excellent anthology

A few weeks ago, I finished reading The Multicultural Southwest: A Reader (Editors: A. Gabriel Melendez, M. Jane Young, Patricia Moore, and Patrick Pynes). Fascinating compilation of works, and one of the most interesting books I've ever read. Here's the blurb from the book's back cover:

As Americans debate what it means to be a multicultural society, one need only turn for lessons to the Southwest, where distinct peoples have coexisted over centuries. Here difference has not only survived but thrived in a melting pot of races and customs.

This book presents a montage of differing perspectives demonstrating that there is no single, definitive description of the Southwest. It brings together a host of writers, from early travelers and historians to contemporary commentators, who explore a region diverse in its people and ecology and show it to be not just a segment of the nation, but rather a border contact zone.

The editors have assembled an interdisciplinary composite, drawing on history, sociology, anthropology, and geography. Fiction, essays, poetry, newspaper articles, and interviews with local inhabitants add a colorful dimension to the coverage. All of the contributions reveal the tremendous impact that everyday occurrences can have and show how life in the Southwest is affected by the interweaving of social, cultural, and ecological forces.

For more, see: https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/the-multicultural-southwest