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Anonymous
Posted September 15, 2009
A PAGE TURNER
What most of the other reviews missed was that RR muses and writes this book not from a structured wasp style but from an Hispanic one. "Brown" is the middleman between black and white America, neither here nor there, sans identity. He points this out by commenting that the US was England's offspring while Mexico and latinamerica were Spain's. Both have almost opposing views to business, religion and life in general. Consequently, children of Spain's offspring living in the cradle of England's offspring must live in a twilight zone of acceptance.
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Although his prose is not structured according to the standard literate model taught in schools, I fully GOT it the first time, despite the abundant use of non sequiturs. His "musings" jumped out at me and created an instant image of what was on his mind as opposed to a passage of proper English literature which might take several readings to finally get down pat. I also relived a lot of my childhood memories vicariously through this book. Sacramento "was" the reality every latino-inhabited city experienced throughout the US at the time. I'm planning on reading it again soon because I enjoyed it so much. -
Anonymous
Posted July 22, 2003
We're all brown
As the child of a West African father and Black American mother I too am brown, although I'm black. I have often been disturbed by the American tendency to believe in absolute categories, and to assume that certain behaviors, opinions and tastes naturally accompany these categories. For them I am an anomoly, for me they are too. It is heartening to hear a voice speaking directly to Americas mixed heritage and confronting her color/caste assumptions. Though Mr. Rodriguez meanders more than usual this time around, the final destination is worth it.
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Anonymous
Posted July 19, 2002
Eloquent but Unfocused
I have long been a fan of Mr. Rodriguez. He is a gifted and poetic writer, an astute observer of people, an impressive reader and student of history. 'Brown' is ostensibly about being Hispanic/Latino in America and this theme wends its way through Rodriguez' various musings and impressions. When he stays focused the reader has a much easier time appreciating his insights; however, he has a persistent tendency to wander from the topic at hand which leaves various strands of his thoughts dangling. It's too bad because Rodriguez is so bright: his comments on race, the draw backs of multicultualism/diversity, his critique of bilingualism are fresh, unorthodox, and go against many assumptions of the political/cultural left. Some serious, focused editing would have made this book much better. One gets the impression that Rodriguez may, in fact, be tired of the whole race issue and his book an expression of that weariness. I hope he moves on to write about other topics because he is a very good writer.
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Anonymous
Posted July 26, 2002
WANTING MORE
I WAS LEFT WITH A FEELING THAT I WAS NOT GETTING ALL FROM THIS AUTHOR THE CHAPTER ON HISPANICS COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH LONGER AND HE WRITES ABOUT HOW THE HISTORY OF THIS GREAT NATION IS A LOVE STORY WELL TELL ME ABOUT THIS LOVE THAT BROUGHT ABOUT THIS BROWN COLOR IT IS ALSO OBVIOUS THAT THE AUTHOR LONGED TO BE WHITE AND NOT BLACK WELL WRITE ABOUT IT OR THE FACT THAT WHEN IT CAME TO THE CENCUS MOST HISPANICS DESCRIBED THEMSELVES AS WHITE REGARDLESS OF THE COLOR OF THERE SKIN WHY? IT WAS AS IF HE TRIED TO NOT OFFEND THE BLACK RACE AND AT THE SAME TIME NOT WANTING TO BE GROUPED WITH THE BLACK RACE AND IF THAT IS HOW HE FELT SO BE IT BUT DON'T STARDEL THE FENCE LET YOUR FEELINGS COME OUT HE WRITES ABOUT BOOKS WHERE THE THEME JUMPS OUT AT HIM AND HE WANTS TO READ ALL ABOUT IT WELL THIS THEME JUMPED OUT AT ME AND NEVER GOT DOWN AND DIRTY I ASKED FOR THIS BOOK FOR FATHERS DAY AFTER SEEING THE AUTHOR ON TV AND I EXPECTED SO MUCH MORE AND I NEVER GOT IT
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