Laura Esquivel's Mexican Fictions

Book excerpt: This book - now available in paperback - is the first in-depth review and assessment of Laura Esquivel criticism. Outstanding essayists - from diverse critical perspectives in Latin American literature and film - explore Esquivel's critical reputation, contextualize her work in literary movements, and consider her four novels, as well as the film based on Like Water for Chocolate. The book begins with An Introduction to Esquivel Criticism, reviewing 20 years of global praise and condemnation. Elena Poniatowska, in an essay provided in the original Spanish and in translation, reflects on her first reading of Like Water for Chocolate. From unique critical perspectives, Jeffrey Oxford, Patrick Duffey, and Debra Andrist probe the novel as film and fiction. The Rev. Dr. Stephen Butler Murray explores Esquivel's spiritual focus, while cultural geographer Maria Elena Christie uses words and images to compare Mexican kitchen-space and Esquivel's first novel. Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez and Lydia H. Rodriguez affirm divergent readings of The Law of Love, and Elizabeth M. Willingham discusses the contested national identity in Swift as Desire. Jeanne L. Gillespie and Ryan F. Long approach Malinche: A Novel through historical documents and popular and religious culture. In the closing essay, Alberto Julian Perez contextualizes Esquivel's fiction within Feminist and Hispanic literary movements. This book has won the Harvey L. Johnson Book Award for 2011, conferred by the South Central Organization of Latin American Studies at its 44th annual Congress in Miami, Florida (March 9, 2012).