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American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood

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In her father’s Peruvian family, Marie Arana was taught to be a proper lady, yet in her mother’s American family she learned to shoot a gun, break a horse, and snap a chicken’s neck for dinner. Arana shuttled easily between these deeply separate cultures for years. But only when she immigrated with her family to the United States did she come to understand that she was a hybrid American whose cultural identity was split in half. Coming to terms with this split is at the heart of this graceful, beautifully realized portrait of a child who “was a north-south collision, a New World fusion. An American Chica .”

Here are two vastly different Peru—earthquake-prone, charged with ghosts of history and mythology—and the sprawling prairie lands of Wyoming. In these rich terrains resides a colorful cast of family members who bring Arana’s historia to life...her proud grandfather who one day simply stopped coming down the stairs; her dazzling grandmother, “clicking through the house as if she were making her way onstage.” But most important are Arana’s he a brilliant engineer, she a gifted musician. For more than half a century these two passionate, strong-willed people struggled to overcome the bicultural tensions in their marriage and, finally, to prevail.

309 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2001

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About the author

Marie Arana

13 books90 followers
She was born in Peru, moved to the United States at the age of 9, did her B.A. in Russian at Northwestern University, her M.A. in linguistics at Hong Kong University, a certificate of scholarship at Yale University in China, and began her career in book publishing, where she was vice president and senior editor at Harcourt Brace and Simon & Schuster. For more than a decade she was the editor in chief of "Book World", the book review section of The Washington Post. Currently, she is a Writer at Large for The Washington Post. She is married to Jonathan Yardley, the Post's chief book critic, and has two children, Lalo Walsh and Adam Ward.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
Profile Image for Cynda is healing 2024.
1,339 reviews164 followers
November 2, 2019
This memior provides a great dichotomy between what may be mainstream American and mainstream Peruvian. What I see in bright light are some dichotomies:

1. The dichotmy between caste systems. One is mostly about ancestory and the other mostly about how fair/dark are you. The Peruvian caste system allows for more genetic mix than what the US American caste system allows.

2. The dichotomy between how sons are raised. May we in US incorporate some of what Peruvian mothers do. The part I find attractive: Showing a boy what is so mystical about women, worthy of championing.

3. The dichotmy between raising children as personal projects and as a village project.

And More. The dichotomies are all well understood, described, and able to be appreciated.
Profile Image for Phil.
Author 1 book22 followers
August 21, 2012
My wife had set this book aside after barely starting it, and out of curiosity, I picked it up. Then I could hardly put it down. You can read a summary elsewhere. Memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies are my favorite types of reading. But when you read a memoir that has all of the elements of a gripping novel--well, that's the best. This story of Marie Arana's childhood is like that. Parts seem so fantastic that they must be fiction or fantasy, but they really were part of her life. Since the writer has not only a great story to tell but a background career as a book critic for the Washington Post and publishing editor, she knew how to produce a spellbinder. This book will appeal to anyone fascinated by intercultural dynamics and, of course, to anyone who likes the books I like!
Profile Image for Diane Barnes.
1,366 reviews449 followers
April 15, 2015
This is one of the best memoirs of a childhood that I've read. It's not only her story, but about her parent's mixed marriage and their struggle to make it work, her love and acceptance of both her countries, America and Peru, and her determination to bridge those gaps and become her own best self. Brilliantly written with humor and honesty and historical research, it's a great read for anyone who loves memoir.
Profile Image for Jeanette.
3,545 reviews691 followers
April 29, 2015
It is well written and thoughtful. I'm not sure its primarily memoir. Parts of it are clearly memoir. But great tracts of this are chapters of historical genealogy for her extended ancestry/ family and connective Peruvian history and politico. Far more than would define only her own self-identity and cultural nuance. It held delicate and exact moldings of her parents' personalities, their emotional style, their intellect, their talents and their influence upon their children. Those were the best parts for me.

