Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood

This is a wonderful author who can balance the cultures that determine her character. It is a soft and warm style that brings us home to our childhood memories and that nostalgia brought by growing up. It is a well written story that will leave the reader with a longing for the magic of memories.

In a seemling easy narrative of remembrance, Ortiz Cofer brillantly weaves in dense yet accessible political thought on the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized through her literary genius: her keen use of metaphor. Ortiz Cofer's outloud conversational tone is engaging and unintimidating even in the face of the deep issues she raises and the hard questions she subtly yet clearly asks. Through "Silent Dancing," Judith Ortiz Cofer takes the reader along for a very enlightening journey through her self-exploration and self-definition. Ortiz Cofer discusses the ways that race, class, gender, and culture interact in shaping her life experiences without sounding dogmatic or naive. "Silent Dancing" is a work of substance, a work worth revisiting again!

Judith Ortiz Cofer's book, Silent Dancing, is an intriguing personal narrative, which creates an instant curiousity within the reader! The structure of this book is creative in that Cofer writes each chapter as a different phase/aspect of her life and creates a desire, for the reader, to read on. Cofer writes of her childhood and specific memories she holds of her family and herself. Her shared memorites of childhood allow her book to be well understood and allow her readers to relate to their own personal childhoods. In addition, Cofer's shared memories of her life in Puerto Rico and the emphasis on her family's culture had on her life, is very insightful. She opens a wide window into the Puerto Rican culture and allows her readers to see her life as it truly was. This book, although well written and very interesting, should not be considered for young readers. The main reason this book should be read by an adult audience is because of some specific content within the book. Questionable references to sex and other material including the use of one profanity makes this book one for adults. Overall, this book is extremely interesting in nature and one which should be read in enjoyment. This book offers great insight into the Puerto Rican culture and allows readers to be reminded of the many different cultures which make up the American culture.