tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post112317426439752513..comments2024-03-26T09:40:00.710-06:00Comments on La Bloga: The Strange Cases of Danny Santiago and Amado MuroContributing Bloguistas:http://www.blogger.com/profile/13054190814722049711noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-15719238647166252542010-04-26T09:38:31.495-06:002010-04-26T09:38:31.495-06:00In light of recent events in Arizona that pits imm...In light of recent events in Arizona that pits immigration reform against social bigotry and injustice, the James family of Daniel Lewis James, aka Danny Santiago, has posted a blog on their web site addressing "What would Jesse James' cousin Dan James do about Arizona?".<br /><br />http://ericjames.org/wordpress/2010/04/26/daniel-lewis-james-and-arizona/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-67256034381145168982009-09-26T14:23:50.011-06:002009-09-26T14:23:50.011-06:00One of my cousins lived with Mr. James and his fam...One of my cousins lived with Mr. James and his family for a time. I'm guessing this came about as a result of Mr. James' social work in the barrios of East Los Angeles. Daniel James began to write a story about my grandmother, who ran a boarding house for migrant workers in Boyle Heights (East Los Angeles). As I understand it, my aunts were very unhappy that my grandmother was talking to Mr. James about "family business" and put a stop to it. Still, I know some of my cousins have a copy of the unfinished script (book?).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-34733679946464351982009-07-08T07:40:00.914-06:002009-07-08T07:40:00.914-06:00Does it make any difference in opinion to know tha...Does it make any difference in opinion to know that Daniel Lewis James,aka Danny Santiago, was a cousin to the American outlaw icon Jesse James? Does it also make a difference to know that the reason why Dan James used the pseudonym Danny Santiago was because he had been blacklisted and forced underground as a professioanl writer by the American government during the infamous McCarthy anti-Communist hearings?<br /><br />I'm a writer who is writing about Daniel James, and would welcome replies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-44852940031397855332008-03-06T17:22:00.000-07:002008-03-06T17:22:00.000-07:00I'm Asian, and we've been represented and misrepre...I'm Asian, and we've been represented and misrepresented so much, it's sometimes just too much. The problem is not quality but quantity - there's not enough material out there that's authentic. People are hungry for genuine self-representation. Until there's enough "real" material, white (or other) writers who represent the culture should do everyone the favor by not dressing up in yellowface to get readers to suspend their disbelief. <BR/><BR/>There's plenty of fake Chicanos, fake Asians, and fake whatevers doing their writing without hiding their real roots. That's the fair, right way to do it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-54135292378797458192007-11-06T20:04:00.000-07:002007-11-06T20:04:00.000-07:00i read the book Famous all over town when i was in...i read the book Famous all over town when i was in 9th grade, a teacher recommended i read it and to my surprise i actually read it, i was going through some rough times and i loved this book because i felt like if every time i opened the book i was living chatos life not mine, it was like leaving all my problems behind. im in tenth grade now and i live in the BAY AREA in cali. so L.A isnt that far from here and i felt like i related alot to Chato even though im not Mexican.Im Nicoya and for those who dont know what that is it means nicaraguense and i really dont think an author should be criticized by there race mas bien they should be judged by there work. This book inspired me to ferget about my past and concentrate on the present and future, the realty is that no one really cares what you do because the only person that can decide your future is yourself and the chooses you make in life dont effect anyone beside yourself and i didn't realize that untill i read Famous all over town so who cares if danny santiago was is really a white man HE HAD THE SOUL OF A CHICANO!!!!!!!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-11874736297624414312007-03-21T16:50:00.000-06:002007-03-21T16:50:00.000-06:00If we're ever going to have books that reflect the...If we're ever going to have books that reflect the multicultural/multi-ethnic social realities of places like Los Angeles, authors are going to have to step into the shoes of people different than them. I think the works mentioned, and the critiques of them, are steps towards doing that and doing it better. But still, naming yourself Santiago or Muro shows some shallow thinking around the issue of (so-called) reverse racismAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1156736664098948562006-08-27T21:44:00.000-06:002006-08-27T21:44:00.000-06:00And what do you mean by your comparison of K I's R...And what do you mean by your comparison of K I's Ro the Day? I am familiar with his book, which I loved, but what do you mean by your comparison?