Book of the Month
BIRD OF FOUR HUNDRED VOICES
A Mexican American Memoir of Music and Belonging
Author: Eugene Rodriguez
Publisher: Heyday
ISBN-10: 1597146447 / ISBN-13: 978-1597146449
SUMMARY:
Bird of Four Hundred Voices, written by Eugene Rodriguez, chronicles the extraordinary journey of Los Cenzontles from a barrio youth group into an internationally acclaimed beacon of cultural preservation and education in San Pablo, California.
“In a society that tries, in countless ways, to convince us to devalue ourselves, the cultural arts can help our children build resourcefulness and resilience that can protect their sense of self,” says Rodriguez. As he candidly recounts, Rodriguez founded Los Cenzontles in 1989 seeking personal healing and cultural connection. Witnessing the group’s powerful impact on his students, he then recruited them to build a non-profit organization with a cultural arts academy, a touring and recording musical group, and multimedia production studio.
The book reveals the many challenges and guiding values of Los Cenzontles’ 35-year trajectory within which they have trained thousands of community youth, revived lost Mexican traditions, and produced dozens of CDs and films. They have performed, recorded and composed with celebrated musicians including Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, The Chieftains, Flaco Jimenez, and Preservation Hall. By both “honor[ing] and upend[ing] traditional Mexican music,” Los Cenzontles has created “something completely new, and distinctly American,” as the New York Times wrote.
Against the backdrop of historic immigration from Mexico and a resulting political backlash, Bird of Four Hundred Voices candidly reflects on issues of identity, belonging and cultural engagement, offering a profound exploration of Mexican American culture and its historic imprint on the fabric of American society. This timely memoir not only narrates the struggle and resilience of an artistic community but also challenges us to reevaluate how Latino populations are viewed and supported in our society. Amidst growing discussions about inclusivity and the true meaning of democracy, Rodriguez’s story is a clarion call for decentralized vision for American identity.
About the Author:
Eugene Rodriguez. is founder and executive director of Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy, a nonprofit based in San Pablo, California. He formed Los Cenzontles in 1989. Rodriguez has produced over thirty albums and numerous films for Los Cenzontles, and he has collaborated with Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Los Lobos, Lalo Guerrero, Ry Cooder, the Chieftains, and Taj Mahal. His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR. He is also the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including from the California Arts Council and United States Artists. He lives in Richmond, California.
Bird of Four Hundred Voices: A Mexican American Memoir of Music and Belonging
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Conversations With Book
LIKE HAPPINESS
Author: Ursula Villarreal-Moura
Publisher: Celadon Books
ISBN-10: 1250882834 / ISBN-13: 978-1250882837
SUMMARY:
A searing debut about the complexities of gender, power, and fame, told through the story of a young woman’s destructive relationship with a legendary writer.
It’s 2015, and Tatum Vega feels that her life is finally falling into place. Living in sunny Chile with her partner, Vera, she spends her days surrounded by art at the museum where she works. More than anything else, she loves this new life for helping her forget the decade she spent in New York City orbiting the brilliant and famous author M. Domínguez.
When a reporter calls from the US asking for an interview, the careful separation Tatum has constructed between her past and present begins to crumble. Domínguez has been accused of assault, and the reporter is looking for corroboration.
As Tatum is forced to reexamine the all-consuming but undefinable relationship that dominated so much of her early adulthood, long-buried questions surface. What did happen between them? And why is she still struggling with the mark the relationship left on her life?
Told in a dual narrative alternating between her present day and a letter from Tatum to Domínguez, recounting and reclaiming the totality of their relationship, Like Happiness explores the nuances of a complicated and imbalanced relationship, catalyzing a reckoning with gender, celebrity, memory, Latinx identity, and power dynamics.
About the Author:
Website: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/12/1244151930/ursula-villarreal-moura-like-happiness-debut-novel
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250882844/likehappiness/
