Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature

Itself divided into the sections Foremothers, Self and Identity, Self and Others, Spaces, Myths and Archetypes, Writers on Language and Writing, Growing Up, and Celebrations, this broadly inclusive anthology includes writers who need no introduction to anyone familiar with Chicana literature: Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Gloria Anzaldua, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Alma Villanueva, Cordelia Candelaria...and if you haven't read their poetry or pose, here's your chance.

Simply the most comprehensive collection of Mexican-American women's writing --both good and bad-- "Infinite Divisions" has enough jewels to understand why it would be required reading for anyone hoping to delve into Chicana literature. "Little Miracles, Kept Promises" by Sandra Cisneros is a nice sample Mexican-American life condensed into a format so innovative that it merits being read twice... Prayers and petitions to God and all the saints, hopes and fears about sexuality and love and life, the traditional scraps of paper left as a religious offering in church become a touching prose piece. The book thoroughly disects the sometimes-ghost-story, sometimes-feminist-symbol of La Llorona, the crying woman who murdered her children in some stories and who was the reincarnation of La Malinche (Hernan Cortes' lover) in others. "Aztec Princess" and "Malinche's Discourse" make for wonderful discussion pieces, not to mention reading.