Ask a Mexican! by Gustavo Arellano

". . . a true gold mine of information and fascinating facts . . ."

What began as an editor’s idea for filler in the Orange County Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, California, has become a true gold mine of information and fascinating facts in Gustavo Arellano’s hands.

¡Ask a Mexican! is irreverent, bold, politically incorrect, wonderfully witty and informative. Riding the razor’s edge of wit and intelligent information, Arellano pulls no punches as he explains what it is to be Mexican in the United States. The questions range from rude and silly to honest curiosity. The answers, at times, are no less incendiary than a bowl of green chili. Arellano admits when he doesn’t know something (after all, he was born here) and goes to the source to find out, even allowing readers to answer the questions for him. ¡Ask a Mexican! is a mixture of the historically sublime and the culturally ignorant. Arellano pulls it off with a stylish tongue in cheek, liberally spiced with a bold and erudite style that makes this book more than just reference. It is a direct jab to the heart of politically correct language that will leave you laughing, much better informed about the rich Mexican culture in our midst and along our southern borders, revealing the ridiculous as well as the sublime.

Reviewer: J. M. Cornwell