a vernacular language in its celebration of the concept of community. These reflections are intermingled with his thoughts on the Catholicism that he was taught in school by the nuns, a Catholicism that was influenced by the "bleak melancholic strain" that runs through Irish Catholicism. Having been taught by Irish nuns as a child, this, too, resonated with me. I also remember well those lessons taught through the strict use of the Baltimore Catechism, a fairly dogmatic and rote approach to Catholicism that is, for the most part, no longer employed.
The author's personal educational experiences and reflections have caused him to formulate certain views on bi-lingual education and affirmative action. His views on these issues are the very same views that I hold. Being a Cuban-American, I relate to many of his experiences as a Mexican-American, and his careful analysis of these issues hits home in many ways. Integrated into his analysis is a certain amount of irony. I agree that, oftentimes, a minority who has succeeded academically and professionally is often marginalized by society, relegated to speaking for all minorities, as if one size fits all. Missing from the equation, now a parody of social reform, is the fundamental issue of class. It is an issue that is largely unaddressed n in these programs of social reform. For those who claim that the author was the beneficiary of affirmative action, it should be noted that the author would have been able to get into Stanford, where he went to college, on his own merits, as he was certainly not educationally disadvantaged. Moreover, as a scholar who desired the intellectual stimulation of academic life, he chose to give it up as a form of protest against affirmative action. Instead, he became a noted essayist and social critic.
What is also of interest in this book is what is missing. As I read the book, the sense of estrangement from his family was palpable, as was his loneliness and the lack of any mention of social congress. His was, indeed, a solitary existence, as if the author were not yet in touch with a part of himself that he had sublimated. His sexual identity is a totally blank slate within the pages of this book, as if a portion of himself had been excised. Where it is indirectly alluded, it is ambiguous, at best, referred to as sexual anxieties. At Stanford, he notes, however, that he began to have something of a "conventional" sex life". This, I felt was a curious use of the adjectival and more meaningful within the context of what is not discussed. His mother called him, "Mr. Secrets", ostensibly because he told her little about his work in San Francisco. As a mother, I suspect it is probably because she already knew at some level what the author was reluctant to reveal at the time, even to himself. Later on, the author made a declaration that was probably already subliminally known to his family. As did his educational advancement, this secret may have also contributed to his feeling of estrangement from his family and his culture. After all, in the world of machismo, the concept of homosexuality is one that many traditional Latino families still have difficulty accepting. It took the author many years to come to grips with his sexual orientation. It was only years later that he publicly acknowledged what is evident to the discerning reader of this book.
While the author has a voice that should be heard, his style of writing is often pedantic and somewhat strained. The construction can be quite awkward and stilted, as if the author were stylistically distancing himself from his own life. So, while I find his critical analysis of certain issues to be on point and often brilliant, the style in which he conveys his thoughts, at times, acts as a distraction and an irritant. Still, for those readers who can look past some of the stylistic bombast, they will find a wellspring of insightful, critical analysis of social issues.
Book Description
Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?
Turn to "Nonfiction Classics for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: a summary of the work; analysis of key figures; author biography; an overview of the work's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; compare-and-contrast commentary; suggestions for further reading; and much more.
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Term paper due tomorrow? Need to bone up for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?
Turn to "Nonfiction Classics for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by the Gale Group--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: a summary of the work; analysis of key figures; author biography; an overview of the work's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; compare-and-contrast commentary; suggestions for further reading; and much more.
Why choose "Nonfiction Classics for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: The Gale Group--and "Nonfiction Classics for Students."
