Héctor Tobar

A lyrical and loving study of a group of people who defy definition. Called by many names, maligned by many slurs, the author speaks less about a specific race but about the immigrant experience in general. Starting with the historical fact of the invention of race by a certain breed of incurious and bigoted white men, the author examines the "Latino" people from their own point of view. How do they identify? How do they absorb their native cultures' influence as well as that of their show more geographical location?

There is no one type or kind, each is unique but together they form a warm and powerful community. The author's voice is so loving and awed and beautiful throughout this book. It was a joy to read and very gratifying to explore. show less

Undocumented Mexican immigrant Araceli Ramirez works as a live-in housekeeper and cook for the Torres-Thompson family – Scott Torres, Maureen Thompson, and their children. They live in a hillside gated community overlooking the Pacific Ocean in a suburb of Los Angeles. Due to an economic downturn, they have let go the children’s nanny and the gardener, so Araceli is now their only domestic staff. Scott and Maureen get into a serious argument over finances in which the two leave the house show more separately, each believing the other has their two young boys. Araceli has never been close to the boys, and after the couple does not return for several days, she decides to take them to their paternal grandfather, whose address she has found on the back of a photograph. This takes the three on a quest through the city of Los Angeles, a place these sheltered children had never before visited. It also leads to a series of events the result in Araceli being accused of child endangerment.

The setting in Orange County California, and the multiple ethnicities in Los Angeles, form the core of the narrative, and the descriptions capture the multi-cultural landscape of the region. It is a contemporary novel that confronts the current immigration debate by portraying complexities rather than stereotypes. The characters are from a wide variety of backgrounds and situations. Araceli is a strong person who feels misunderstood. She formerly attended art school at a university in Mexico City but is working in domestic service, which comes with its own baggage in the form of assumptions made by others, so no one really sees her for who she is. Maureen and Scott do not want people to judge their parenting skills as deficient, so they veer just a tad from the truth, which unintentionally puts Araceli in the position of “bad guy” from a social media perspective. The situation is just so realistic and believable. It is about communication problems, and the typical way many people want to find a scapegoat for societal issues that are truly much more complicated than can be summarized in a media “sound bite.”

It is well-written with a detailed setting and believable characters. It contains a number of non-translated Spanish phrases. For me, this added to the feeling of immersion, but if you are not a Spanish speaker, you may want to keep a translation tool handy. There are a few contrivances that seem a bit far-fetched from a plot perspective but were needed to encompass the diversity of social classes and races present in this part of California. It tackles a serious topic, but actually contains a good bit of humor. It is an artful work that tells a socially relevant story in an interesting way.

4.5 show less

Our Migrant Souls is a beautiful, book-length essay filled with indignation, melancholy, and, most importantly, love. Love for Latinos, love for a mixing of races and cultures, love for breaking free of outdated, restrictive stories.

Unlike his earlier Translation Nation: Defining a New American Identity in the Spanish-Speaking United States, which was essentially a compilation of mini-profiles as Tobar traveled across the United States meeting Latinos, this book masterfully weaves the show more stories of his students, the people that he meets, and his own family into a moving treatise about what connects Latinos of all sorts and about the future we can create if we fight the oppressive capitalist system that dehumanizes the poor and the brown and Black.

Read it. If, like me, you're Latino, it will fill you with pride. If you're not, it will open your eyes to the people all around you that you're failing to see. show less

I could not put this book down last night until I had personally ensured the safety of all 33 miners. This is a short but detailed and beautifully written account of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped in a mine for 70 days. It is mesmerizing.

I saw earlier that Hector Tobar and Hampton Sides (who wrote [b:In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette|20897517|In the Kingdom of Ice The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette|Hampton show more Sides|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395935993s/20897517.jpg|28027377]) were asked to choose their favorite book of the year and each chose the other's. They were both right. show less