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Ask a Mexican | 
 enlarge | Author: Gustavo Arellano
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy New: $7.50
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Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 43666
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 1416540032
Dewey Decimal Number: 305
EAN: 9781416540038
ASIN: 1416540032
Publication Date: April 22, 2008
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Product Description
DEAR MEXICAN:WHAT IS ASK A MEXICAN! ? Questions and answers about our spiciest Americans. I explore the cliches of lowriders, busboys, and housekeepers; drunks and scoundrels; heroes and celebrities; and most important, millions upon millions of law-abiding, patriotic American citizens and their illegal-immigrant cousins who represent some $600 billion in economic power. WHY SHOULD I READ ASK A MEXICAN! ? At 37 million strong (or 13 percent of the U.S. population), Latinos have become America's largest minority -- and beaners make up some two-thirds of that number. I confront the bogeymen of racism, xenophobia, and ignorance prompted by such demographic changes through answering questions put to me by readers of my Ask a Mexican! column in California's OC Weekly. I challenge you to find a more entertaining way to immerse yourself in Mexican culture that doesn't involve a taco-and-enchilada combo. OKAY, WHY DO MEXICANS PARK THEIR CARS ON THE FRONT LAWN? Where do you want us to park them? The garage we rent out to a family of five? The backyard where we put up our recently immigrated cousins in tool-shack-cum-homes? The street with the red curbs recently approved by city planners? The driveway covered with construction materials for the latest expansion of la casa? The nearby school parking lot frequented by cholos on the prowl for a new radio? The lawn is the only spot Mexicans can park their cars without fear of break-ins, drunken crashes, or an unfortunate keying. Besides, what do you think protects us from drive-bys? The cops?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask June 3, 2007
Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
The premise of this book is simple. Gustavo Arellano writes a nationally syndicated column where readers ask him the questions they have always wanted to ask about Mexicans. The questions range from the predictably racist to the naive and well intentioned. With great wit and confidence, Arellano answers the questions in the spirit in which they were sent.
In this age of political correctness, there is something refreshing about a journalist who is not afraid to speak his mind. In an odd way, the publication of Arellano's weekly column shows a maturing of ethnic relations in the United States. Throughout our country's history, the people at the bottom have always been the recipients of the majority's distain. Not content to be some noble victim, Arellenao believes giving some of it back is the classic way of dealing with this type of petty oppression. Guastavo Arellano is as "All American" as Don Rickles and Jackie Mason.
BEST BOOK EVER! April 23, 2007
L. Agan (Orange County)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
Growing up in Orange County, I must sing Gustavo Arellano's praises! His knowledge, understanding and quick wit when explaining in depth everything we are all too afraid to ask about Mexicans is BRILLIANT! Each and every week offers new surprises in his OC Weekly column "Ask A Mexican" - nothing is too off-colored, "weird" or offensive - GUSTAVO KNOWS ALL and this book blends perfectly, each and every "delicious" and "meaty" question as if it were a critical ingredient in the most AMAZING Mexican taco! Tasty! Also check out his restaurant reviews! Gustavo is an amazing writer - quick witted, sarcastic, intuitive and potent! Truly a voice for our generation! Amazing book! Get it!
Irreverent columnist strikes chord with many readers June 8, 2007
Daniel Olivas (West Hills, CA United States)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
If you like your humor smooth as flan or comforting as a big abrazo from your abuelita, do not read Gustavo Arellano's first book, " Ask a Mexican!" (Scribner, $20 hardcover).
However, if biting satire is your cup of canela tea, Arellano is the man for you.
In his book, he brings together the best of his nationally syndicated column of the same name, with some new material thrown in for good measure.
For the uninitiated, Arellano lives in Orange County, Calif., and is a staff writer and a news editor for the OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper serving the region.
Arellano's column began almost as a joke a few years ago between him and his editor, Will Swaim. Swaim, it seems, had an idea for a one-time column (to fill some space) in which Arellano would answer questions about Mexicans. As Arellano explains in his characteristically in-your-face introduction to the book, Swaim turned to him "not only because I was the only Latino on staff and mowed the lawn on the side, but because my background -- child of Mexican immigrants (one illegal!), recipient of a master's degree in Latin American studies, a truthful beaner -- put me in a unique position to be an authority on all things Mexican."
So Arellano "slapped together" the first Q&A:
Question: "Dear Mexican, Why do Mexicans call white people gringos?"
Answer: "Dear Gabacho, Mexicans do not call gringos gringos. Only gringos call gringos gringos. Mexicans call gringos gabachos."
It was an immediate hit with readers, and questions started pouring in -- much to Arellano's amazement. This one-time lark became a regular column.
