Bøger af Ilan Stavans

For almost twenty years, llan Stavans-described by the Washington Post as "Latin American's liveliest and boldest critic and most innovative cultural enthusiast"--has interviewed path-breaking intellectuals and artists in a wide range of media. As host of the critically acclaimed PBS series La Plaza, he interviews guests on pressing issues that affect the Western Hemisphere today, asking hard-hitting questions on immigration, religion, bilingualism, race, and democracy. This book collects for the first time in one volume Stavans's most provocative and enlightening interviews with Hispanics from both sides of the Rio Grande. Spontaneous and surprising, these conversations reflect Latino life in the United States in all its facets. Among the more than two dozen selections, Edward James Olmos talks about Hispanics in Hollywood; John Leguizamo describes how he shapes a stage show; author Richard Rodriguez reflects on his gang background; Esmeralda Santiago takes on the Puerto Rican stereotype; and Piri Thomas shares thoughts on the writing of Down These Mean Streets. "A conversation is a tango," writes Stavans, "for it takes two to dance it." Conversations with llan Stavans invites readers to catch the rhythm and enjoy these unique meetings of minds.

Stavans interweaves his own experience with that of other Jewish writers and thinkers to explore modern Jewish culture across the boundaries of language and nation

Our understanding of love is not the same as the one espoused by Plato in the fourth century BCE. Nor is it the same as the courtly love of the Renaissance, or love as defined by Stendhal or Proust or Freud. Here, cultural critic Ilan Stavans engages in a dialogue with Veronica Albin about love and its various manifestations.

Inspired by a stirring e-mail exchange with his father, award-winning essayist and cultural commentator , Ilan Stavans decided to do something bizarre: revisit his hometown, Mexico City, accompanied by a tour guide.  With the same linguistic verve and insight that has made him one of the most distinguished voices in American literature today, Ilan Stavans invites readers along for a personal journey that is not only his own, but that of an entire culture. Return to Centro Histórico makes it possible for readers to understand the intimate role that Jews have played in the devleopment of Hispanic civilzation.

In a series of lively, provocative conversations, two prominent intellectuals debate the nature of "Hispanic-ness" as it has been expressed in Hispanic civilization around the world and across the centuries.

Is there such a thing as a modern Jewish literary tradition, one navigating across linguistic and national lines? If so, how should one define it? This volume explores the problems and prospects of representing Jewish experiences through such media as Holocaust memoirs and Jewish museums.

Originally published in hardcover in 2000.