What's your favorite book, fiction or non-fiction, set in ABQ or NM? (Albuquerque: houses, school districts)
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Tony Hillerman's are the first that come to mind. I can't think I've read anything else set in NM other than Jon Nichols' obvious ones. I've avoided Bless Me Ultima - my parents know Anaya, they rather dislike him as a person, hence I didnt' feel a need to delve into the book.
Tony Hillerman's are the first that come to mind. I can't think I've read anything else set in NM other than Jon Nichols' obvious ones. I've avoided Bless Me Ultima - my parents know Anaya, they rather dislike him as a person, hence I didnt' feel a need to delve into the book.
I've heard bad things about Anaya's real life personality, but Bless Me Ultima is a good book. Maybe not quite as good as it's local reputation (where it seems to be re-discovered to be celebrated every year by UNM), but good. Certainly there are lots of good to great writers who weren't necessarily pleasant to be around.
I'm in the process of gathering all the authors and titles suggested in this thread and bringing the list with me, so I can reference it when in the various bookstores I'll be visiting. Since I was interested in NM and ABQ topics, it JUST occurred to me to check out the UNM bookstore. I love university bookstores, and since Rudofo Anaya published some of this works through UNM Press, there might be some of his titles there. Also there will likely be other titles the UNM Press published.
UNM bookstore is a pretty sad approximation of a university bookstore, with a selection that seems to get thinner every year. I suppose it still has a decent selection of local-interest books. From what I remember, the National Hispanic Cultural Center gift shop had a better selection of UNM Press books, and a better selection of regional-interest books overall; but that was ten years ago, so I don't know what it's like now.
Bookworks also emphasizes local authors.
Also, the new Organic Books in Nob Hill has dedicated sections for local authors, and, I think, local-interest material. Haven't been there much. They sell a mix of new and used books.
Certainly there are lots of good to great writers who weren't necessarily pleasant to be around.
That's true. I should probably make the effort to read it some day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ApartmentNomad
UNM bookstore is a pretty sad approximation of a university bookstore
You're right. But, Zimmerman library is one of the best (fullest, richest) libraries in the country - in my opinion. If there's any local-interest regional stuff you can't find in a bookstore or in the Hispanic cultural center, chances are you can find it at Zimmerman, at least to be able to peruse/borrow it.
UNM bookstore is a pretty sad approximation of a university bookstore, with a selection that seems to get thinner every year. I suppose it still has a decent selection of local-interest books.
This has been a national trend for over a decade. Many university bookstores don't even sell textbooks anymore, students buy them from Amazon. When I was visiting UC Berkeley a couple of years ago they no longer had a bookstore, instead they renamed it "Cal Student Store" and it's mostly apparel.
This has been a national trend for over a decade. Many university bookstores don't even sell textbooks anymore, students buy them from Amazon. When I was visiting UC Berkeley a couple of years ago they no longer had a bookstore, instead they renamed it "Cal Student Store" and it's mostly apparel.
I haven't traveled to university bookstores in recent years, so my comparisons are probably out of date, or in some cases unfair. I have happy memories of University of Pennsylvania's bookstore (and the independent Penn Book Center, which served as an unofficial bookstore for Penn), but that's an Ivy League school, with lots of wealthy undergraduates, in a much more densely populated city and state. And no, I didn't go there, in case it's not obvious. Not a fair comparison for UNM, especially when I am basing the comparison of what I remember of Penn's bookstores from over a decade ago.
And maybe it's as unreasonable to expect college bookstores in general to have the same book selection today as it would be to expect them to have vinyl cut-out bins full of great bargain records, like my college bookstore had back in the 80's.
And maybe it's as unreasonable to expect college bookstores in general to have the same book selection today as it would be to expect them to have vinyl cut-out bins full of great bargain records, like my college bookstore had back in the 80's.
Right-- those "good old days" are never coming back.
But another reason to read Rudy Anaya is that Bless Me, Ultima was banned in Arizona by Republican former governor Jan Brewer in her crack-down against Mexican American Studies in high schools, and has been burned and banned in other school districts. It is just amazing to me how people can feel so threatened by a work of fiction, but of course the unintended consequence of banning books is always that it puts a spotlight on them and they become more widely read than they might otherwise have been.
But another reason to read Rudy Anaya is that Bless Me, Ultima was banned in Arizona by Republican former governor Jan Brewer in her crack-down against Mexican American Studies in high schools, and has been burned and banned in other school districts. It is just amazing to me how people can feel so threatened by a work of fiction, but of course the unintended consequence of banning books is always that it puts a spotlight on them and they become more widely read than they might otherwise have been.
I don't know the details of that, but I don't think public schools should be teaching from a perspective that encourages separatism or cessationism (the Aztlan fantasy, etc.). I don't know if that's what was going on, but it wouldn't surprise me, given the extent to which teacher education has been captured by some variety of the far left. I don't think public schools should be teaching in favor of the dissolution of the United States (either through balkanization or the removal of any immigration enforcement for those coming from South of the border), just so some Mexican-American kids can supposedly relate more the curriculum more. Teaching that such views exist is a different matter.
I agree that banning something just gives it publicity. Since you want to get in political digs again, the real censorship battle today is online, with the "woke" left tech. sector leading the way in censoring their arguably monopolistic social media platforms, frequently targetting the right (though pretty much anyone who steps out of line politically can get slammed as well).
(And before you go off on right-wingers doing this or that in the past to allow monopolies, as you did previously, regarding Republicans releasing the mentally ill onto the streets: once again, I don't consider myself a conservative or libertarian. I am more of a moderate (minimal?) nationalist than a conservative. I am not particularly conservative where the federal government's role in the economy is concerned.)
Last edited by ApartmentNomad; 04-22-2019 at 10:40 AM..
I don't know the details of that, but I don't think public schools should be teaching from a perspective that encourages separatism or cessationism (the Aztlan fantasy, etc.)
I lived in AZ during those years. The Mexican-American studies curriculum in AZ high schools were definitely **not** teaching separatism or secessionism or advocating "the dissolution of the United States." Not remotely. It was a matter of giving an overwhelmingly Mexican-American student population the **option** to read books and histories focused on their experience and the experience of their ancestors in the US Southwest and beyond, and of furthering their educations by adding a few stories about characters that look and think a bit more like them, instead of just the 19th-century white, east-coast-focused canon. That canon wasn't even replaced - it was just supplemented within one single course. And Arizona's response was to actually **ban** these books and reject the entire curriculum.
Anyway, if anyone's never been to the UNM bookstore I highly recommend it. Lots of books I've never seen in conventional chain stores. Good section on NM, too.
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