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Something To Declare
In her first book of nonfiction, Julia Alvarez takes us behind the scenes and shares the lessons she's learned on her way to becoming an internationally acclaimed novelist. In 1960, when Alvarez was ten years old, her family fled the Dominican Republic. Her father participated in a failed coup attempt against the dictator Rafael Trujillo, and exile to the United States was...more
Hardcover, 300 pages
Published
by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
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This is a terrific read! I enjoyed each and every chapter.I loved learning about how the author researches an idea for her books and the process and patience it takes. She is refreshingly candid and honest. Reading about her writing process and interjecting the writing process of other writers was very informative and real.
Favorite quotes: "So does writing really matter?...It matters, of course, it matters. But it matters in such a small, almost invisible way that it doesn't...more
Favorite quotes: "So does writing really matter?...It matters, of course, it matters. But it matters in such a small, almost invisible way that it doesn't...more
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A great book for writers or writing teachers. While she tells her own stories, she also talks about what it means to be a writer: "I had one of the first in a lucky line of great English teachers who began to nurture me in a love of language." Hooray for English teachers (among other influences)! The last chapter especially focuses on writing, but the whole book is lyrical in the way only Alvarez can write.
Alvarez has a wonderful conversational style and sense of humor that makes reading these essays like having a chat with her face-to-face. Each of the essays stands alone and tells something about her -- about her aculturation to the U.S when she arrived from the D.R. as a young girl, about her integrating her D.R. roots with the U.S. culture in which she came of age into the woman she is, about her biligualism and each language represents something different to her. Her lyrical accounts of lan...more
This book is a collection of autobiographical essays by Julia Alvarez. In the essays, she writes about things such as coming to the United States from the Dominican Republic as a child, cooking and gardening, and her experiences with writing.
One of her essays was about research she was doing for a book about a woman in Necedah, Wisconsin who was had visions of the Virgin Mary and established a cult following. It was interesting to read about the ideas she had for the book and how...more
One of her essays was about research she was doing for a book about a woman in Necedah, Wisconsin who was had visions of the Virgin Mary and established a cult following. It was interesting to read about the ideas she had for the book and how...more
This was a very good book, but I only rated it three stars due to the fact that I read it in a short period of time. I think this is a book best enjoyed in small snippets over a longer period. It consists of many extremely well written essays separated into two sections. The first called Customs was the most enjoyable as it consisted of many stories from Julia's childhood. The second is Declarations and it is all about her writing, which while interesting got a little muddy for me...again la...more
This thoughtful and illuminating collection of essays by the self-described “Vermont Writer from the Dominican Republic” is divided into two groups the first, “Customs” are memories of growing up in the Dominican Republic under the last years of the Trujillo dictatorship, her family’s escape to New York, and the difficulties of assimilating into a not altogether welcoming foreign Anglo culture. The second part, “Declarations,” collects her thoughts on writing, how she turns her experiences and i...more
Publishers Weekly
Having transformed her tumultuous life story -- a passage from childhood in the Dominican Republic and Queens, New York, to a career as a celebrated author and creative writing teacher -- into a body of startlingly lyrical fiction and poetry, Alvarez here chronicles that journey in nonfiction form. These 24 autobiographical essays are meant to answer various questions her readers have posed about her life and her writing. For Alvarez, these questions ultimately can b...more
Having transformed her tumultuous life story -- a passage from childhood in the Dominican Republic and Queens, New York, to a career as a celebrated author and creative writing teacher -- into a body of startlingly lyrical fiction and poetry, Alvarez here chronicles that journey in nonfiction form. These 24 autobiographical essays are meant to answer various questions her readers have posed about her life and her writing. For Alvarez, these questions ultimately can b...more
This title is a collection of essays by the famous Dominican-American writer. The first section deals with her identity as a Latina woman forced to assimilate into American culture, then reconciling herself to having a foot in both worlds. It made me want to speak Spanish all day and revisit Guatemala. The second section discussed her ideas about thought, the writing process and the eternal question: does writing matter? After writing this book, I can say that it does.
This is a collection of Alvarez's essays, forming a memoir of the author's life. I was somewhat interested in what she had to say about living in the Dominican Republic, but other than that, she didn't draw me in and make me care about her life. I didn't finish it.
A collection of non-fiction essays by a Dominican born author. She immigrated to the U.S in 1960 at age 10 and writes about growing up with a foot in two different cultures.
Great insight into Alvarez's life and writing process. Having read her semi-autobiographical novel "How the Garcia Girls lost their Accents," it was fascinating to get a glimpse into her experiences as an immigrant.
I own it, loved reading each story, and this book increased my love of Alvarez as an author and a person.
First half so-so but still readable; second half amazing.
Reading at this time, Catchy
This book is a collection of essays about Julia Alvarez's experience growing up in the Dominican Republic and the United States as well as her life as a writer. As I read these essays I became more and more aware that Alvarez is also a poet, for her language and imagery was vivid and poetic, especially in describing her life in the Dominican Republic. And although some of the essays made me feel overwhelmed about the idea of writing, in the end I was left feeling inspired to try again to write...more
she makes me want to write. she makes me want to tell my stories. i love her tone. calm, restrained, with a bit of loss in every sentence...
I always enjoy reading Julia Alvarez's poetry and novels. This collection of essays (about cultural hybridism and life as a writer) is no exception. I love Alvarez's voice: it's so warm and inviting, and engaging - like you're having a conversation with your best friend.
Ashlyn
rated it
·
review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovers of the Dominican Republic or Lovers of Writing
This book was beautifully written and I couldn´t put it down. It gave me much insight into the world of children who are forced to grow up in a country outside their home country and the struggle of finding your place and your heart language.
I liked the first half of the book, which describes Alvarez's experiences as a girl in the Dominican Republic and as an immigrant, much more than the second half, which describes her experience growing into being an author.
Super nice reflective diary model. I'll continue my review later...
One of my favorite books on writing. Julia Alvarez's writing may be somewhat repetitious, but her thoughts on writing have stuck with me for years, particularly her 10 rules on writing.
Dave
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everybody!
Shelves:
juliaalvarez,
memoirbiography
Some very good nonfiction essays that capture the "American" dream and the double-consciousness immigrants and people of color in America have...
And explains how Ms. Alvarez picked up the pen.
And explains how Ms. Alvarez picked up the pen.
Such an amazing way to explore the idea of dual identity... first generation americans or children from very ethnic families will definitely relate!
I love Julia Alvarez.
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Julia Alvarez was born in New York City. Her parents moved back to the Dominican Republic when Alvarez was 3 months old and she was raised there until she was 10, when the family moved back to NYC.
She is currently writer-in-residence at Middlebury College and the owner of a coffee farm named Alta Gracia, near Jarabacoa in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. The farm hosts a schoo...more
More about Julia Alvarez...
She is currently writer-in-residence at Middlebury College and the owner of a coffee farm named Alta Gracia, near Jarabacoa in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. The farm hosts a schoo...more
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