Other than her self-identity toward being a bridge, this book didn't, IMHO- get to Marie half as well. I almost gave it two stars but couldn't because of the organizational skill. It gives almost no answers or clues to culture clash.

Lots of us have parents from different continents or different cultural traditions, or different religions from each other. Mine were different on all three. Maybe I should write a memoir! But then, I like looking forward more than backward.

This was rated so highly, I must say I was slightly disappointed in the pensive backwards negativity coupled with a strange kind of acceptance of inherited guilt. But not guilty enough to negate the Northwestern tuition or two continent lifestyle, I'd guess.
Profile Image for LC Curtis.
29 reviews2 followers
January 4, 2012
American Chica is not How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents nor is Marie Arana another Julia Alvarez. More’s the pity. That said, I’m an easy grader and mostly love to read anything that is not macabre, fantasy, or sci-fi. I find biculturalism and bilingualism irresistible topics and personally fascinating b/c of my own bicultural-bilingual experiences. So what in my humble opinion is not to like about American Chica? ¡Nada en absoluto!

I flew through the book devouring every detail and was totally blown away by the breadth of Marie Arana’s English vocabulary. ¡Tambien, celosa! I do wonder why Arana was so intrigued w/ her mother’s love/married life. Why did Arana refrain from divulging anything about hers that must have been influenced by what she observed as daughter of her parents, a missing piece of the story w/ no clues offered.

And did Marie Arana in the end usurp her mother’s first name? I need to go back to clarify my confusion w/ names and also make a list of English terms to look up in the dictionary. Happily, I understood most all phrases the author included en espanol.
4 reviews1 follower
January 1, 2016
I grew up in the inner suburbs of Washington , DC. with many bicultural friends. While I myself was not, I often wished I could fit seamlessly into two cultures (as I supposed my friends did). Marie Arana, born of a Peruvian father and an American mother, captures both the richness and the difficulties of being bicultural, and moving between two continents. She has written a gripping memoir that reads much like a novel, without ever being self-indulgent. Her writing style is detached, as if she is looking back at her childhood through the veil of the present, where she woke up to find herself an adult. I found myself wanting to know more about the adult Marie Arana, her development, her personal life, and her thoughts of the world.
Profile Image for Mari Céspedes.
27 reviews8 followers
September 2, 2018
American chica es, probablemente, el libro bandera de las miles de personas que crecieron entre dos culturas. Y no solo me refiero, como se menciona en el libro, a los que nacieron de la fusión de padres estadounidenses y peruanos, sino que puede aplicarse a muchas otras realidades en las que se vive una doble vida y bajo una doble cultura. Llegué a leer esta genialidad algunos meses después de haber leído Americanah de Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Yo no sé, pero encuentro muy atractiva la temática relacionada a la inculturación y la construcción de identidades. Así que me introduje en la búsqueda de textos literarios que abordarán estos temas y grande fue mi sorpresa al encontrar un libro con esta temática y que, además, tuviera como trasfondo el escenario peruano.

El libro de Marie Arana está escrito en primera persona y está basado en su propia experiencia de crecer entre dos culturas como hija de padre peruano y madre norteamericana. El relato nos muestra todas las dificultades y enigmas de ser una persona puente: la perfecta metáfora de quienes se encuentran entre dos territorios [o culturas], que pueden trasladarse de un lado a otro, sintiendo los efectos de la cercanía a cada lugar. El gran problema de estas personas es lidiar con la comodidad y la pertenencia, sobre todo cuando eres pequeño y comienzas a tomar conciencia de tu lugar de origen. Así nos lo hace notar la protagonista de la historia: la pequeña Marisi quien a lo largo del libro va tomando conciencia de su particular condición.

