This latest Magill's reference set, edited by the editors at Salem Press, features 122 essays about Latino novelists, short-story writers, poets, and playwrights of the Western Hemisphere who write in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Here the term Latino refers to either Latin American writers or to authors from the United States who hail from-or whose ancestors hail from-Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking countries in the Western Hemisphere. Each entry contains a photo, a quote from well-known works by the author, biographical information, a listing of the author's works, and critical analysis. Most of the authors are from the United States, an understandable bias in an American publication. However, this bias does lead to the regrettable omission of many well-known Mexican and South American writers, who are (or were) mainstream in their countries and certainly deserve to be covered. They include, for example, Uruguayan poet Delmira Agustini, Cuban folklorist Lydia Cabrera, Brazilian novelist Paulo Coehlo, Mexican essayist Carlos Monsiv is, Peruvian playwright Ricardo Palma, Mexican novelist Maria Luisa Puga, and Mexican philosopher Jos Vasconcelos. In addition to the biographies, seven essays describing and detailing genres of drama, poetry, long fiction, and short fiction as they relate to Latino or Latin American literature enhance the study of those literatures. The indexes are divided by author, genre, title, subject, and geographical area. Also included are names of Latino writers not anthologized, a list of electronic resources, and a lengthy bibliography. Bottom Line Despite omissions, this set may prove to be a useful research tool for students, teachers, and librarians. Recommended for academic and public libraries.-Nedra Crowe-Evers, Sonoma Cty. Lib. Syst., CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
