Well equipped for such a task ... Easily his most personal book ... Tobar uses his biography sparingly to illustrate larger aspects of Latino experience. He is as likely to quote historians and cultural theorists as he is to cite students, store clerks or an undocumented Trump supporter randomly encountered on the street ... Tobar takes care to depict Latino life in a universal light, as something easily comprehensible to anyone who has ever felt the pull of a far-off person or place ... There is power in the refrain of Tobar’s direct address, which gives his writing the feel of warm advice dispensed to youngsters grappling with a sense of self.
Tobar uses the details of his own life and the broader past of Latinos in America to situate himself within the long sweep of Latino history ... The latest attempt to pin down an inherently slippery concept. More than these other works, though, it engages in contemporary debates and issues, such as how Latinos have related to Blackness and indigeneity, the question of why some Latinos choose to identify as white, and the political conservatism of certain Latino communities. It is also the most lyrical and literary of the genre, harnessing Tobar’s deep talents as a writer and his fluency in pop culture.
Each story unpeels the layers of each individual’s sense of national and cultural identity, the connection to their ancestral pasts, and their visions for future generations growing up in their new country of origin. The passion for social justice is palpable in Tobar’s writing.
sing both his own personal narrative and testimonies from a rainbow of people of color (not just Latinx folks), Tobar manages to capture the breadth of Latinidad (i.e., the diaspora of Latinx peoples) in the United States and beyond. With moving passages about triumph in the face of adversity, tragic stories of those lost to brutality and a scathing critique of U.S. immigration policy, this book is a call to action, the first step in a redefinition of that elusive word, Latino, and an important piece in a more complete picture of humanity.
A pensive examination ... Tobar’s travels and meditations are altogether provocative and thoroughly well thought through, his account sharply observed and elegantly written. A powerful look at what it means to be a member of a community that, though large, remains marginalized.