El libro no solo aborda la experiencia personal de Marie, sino que sitúa cada acontecimiento dentro de un contexto específico. Así, la autora hace referencia a distintos momentos de la historia del Perú y la de Estados Unidos; algunos ejemplos de ello son la fiebre del caucho y la persecución a los apristas; así como la lucha por los derechos civiles de los afroamericanos y la inmigración latina hacia Estados Unidos. Por otro lado, también menciona las principales características de cada sociedad como lo es la cosmología andina y el machismo en el Perú y la discriminación racial, en Estados Unidos.

La travesía de la pequeña Marisi inicia cuando toma conciencia de que el choque cultural, producto del matrimonio de sus padres, comienza a traer problemas en la relación de los mismos. Su madre, una gringa que no logra integrarse dentro de la típica sociedad aristocrática y machista de los años '40 —quien además es divorciada— es vista como un bicho raro por la familia de su padre porque hace lo que quiere. Su independencia, su mala pronunciación del español, su falta de religiosidad, femineidad y elegancia es molestia para las mujeres de la familia Arana, sobre todo para la abuela. ¿Les suena parecida la historia de la abuela intentando meterse en la crianza de los hijos, sobre protegiendo al hijo ya casado y exigiendo la visita dominical? Probablemente sí, porque son características que no solo pertenecen a la sociedad peruana, sino en general a toda América Latina. Por su lado, la familia de su madre es todo un enigma para Marisi, no sabe nada de ellos, pues no tiene ninguna referencia; se ha criado en Perú y ha crecido bajo el conservadurismo de su familia parterna que constantemente lo critica "por dejar ser" a su esposa.

El conocimiento de la cultura peruana en Marisi se dio en sus primeros años de vida, cuando en la hacienda Cartavio interiorizó la relación con los Apus y los demonios andinos a partir del contacto con los trabajadores de su casa. Por otro lado, los constantes consejos de su abuela sobre ser una chica bien y de su casa la harán reflexionar algunos años más tarde cuando se traslade a los Estados Unidos y se de cuenta de que las cosas no siempre fueron como ella las pensó. Su estadía en los Estados Unidos será símbolo de independencia, no solo para ella, sino también para su madre pues salen de un país que encorseta a las mujeres y se enfrentan a uno en el que la liberación femenina comienza a tomar más fuerza. Es evidente que los problemas de las sociedades latinoamericanas, no son los mismos que los de sociedades cosmopolitas como lo es Estados Unidos. El problema al que se enfrenta Marie en estas tierras es, sobre todo, relacionado a su condición de inmigrante, de latina. Aunque ella tiene la nacionalidad estadounidense, heredada de su madre, sus compañeros solo pueden ver en ella sus rasgos latinos y su mala pronunciación, rezagos de una persona foránea que merece ser juzgada. Le pasaba lo mismo en Perú cuando la criticaban por tener una madre gringa.

El dilema de la biculturalidad es un gran problema dentro del libro, porque Marisi es juzgada por ello en ambas culturas. Su condición de peruana y estadounidense siempre le traerá problemas en cualquiera de los dos lugares. ¿Qué hacer en estos contextos? Pues la respuesta es tan básica y comúnmente utilizada por las personas puente: ser un mentiroso. La autora lo explica de la siguiente manera: "...una persona bicultural será altamente sospechosa para aquellas que tienen una sola cultura. Las personas con dos culturas se ven tan de una manera en un idioma y completamente diferente en el otro. Solamente un impostor sabe cómo esconder muy bien esa otra mitad. Un mentiroso (...) Me metía en mi piel norteamericana y nadie en el patio de recreo podría saber nunca que era realmente peruana. Me metía en mi piel latina, y los peruanos no dudaban de que fuera una gringa." [Página 304 -305]. A lo largo del libro podemos ir notando cómo Marisi toma conciencia de que pertenece a dos mundos y que en lugar de lidiar con ello, lo mejor es crear un personaje que se adapte a los distintos contextos. En este punto, uno podría pensar que la pequeña Marisi actúa solo para los demás, pero qué sucede con su intimidad, ¿cómo se siente cuándo está a solas? La respuesta vuelve, nuevamente, a su condición de puente, no puede desligarse de ninguna de sus dos culturas, pero tampoco puede optar por una, la realidad es que tendrá que vivir bajo el tramo, sin poder atravesar los estribos culturales.