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1156736581976035212006-08-27T21:43:00.000-06:002006-08-27T21:43:00.000-06:00Why would or should anyone at all care about the e...Why would or should anyone at all care about the ethnicity of the author of such and I do mean such an incredibly wonderful book as Famous all over Town?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1125533566060920032005-08-31T18:12:00.000-06:002005-08-31T18:12:00.000-06:00I stumbled on your "bloga" while looking up Danny ...I stumbled on your "bloga" while looking up Danny Santigo after recently reading FAMOUS ALL OVER TOWN for the first time. I'd already heard a little about the "hidden" identity of the author, and that was part of what drew me to the book. Regardless of "Santiago's" identity, the book was a pretty good read as a "coming-of-age" story. I'm an assimilated third generation German-American working with a children's mental health program in El Paso, Texas. For what it's worth I also have a B.A. in Mexican-American Studies. My diploma was signed by Ronald Reagan. Go figure! Anyway I'm putting FAMOUS ALL OVER TOWN on my list of recommended reading for adolescents coming to terms with the hypocracies of the adult world. I think the "hidden" identity of "Danny Santiago" just enhances the value of FAMOUS ALL OVER TOWN for my purposes. By the way - regarding mondongo, as a former Peace Corps Volunteer I know it as a Colombian dish similar to what we in El Paso call caldo de res. No reason there couldn't be a Puerto Rican version.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1125200863406131712005-08-27T21:47:00.000-06:002005-08-27T21:47:00.000-06:00When I read Famous All Over Town, I could tell tha...When I read Famous All Over Town, I could tell that the author was not a Chicano. Something about its syntax and rhythm reminded me of the East Coast, particularly the phrase 'on account of.' I didn't fall for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1123427542041389492005-08-07T09:12:00.000-06:002005-08-07T09:12:00.000-06:00Nice post, Ramos.RudyGNice post, Ramos.<BR/><BR/>RudyGAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1123330165155113722005-08-06T06:09:00.000-06:002005-08-06T06:09:00.000-06:00I was also the first to coin the term "Chicanesque...I was also the first to coin the term "Chicanesque" applied to Jim Sagel as opposed to just plain Santiago phony, but I never wrote it down. One I did write down is Xicanerati, just so I wouldn't have to type so much, and it accounts for race, class and gender & National identity.<BR/><BR/>Another Chicano writer is Phil Goldvarg. Stone Chicano. But don't go looking for no Brown Buffalo there. Just as Jim was always what he was: a white boy from the flat plains of Fort Morgan, who acculturated, and wrote what he loved in the language that was speaking to him.<BR/><BR/>P.S. I liked Deborah's list of bullets for writers to bite. or at least chew on them. Good book, that one seems. I heard part of it in a plane. I'll have to buy it soon. I'm so sorry I couldn't make her reading.Lorna Dee Cervanteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239920845079483543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1123329524811321162005-08-06T05:58:00.000-06:002005-08-06T05:58:00.000-06:00Jim Sagel is a Chicano writer y presente. I think ...Jim Sagel is a Chicano writer y presente. I think it helps to make a distinction between acculturation & assimilation, the difference between love and ambition.<BR/><BR/>I was the first to declare and publish him as such back in the late 70's before Gary Soto took over as editor (chief bad guy) of the Chicano Chapbook series.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for these last few posts. Keep the blogazos coming.Lorna Dee Cervanteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239920845079483543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-1123307532506546002005-08-05T23:52:00.000-06:002005-08-05T23:52:00.000-06:00Interesting. A publication "The Bridge" published ...Interesting. A publication "The Bridge" published a piece on "reverse assimulation" focusing on Charles Melzter. Francisco Lomali and another scholar coined this literature: "literaturo chicanesa." They included in this catagory: John Nicoles, Amaro Muro-Charles Seltzer, Gordon Kahn. There are others like Frank Bonhams ("Viva Chicano"), William Cox ("Chicano Cruz"), Richard Bradford ("So Far From Heaven"). Being put in this genre did not necesarily mean you put yourself out as a Chicano writer as Seltzer did.<BR/><BR/>I'm very skeptical of Ricardo Sanchez claims that he knew Seltzer was an imposter. Felipe Ortego was the first to "expose" Seltzer when trying to get permision from him to use his stories in a Chicano anthology ("We are Chicanos"). This was in the late 1960s. Though Sanchez claims he knew, there was not much Sanchez was doing (other than writing) before the early 1970s being that he was in prison for kidnapping and robbing a store. Most of Sanchez rambling were on Muro/Selzter 5-20 years after the fact.<BR/><BR/>One writer that some claim is "chicanesca" is Jim Sagel, but check his this interview: http://mclibrary.nhmccd.edu/lit/sagel.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com