Since then, Arellano's irreverent style, fueled by the often-asinine queries, has resulted in nothing short of a social and publishing phenomenon. " Ask a Mexican!" is now nationally syndicated and won the 2006 Association of Alternative Weeklies award for Best Column. Arellano has been the subject of press coverage on "Nightline," "The Colbert Report," "The Today Show," the Los Angeles Times and the San Antonio Express-News.
Many of the questions Arellano receives are mean-spirited, designed to get a rise out of him. But he mixes humor with social analysis (and sometimes with a dash of government data) to do three things: point out the ridiculousness of the question, educate us, and make us laugh.
An example:
Question: "Why aren't more migrant Mexicans taking advantage of the English classes made available instead of relying on their children to translate?"
Arellano's answer runs too long to be reprinted here but he responds, in part: "The first generation of immigrants commit themselves to a lifetime of labor, not assimilation -- that's the job of the children." He continues: "Sure, - hilarity can ensue when you have an 8-year-old trying to describe a father's diabetes to a doctor, but what better way to teach Mexican kiddies that life in America is brutal and filled with beans if you have immigrant parents?"
Another question: "Why are Mexicans always selling oranges on street corners?" Arellano's answer begins: "What do you want them to sell -- Steinways?"
Not all questioners are non-Mexican. Arellano takes delight in describing the culture to self-proclaimed pochos (assimilated Mexicans) who truly feel they have lost much of their heritage.
And many questioners want explanations for Spanish cuss words and phrases that cannot be reprinted in a family newspaper. Suffice it to say that if you are not prudish, Arellano's answers will have you on the floor laughing.
The book includes essays, as well, in which Arellano digs deeper into the sociological and cultural complexities of readers' queries and all things Mexican.
Throughout history, literature's greatest social satirists were both criticized and embraced. Could Gustavo Arellano be the Mexican Jonathan Swift? Es posible.
[This review first appeared in the El Paso Times.]
 Be Careful What You Ask a Mexican! October 25, 2007
Philly Phool
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
I came across this book looking for something less serious to break things up a bit. You know, a piece of intellectual candy. It seemed innocent enough: Ask a Mexican a question about Mexican culture and get an answer. Maybe I can get a perspective about our immigration problems from the Mexican viewpoint? I expected some light-hearted responses, perhaps a few jabs at Los Estados Unidos, and not much more.
For starters, Sr. Arellano begins by listing a dictionary of Mexican slang terms. For example, did you know that Mexicans do not call those of us north of the border 'gringos' like most of us believe? Instead they call us 'gabachos'. Though not explicitly stated, something tells me that this is a derisive term. In fact, most of the slang dictionary, as short as it is, involves Mexican verbiage for rather vulgar invectives! Imagine that! Who would've thought that about our 'south of the border' neighbors?
Well, I found myself pretty well entertained with Gustavo's Mexican candor until I got about a third of the way through the book. I then realized that all of the Q/A involved some variation of the theme:
Q: Can you explain some particular aspect of Mexican culture?
A: Mexicans do what ever they want to do and if it annoys you gabacho's, so much the better!
Throw in some vulgarity in the response and you get the idea. While the above mentioned format became somewhat tedious, I did find myself drawn to read on. And, as I did, I began to understand how the Mexican mind set works. They are pretty much a culture bound together with the common goal to find a better life here in the U.S., or wherever, with whatever it takes. They refuse to be brought down by any admonition of ours and are committed to enjoy the life they have and to work for a better one in the future and for their children.
So the basic idea presented by this book can be summarized by the statement "What do you expect from people trying to find a better life for themselves"? Perhaps we can learn from this culture. Their commitment to family, their desire for a better life, and their 'devil-may-care' attitude can serve as a model for Americans entrenched in our various ideologies. Maybe we should lighten up and be grateful for what we have.
I am giving the work 3 stars, because while it explains Mexican attitudes and brings light to various aspects of their culture, it does contain elements of prejudice (Guatemalan's should steer clear of this book) and gutter-mentality along with a format that is somewhat repetitive. On the other hand, it does educate the reader in Mexican street talk. So the next time you hear some cabron doing the Woody Woodpecker whistle at you on the street corner, you'll know which digit to use in response.
 Never met Mexicans like these... June 1, 2007
Dave (Cincinnati, OH USA)
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
My wife is Mexican (grew up in Mexico and now lives in the U.S.) and I discussed several parts of the book with her and she had no idea what Gustavo was talking about. There were parts of the book that were funny, but I concluded that just like the U.S. there are many sub-cultures within Mexico, and Gustavo is simply writing about the Mexican sub-culture he is most familiar with.
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