Dictionary of 20th Century Culture: Hispanic Culture of South America (Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture) - Hardcover

Focusing principally on the areas of art, music, literature, cinema, and television, Standish (also editor of Structures of Power: Essays on 20th-Century Spanish American Fiction, SUNY, 1996) includes entries on individuals who have had a lasting impact in these fields in South America. Thus, one finds popular icons who were active in previous decades, among them Carlos Gardel and Libertad Lamarque, but not their contemporaries, e.g., Grecia Colmenares or Jose Luis Rodriguez. Entries, which are occasionally marred by typos, range from a brief paragraph to several pages. Some pieces seem somewhat dated (e.g., that on Lamarque), though even these are effective in conveying the essential. A good topical table of contents and effective indexes add considerable value. While a number of more specialized print and CD-ROM reference tools exist, e.g., Hispanic Writers (LJ 11/15/90), which provides superior coverage of literary figures, the current work is often unique in its choice of topics and coverage, making this a useful reference work. Part of a series that aims to "provide a ready reference for the vocabulary of culture" (the first volume in the series was American Culture After World War II, LJ 1/95), this is appropriate for both academic and public libraries.?James E. Ross, WLN, Seattle
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

[PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED D 1 94, under Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture: American Culture after World War II.]