La genialidad de este libro no solo radica en lo empático que resulta el argumento para muchas personas, pues hoy en día, los matrimonios mixtos son mucho más comunes que hace cincuenta años. Marie Arana logra superar la barrera de la autobiografía y permite cuestionar nuestros propios orígenes culturales, más allá de la condición de extranjería de alguno de nuestros padres. En el Perú, un país que se ha constituido por distintas oleadas de inmigración como la española en la colonia y, posteriormente, la inmigración del campo a la ciudad durante el siglo pasado no es para nada difícil replantearnos los escenarios en los que hemos crecido. Así, el caso de Marisi no es un caso aislado, no es la excepción, sino más bien es la regla.

Profile Image for Ivy.
211 reviews27 followers
March 29, 2023
Marie Arana writes an engaging memoir of her childhood growing up in her father's Peru and, later, her mother's United States. Life is a happy one for little "Marizi". She comes from an old, affluent family of European descent which includes a house full of servants and every privilege granted to a family of status. A typical child, Marizi is very fond of role playing, drama, getting into mischief and learning a thing or two from the servants.

Life centers around her mother and father--the dashing Peruvian engineer and her mother, the beautiful, mysterious American. But not everything is perfect in Marizi's world. Every now and then she is subject to the reverse racism of being half-foreign. Nevermind that she is a native of Peru. Yet, when she moves to New Jersey with her mother, she is subject to racism from those who see her as an intuder--a Spic, a wetback, a person who doesn't belong. Nevermind that she is as American as those who insult her for being different.

That sense of belonging sets the tone of this memoir. How well-adjusted is a child who is constantly told that she is different? She is half Peruvian, half North-American. She carries the richness of both cultures and speaks two languages. The conclusion Ms. Arana draws of being made to feel insincere because she is neither one thing nor another is a very powerful one, which only someone who is the offspring of parents of different nationalities can understand.