Book Description
Once known as the "Last of the Gunfighters", the Vought F-8 Crusader has since become a legend in the histories of the U.S. and French navies, as well as a scourge in the skies over North Vietnam in the late 1960s! CRUSADER! is a vital oral history of one of the most controversial fighter planes in carrier aviation. A key to the authenticity of this story are the author's personal interviews with sixteen of the seventeen living Crusader pilots who became MiG killers in the Vietnam air war. His analysis of their aerial engagements over North Vietnam from 1965 to 1973 contains some startling surprises, as well as a validation of many of the tactical lessons learned from World War II and Korea. CRUSADER! also contains personal accounts by F-8 speed record holders such as U.S. Marine Corps Major (now Senator) John Glenn and Captains Bob Dose and "Duke" Windsor. Other aviation records held by the Crusader, (not so enviable) are told, in anecdotal form, for the first time by the author, an F-8 driver and participant in some of them! Colorful, and sometimes humorous, accounts of events involving the F-8 and "Crusader Drivers" abound in this chronicle of carrier aviation covering the three decades when this remarkable airplane was an important element of the U.S. Navy's carrier strike forces. Rear Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist commanded a fleet Crusader squadron, then a carrier air wing and finally, as a flag officer, became wing commander for all Pacific Fleet fighter squadrons. During his fleet squadron command he completed three carrier deployments to the Tonkin Gulf and flew 167 combat missions in the Crusader for which he was awarded seventeen combat decorations. The author of FEET WET, Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (1990) and TOMCAT, The Grumman F-14 Story (1994), Admiral Gillcrist is well qualified to write the story of the Crusader!, over 200 color and b/w photographs, 8 1/2" x 11"
Customer Reviews:
Excellent aircraft history.......2006-08-18
A "must read" for anyone who appreciates the F-8 (or wants to) or just loves military aviation. A thorough history of this amazing airplane and those who flew it through a collection of great first-hand fighter pilot's stories. Some are told from the author's own experience and many more from other Crusader pilots interviewed by the author. For example: John Glenn's record-breaking flight in his own words, along with many accounts of Vietnam MiG encounters. I loved this book and plan on reading much more by this author.
I Cannot Recommend This Book Highly Enough.......1998-09-24
This is a fantastic collection of pilot's stories dealing with the "Last of the Gunfighters" the Vought F-8 Crusader. Rear Admiral Paul T Gillcrist has 2000 hours of Crusader time and his impressive knowledge and affection for the aircraft is very apparent throughout. The first part of the book arms the reader with background knowledge of early jet carrier operations as well as the story of Crusader speed records. The bulk of the book deals with the experiences, both harrowing and amusing, of numerous Crusader pilots including fascinating interviews with each pilot to shoot down a MiG in the aircraft. The final chapters give the author's expert analysis of the air war in Vietnam, and an overview of the use of the aircraft by the French Navy, the Naval Reserve and NASA. The book does not suffer from the shortfall of other books in that it is very skilfully written so that a layman can imagine theirself in the thick of the action. After reading this book you are left with a great respect for the men of the US Navy and Marine Corps who flew and fought in the Crusader and operated the aircraft from small aircraft carriers. As a commercial pilot I can only wonder how I would cope with landing a Mach2 airplane on a small heaving 27C carrier deck at night. To these men it was routine. Anyone who is remotely interested in aviation will find this book a great asset to their collection and I cannot recommend it highly enough
Customer Reviews:
The Managing of Police Organizations.......2007-01-31
Put me to sleep. If Mr. Whisenand is going to write about police management, maybe we should know more about him. There is nothing in this book that tells me who this author is and what his experience in law enforcement is. It lacks credibility. The book was boring, choppy, and not written for the true law enforcemnent manager, or those preparing to be one. I do not recommend this book. I've been a police officer for nearly 30 years and a supervisor for 15.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptional text for police officers and all managers.......1999-08-05
This is an exceptional text for police officers as well as other managers in the public sector who aspire to "leadership" positions. Not only does the book cover practical police management issues, it provides unique perspectives on a series of management and leadership issues. As a budget and finance instructor, I was initially interested in the administrative/budget portions of the book; however, I found that the entire book was exceptional.
Average customer rating:
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The managing of police organizations
Paul M Whisenand
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall
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ASIN: 0135507316 |
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Managing Police Organizations
Manufacturer: Anderson Publishing Company (OH)
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ASIN: 0870841424 |
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Managing Police Organizations (7th Edition)
Paul M Whisenand
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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ASIN: 0131590863 |
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Managing police organizations: Text and cases
David A Tansik
Manufacturer: Duxbury Press
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ASIN: B0006E1KAO |
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Feather Fashions and Bird Preservation: A Study in Nature Protection
Robin W. Doughty
Manufacturer: University of California Press
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ASIN: 0520025881 |
Books:
- Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
- I Love the Illusion: The Life And Career of Agnes Moorehead
- Jacob Have I Loved
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- Lessons from a Sheep Dog
- Letters from Africa, 1914-1931
- Letters from New Orleans
- Little Chapel on the River: A Pub, a Town and the Search for What Matters Most
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