Infinitas Gracias is the first collection of the work of Alfredo Vilchis Roque, one of Mexico's most famous contemporary painters, and his sons. In the tradition of Catholic votives, each painting tells a miraculous tale and gives thanks to the intervening saint. Ablaze with intense color hearkening back to the natural pigment dyes of ancient Mexico, these works portray the kaleidoscope of issues that constitute modern urban existence. With over 200 paintings, from circus adventures to household accidents to adultery, drugs, and prostitution, Infinitas Gracias weaves together a bizarre tapestry of stories, some disturbing, some comical -- all unerringly wrought and profoundly touching.

This vivid study, richly illustrated with forty color photographs, offers a multilayered analysis of retablos—folk images painted on tin that are offered as votives of thanks for a miracle granted or a favor bestowed—created by Mexican migrants to the United States. Durand and Massey analyze 124 contemporary retablo texts, scrutinizing the shifting subjects and themes that constitute a running record of the migrant's unique experience. The result is a vivid work of synthesis that connects the history of an art form and a people, links two very different cultures, and allows a deeper understanding of a major twentieth-century theme—the drama of transnational migration.

This rich sampling of Spanish poetry, prose, and drama includes more than seventy selections from the works of more than forty writers, from the anonymous author of the great medieval epic The Poem of the Cid to such 20th-century masters as Miguel de Unamuno. The original Spanish text of each work appears with an excellent English translation on the facing page. The anthology begins with carefully selected passages from such medieval classics as The Book of Good Love by the Archpriest of Hita and Spain's first great prose work, the stories of Count Lucanor by Juan Manuel. Works by writers of the Spanish Renaissance follow, among them poems by the Marqués de Santillana and excerpts from the great dialogue novel La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas. Spain's Golden age, ca. 1550-1650, an era which produced its great writers, is represented by the mystical poems of St. Teresa, passages from Cervantes' Don Quixote and scenes from Tirso de Molina's The Love-Rogue, the drama that introduced the character of Don Juan to the world, along with other well-known works of the period. A cavalcade of stirring poems, plays and prose selections represent Spain's rare literary achievements of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The translations were chosen for their accuracy and fidelity to the originals. Among the translators are Lord Byron, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edward FitzGerald and John Masefield. As a treasury of masterly writing, as a guide for the student who wants to improve his or her language skills and as a compact survey of Spanish literature, this excellent anthology will provide hours of pleasure and fruitful study.

In this thoroughly researched work, Juan Javier Pescador traces the history of popular devotion to the Santo Niño de Atocha, one of the the most prominent religious figures for households between Zacatecas, Mexico, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Vintage Readers are a perfect introduction to some of the great modern writers: The celebrated bestselling author of The House on Mango Street “knows both that the heart can be broken and that it can rise and soar like a bird. Whatever story she chooses to tell, we should be listening for a long time to come" (The Washington Post Book World). A winner of the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature and the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, Sandra Cisneros evokes working-class Latino experience with an irresistible mix of realism and lyrical exuberance. Vintage Cisneros features an excerpt from her bestselling novel The House on Mango Street, which has become a favorite in school classrooms across the country. Also included are a chapter from her novel, Caramelo; a generous selection of poems from My Wicked Wicked Ways and Loose Woman; and seven stories from her award-winning collection Woman Hollering Creek.

An anthology of Spanish women writers from the fifteenth through the nineteenth century. Water Lilies brings to light a rich & until now, largely invisible version of Spanish literary history. These hard-to-find works, most translated for the first time, are printed on facing pages in Spanish & English & are located within a critical, biographical & historical overview.