Ms. Arana tells her story with prose that draws you in. Sometimes, though, the embellishment of words are over the top and the pace of the memoir seems to slow towards the end. Yet, she recounts the story of her childhood with the heart-felt affection of one sharing her most special memories.
Profile Image for Margie.
44 reviews10 followers
September 4, 2013
This memoir was filled with interesting stories, history, and poignant observations about the adventures and difficulties of having a mixed background. I was the first person in my family to be born in the U.S. Although both of my parents are from the same country, I identified greatly with the author's feeling of not belonging in either country, always an "other." In Colombia, I am a foreigner; in the U.S., I am a minority. I am too "Americanized" for my family, having adopted values of American culture: independence, belief in equality, and a non-traditional approach to gender, family, and marriage. I liked how the author tied things together in the final chapter, even though it seemed a bit rushed compared to other chapters. Overall, I think it's a good book for readers who have experienced being "outsiders" in one place or another.
Profile Image for Ashlei A.K.A Chyna Doll.
301 reviews156 followers
September 11, 2014
Being that I am a first generation american myself, (my Mother came here at 8 yrs old from Medilion Columbia) I have been there with the feelings of "Who Am I", "How Should I live my life? Traditional or American?, Spanish at home English 99.9% of places I go... I have always felt like 2 very Differnt people and I was very happy to find such a warm, telling book about "my feelings"
Profile Image for Emily Goenner Munson.
501 reviews13 followers
February 2, 2019
Trapped at home in the polar vortex, this was a great way to spend my time. Beautifully written (and I had to look up the meanings of words!) and expertly told, this memoir kept its focus on Arana's childhood and parents rather than getting lost in a long telling of her entire life. I loved the cast of supporting characters, from grandparents to cousins.
Profile Image for Angela Smith.
37 reviews
December 20, 2007
The author writes about growing up in America and Peru and how she had to almost have a dual personality to adjust to the differences of the 2. I could relate, because I grew up traveling between 2 cultures as well, even though it wasn't as drastic as hers was. A really interesting book.
Profile Image for Anne.
547 reviews39 followers
August 10, 2012
poetical and lyrical
fascinating history of peru
compelling narrative
complex family story and history
wow!
Read
October 19, 2019
Were you able to experience the chance to be raised and to grow up in two completely different environments? Arana was able to really capture the difference between two cultures and the difficulty of finding her place. “American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood” by Marie Arana is an amazingly detailed biography about her life, how she was raised and her family ancestry. Arana is able to capture being raised by two completely different cultures and beliefs and the many hardships that she and her family experienced. Arana was raised in Peru, on her father’s brown sugar mill in a grand mansion to grow up in, her family then moves to New Jersey where it is very difficult for Arana and her siblings to settle in. Her father, Jorge Arana is a very traditional man, who is very proud of his work and very passionate about his roots and his ancestry. Her mother Marie Campbell Arana was raised in Wyoming and has very progressive minded ideals compared to her husband and his family. She also has a very private past that she does not tell her daughter about. Arana herself is a mix of both her parents traits (unsurprisingly) she is very proud of her culture and her traditions while at the same time recognizing how some ideals in the Peruvian culture don't match up with her own morals.
Arana begins in Peru detailing the vivid smell of the brown sugar mills, the fields of sugar cane and the presence of ghosts in her town. She then goes into detail about her family ancestry and how much of her family history still impacts her and her families lives. Both parents feel very unhappy in different countries when moved respectively, her mother was unhappy in Peru while her father was very unhappy in the US. The tension between her parents affected her and her ability to find her identity and where she stood. But for Arana it was difficult finding herself in both countries due to the clashing cultures that her parents brought to the table while raising her and her siblings. She wasn’t sure if she was more Peruvian or more American, but through researching into her family, she was able to recognize the meaning behind the very different histories and the beauty in her ancestry. She was able to use similar skills for accepting who she was and to be proud of not only her identity as a Peruvian and an American but to take pride in both of her family.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly because it was my first time reading about another latin culture and I was able to relate to a lot of superstitions and beliefs. I thought it was amazing how Arana was able to really capture the two drastically different worlds and how she was able to find her place in both worlds. I also related to Arana herself and the way she thought about her family and her understanding of her mother’s difficult past. I would say that this book would be for young adults who enjoy a little bit of a more sophisticated read since there was a lot of advanced writing and storytelling. There were many times where I had to reread for not fully understanding especially when it came to talking about the ancestry on her father's side.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Eileen.
359 reviews21 followers
December 16, 2019
Marie Arana writes eloquently about her childhood in Peru and candidly describes her life there as a child in the 1950s. I enjoyed reading about the Peruvian way of life in the Arana family and the insights into the culture of Peru with its social and political components.

Having recently traveled to South America I was especially interested in learning more about these things, it adds a dimension to the travel experience that makes it so much fuller for me. I like to read books written by authors from the countries I visit, that are set in that country, for that reason. Sometimes I don't get to read them until after the trip but often I bring them along.

While we were in Peru we had a tour of Cusco with a local guide who grew up there and it was one of the real highlights of our trip, he shared so much about his life and culture and was so passionate about it, it made that day really special in my memory.

Marie's book gives a nice tour of the landscape of her life and is very good when it comes to her interpersonal interactions with her family, friends and the people she encounters and her view of how it feels and what it's like to bridge two cultures.
Profile Image for Marisa Gonzalez.
966 reviews19 followers
October 4, 2019
A memoir from Marie Arana about growing up with an American mom and a Peruvian dad and growing up in both countries. She tells not only about her life and her parent's unconventional marriage but also about being bi-cultural and how she was never fully accepted as an American or a Peruvian. I was going to give this book four stars but there are times when it went too deeply in to Peruvian politics which took away from the story.
Profile Image for TPK.
83 reviews8 followers
May 25, 2010
(reposted from my blog)

This was a pure and simple impulse read. I happened to be scanning the biography section of the library, saw this book, read the back blurb and took it away with me.

