The Latino Reader: An American Literary Tradition from 1542 to the Present Book

The Latino Reader presents the full history of this important American literary tradition, from its mid-sixteenth-century beginnings to the present day. The wide-ranging selections include works of history, memoir, letters, and essays, as well as fiction, poetry, and drama.

Harold Augenbraum and Margarite Fernßndez Olmos were surprised to find, when compiling The Latino Reader: An American Literary Tradition from 1542 to the Present, that such a project had not already been done. In the introduction they note that they use "Latino" because it is broad enough to encompass the writing of all those who are "loosely united by a common heritage as native Spanish speakers or their descendants" and the latest arrivals as well, but see it as far from perfect. Selections include essays, memoirs, letters and history as well as poems, stories and plays from lesser- and well-known writers such as Richard Rodrfguez, Sandra Cisneros, Oscar Hijuelos, JosT Martf, Rudolfo Anaya and Luis Valdez.