Reference Library of Hispanic America Edited by Nicolas Kanellos, Gale Research, Detroit, MI, 1993, three volumes, 740 pp., $119 (cloth). This three-volume compendium of essays on the Hispanic presence in the United States is meant to serve as an encyclopedia of U.S. Latino life and history. (The term "Hispanic" in this project refers to all Spanish-speaking cultures. The term "America" refers to the United States.) The serious researcher will find little that is new here, but the three-volume set-a wise invest- ment for general, high school and undergraduate libraries-is a good resource. for Latinos who want to know more about their own history, non-Latinos with an interest in Hispanic culture, and students embarking on a variety of research projects. In true encyclopedia fash- ion, most of the historical material is compressed and over-simplified. Study Spanish in Guatemala A not-for-profit sisterhood of three collectively-run schools offers one-on-one instruction, family living, field trips and cultural activities. Families are welcome. La Hermandad Educativa includes Proyecto Linguistico Quezalteco and Educaci6n Para Todos in Quezaltenango and Proyecto Linguistico de Espafiol/Mam in Todos Santos. For more information write or call: PLQE PO Box 205337 Suiiset Park, NY 11220-0006. Phone (718) 965-8522 There are, however, a number of penetrating and insightful essays, especially a perceptive piece by Robert Alvarez on the centrality-- and diversity-of the Hispanic fam- ily, and another by Manuel Pefia on the wide variety of Latino musical styles. The three volumes are unfortu- nately marred by an incomplete editing job. There are a fair number of grammatical errors and typos which should have been caught by a competent proofreader, and a good deal of incomplete information which a day or two of editorial research could have filled in. (A maddening number of question marks appear, for instance, where easily verifiable birth and death dates were not ascertained by the editors.) The Library is meant to serve not only as a source of infor- mation, but as a vehicle for Latino pride. There are, therefore, lists of Hispanics in U.S. arts, sports, busi- ness, politics, etc. This ethnic self- promotion aside, the project makes a valuable contribution to an under- standing of the growing Latino presence in the United States. Mexican Lives by Judith Adler Hellman, The New Press, 1994, 244 pp., $22.95 (cloth). Judith Adler Hellman's Mexican Lives is a lively, informative, and often moving portrait of today's Mexico. Hellman, a political scien- tist and former NACLA staff mem- ber, describes the impact on 15 Mexicans of the austerity measures adopted since Mexico defaulted on its foreign debt in 1982. From man- ufacturers to market vendors, they are all struggling. These vignettes bring to life abstractions such as austerity and neoliberalism. We learn exactly what it is like to take the bus to Laredo every week for a load of used clothing to sell in Mexico City, or to appeal to the local ward heeler for a better stall in the mar- ket. We see how some people find clever ways to work the system for a few extra pesos, while others heroically struggle as union or neighborhood activists to change the system. Despite a chapter on agricultural policy since the Lizaro Cirdenas land reform, and-interviews with a peasant who has successfully switched over to nontraditional crops and a large landowner who circumvents the legal limits on landholding (now repealed), the book shortchanges the countryside. We meet no subsistence peasants, except in the family backgrounds of some of the urban migrants. Nor do we meet any people who have joined the system and take bribes or dispense favors (though many of them hover in the back- ground). Hellman nowhere claims that her interviewees are represen- tative of the whole population, but since she makes clear that poor peasants, party hacks, and bureau- crats are key actors, they deserve closer attention. The research for this book was completed before the vertiginous year which included the approval of NAFTA, the Chiapas uprising, the murder of the PRI's first presi- dential candidate, and national elections. The book does, however, provide the background to place those events in context. Readers with relatively little prior knowl- edge will come away with a vivid portrait of contemporary Mexico, while readers familiar with Mexico's politics and economy will appreciate the personal stories which give substance to the struc- ture. Hellman offers few grounds for hope that NAFTA will fulfill its promise of prosperity. The treaty formalizes changes which were already under way and were devas- tating for these Mexican Lives. As several interviewees assert, NAFTA "is for rich people." The poor, who never believed the promises, will go on finding ways to cope.