American Chica is a wonderful read; Arana was trained as a journalist, and her beautifully detailed descriptions and carefully-chosen similes point out the many ways in which her parents' trans-continental marriage and her privileged upbringing in Peru, then the dramatic change to middle-class surroundings in the United States, have molded her present being. She writes evocatively of being a kind of living bridge, a hybrid child, both Peruvian and American, and yet neither at the same time; how she and her brother were able to claim both sides of their heritage, yet were not fully accepted into Peruvian society and were rejected as "foreigners" by Americans.

Though I believe America is continually becoming more tolerant of difference, less concerned with where you came from and more interested in who you are, I can see there are still many biases and prejudices simmering beneath the surface. I see it in the official immigration laws and allowances -- the way, for instance, we allow unlimited numbers of Canadians and northern Europeans to immigrate each year, but impose caps and limits on the number of darker-skinned southern Europeans, Mexicans, and Central and South Americans who may legally cross our borders. I see it in the soft racism of lowered expectations, the understanding that "those people" are somehow less intelligent and should not be held to the same standard as "our people," whatever that might mean. Arana, who grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s, saw these biases in full flower -- she writes of how, during her first trip to the United States, she saw segregated restrooms in St. Louis, labeled "white" and "colored," and how she looked down at her own brown knees and wondered how anyone could ever think of her as white. (Yet she used the "white" restroom because her white mother took it for granted that since she was white, her children would be too. Not everyone Arana met in America felt the same way, though.)

There are some decidedly uncomfortable vignettes in this book, including one disturbing scene where a family friend attempts to molest Arana; nearly every story, however, is connected to every other, reflecting and reinforcing the author's belief that everything which happens is for a purpose, and that all things are connected beneath the surface. And Arana's prose is both symbolically rich and resonant in its fine description. I have a hard time understanding those who have complained that the author's life is not noteworthy enough to merit an autobiography; any life, whether noteworthy or obscure, is worth reading about if the details are inherently interesting -- a bonus if they are told with a wealth of the right kind of description and an eye for connection, both of which Arana displays in spades. It's well worth the read, in my opinion.
Profile Image for Vamos a Leer.
117 reviews9 followers
December 2, 2015
Amongst many other things, Marie Arana, author of American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood, is a brilliant storyteller. American Chica, her memoir, tells the story of a childhood, growing up with a Peruvian engineer and aristocrat for a father and an American musician as a mother. She begins with slowly discussing and dissecting her family structure: her perfect sister and her adventurous brother, her two parents who seem, at times, so different from each other, and her role. In the end, it’s not only a beautiful narrative of her background, it’s also a telling tale of the lineage of a family and the connection of two different cultures that offer distinctly divergent ideas of what it means to be “American.”

Wendy Gimbel, author of the New York Times book review for American Chica, stated:

“One of the many reasons the reader can’t put this memoir down is the author’s impressive command of her craft. “Storytelling,” the critic Walter Benjamin once wrote, “sinks the thing into the life of the storyteller, in order to bring it out of him again. Thus traces of the storyteller cling to the story the way handprints of the potter cling to the dry vessel.” Arana has left her own imprint on her material, while at the same time displaying virtuosity in the storyteller’s traditional gifts: sparseness, clarity and a passion for allegory.”

For me, this was so true, Arana has crafted a beautiful memoir, one which allows the reader glimpses into an abundance of elements in a young woman’s life: Family structure, cultural differences, United States imperialism and its economic interests in Latin America, social inequality and class struggles in Latin America, and the list goes on.

I really appreciated this book, mainly because of the honest way Arana approached her past and how she unfolded the complicated relationship of her parents – analyzing the history both from the perspective of her childhood and as an adult looking back. I also really enjoyed the way she looked at herself as both distinctly Peruvian and distinctly North American, and how those two separate cultures came together to give her a new and distinct persona as a woman from Las Americas. She really approaches the question of identity well, making this memoir an eye-opening way to look at the intersection of behaviors, cultural practices, and complicated experiences for people divided by two cultures. In the end, it seems Arana has been able to navigate the multiple cultures from which she comes and uses them to better understand. We learn much from reading the story of her struggles, failures, successes and endless inquiry.

For our complete review and additional resources, please check out our Vamos a Leer blog at teachinglatinamericathroughliterature.com.
Profile Image for Rem.
206 reviews25 followers
May 31, 2019
I originally started this book thinking (for some reason) that the author was Puerto Rican as I am currently studying the migration of Puerto Ricans to America for a project. So I was a bit surprised to read that this author is actually from a Peruvian-American family. However I am already entranced by the beginnings of her life. Her style, her story, is very similar to the memoir I just read called When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago, as well as writings by Sandra Cisneros, Rita Moreno: A Memoir (Rita Moreno's 2012 memoir), the poet Ana Castillo, and Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation by John P. Santos. I feel like, although I was born here in America (and come from a younger generation), I have so much in common with these Americans, whether they were born here or in Latin America, and whether or not they are male or female. Many of their struggles and hardships were the very same that my Mexican family had to endure and continue still at this very time.

"The mother of a Latin male is the mother of a Latin male no matter what her class or education...A Latin macho must be gradually nurtured, sedulously cultivated, carefully groomed...it doesn't fall to the father or some other hombre to shape him...In the mundo Latino, the task falls to the mother." Pg. 65

"Love, seduction, amor proprio: these things are taught to men by women in Latin America. It is the mothers who do the teaching. And, in the tutelage, a fabric is maintained. The myth of the Latin man is all about love making. About libido...A love of the feminine is a mother's legacy of her son. Boys learn to use it. Fathers understand its importance. A Latino is admired for revering his mother...He is allowed few vanities few men on earth enjoy. But a bargain is struck in the process: a man is bound fast by women, tied back to family, held tight by obligation. It is the core of the Latin soul." Pg. 66

"Because of the public schools?" said Papi, scratching his head with wonder. To him, the notion of building a life around children was alien, bizarre, inexplicable. In Peru, it had been the other way around: children built lives around their parents. The elders defined the world." Pg. 259
Profile Image for Kkraemer.
790 reviews21 followers
November 19, 2018
American Chica refers to the fact that the writer has an American mother and a Peruvian father. Her early life was spent in Peru, where she was somewhat unaware of how miserable her mother was, and her adolescence spent in the U.S., where she learned to understand the profound differences between her mother and her father's Peruvian life and family. Both had merit; however, they did not blend well.
The book is her dissection of who she is and how she came to be. The most interesting parts tell of her time with indios, who take care of her and tell her about the way that the world works, and her observations of her cowboy grandfather, her traditional grandmother, and, of course, her own family. As she grows up, these pieces of the kaleidoscope move and take on different hues, different configurations. Like all children, she is more than the sum of her parts, less than any part fully formed.

A thoughtful book, an interesting insight into what it means to be a traditional South American at the same time that it provides a lens through which to see American culture and assumptions.
678 reviews19 followers
December 11, 2012
Though Marie Arana is Peruvian, not Chilean, her writing style really reminded me a lot of Isabel Allende's. American Chica is a memoir, but it's not a straightforward memoir; she meanders between her own experiences and investigating her family. A big focus of American Chica is Arana's identity. Her father is a Peruvian, and here mother an American, and she's not sure whether she's South American or a "gringa." Through different phases of her life, she alternates between the two. In Peru, she's expected to be a proper lady, but in her mother's American family in Wyoming she learns to shoot a gun, break a horse, and kill a chicken for dinner, two very different worlds. American Chica is mainly about coming to terms with the fact the she is a "hybrid" American with two different cultural identities. But I think my favorite parts of the book were the parts about her family, both her immediate family and her more distant relatives. Also, the descriptions of life in Peru were really great.


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Profile Image for Jeff.
27 reviews4 followers
October 12, 2013
It's autobiography, so in a sense you're stuck -- her life was what it was. I would have liked a slightly different emphasis. Most of her attention was given to her time in Peru, in Cartavo and Lima, and then an extended visit to her mother's family in Wyoming. The time after she returned to USA just was given a few pages at the end -- sort of a "oh, I became an American girl, but kept some of the Peruvian stuff too". I was left thinking that somehow it was a little more complicated than that. Also, there were a great many threads opened up introducing different characters, and there was very little closure of those. Some of them got a sentence or two at the end, but many did not even get that much. Still, these are minor criticisms of an otherwise interesting childhood autobiography.

Oh, I'm an American married to a Peruvian, and our daughter experiences some of the "two worlds, one childhood" in her own way as well. That's why I picked this up, after reading a review of Marie Arana's biography of Bolivar and finding this more interesting.
Profile Image for Carole.
654 reviews16 followers
October 31, 2013
Well written recounting of her confusion and difficulties as the offspring of a tempestuous marriage of a Peruvian father and American mother. Both families have something to hide. Each parent's difficulty in adjusting to or understanding the culture and expectations of the other results in lurches back and forth between the refined traditions of Peruvian family life and the rude practicality of the American West. Arana effectively brings in the mysticism and superstitions of the Peruvian experience in a way that is often beautiful and inspiring. Her American experiences are comically recounted, but the stresses of the parents' marital conflicts are an underlying dark current. The book was a finalist for the National Book Award. Arana is married to Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley.
Profile Image for Jenny Yates.
Author 2 books12 followers
July 21, 2016
I really liked this memoir. The author looks with humorous detachment at herself, the result of a tricky union between a man from Peru and a woman from the US. Arana’s mother lived in Peru for years, but was never all that comfortable there, and her father was woefully homesick whenever he lived away from his homeland. They were more attached to their own cultures than to each other, but still they managed to raise three children together.

Arana, the youngest, saw herself as a hybrid early on. She tells her life story with great wit and vitality, especially the early years in Peru. She also includes the political and social context, with intimate details that bring it alive. But mostly it’s a story about identity, and how one can be fiercely attached to two different identities at the same time.
22 reviews4 followers
October 15, 2018
"American Chica," by Marie Arana is a memoir all about the author's life. The author, which is the main character, is called Marie. She is half Peruvian and half American. Her life is not easy being from 2 completely different cultures. She feels that she can't be both, she feels she can only be one. Be only American or be only Peruvian.
At first, when I started, I thought the beginning was boring and didn't make sense to the book. I even wanted to change the book but then I continued. Then it began to be interesting and the book made me understand Marie's life a lot and even compare to mine. The author does a good job including specific examples of her life and putting as many details as posible. I would recommend this book to people who like memoirs and enjoy reading about people's lifes. I enjoyed it and I would realy like you guys to enjoy it too!
1 review
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April 10, 2012
I think this book can be considered valuable nonfiction book to read. While I was reading, I found myself sharing the experiences living in United States with the author since I have been shared two cultural aspects like what she did. The book tells how the author struggles to fit herself into societies. I liked how she struggles; she tries to understand her family's root. I think she could move forward since she committed to face the truth. One thing that I had trouble with this book was the fact that the author used Spanish when she recalls quotations that were spoken Spanish. I liked how she brought the mood of the language, but I had to look up the words whenever she used Spanish. Other than using Spanish, the book went smoothly.
Profile Image for Cathie.
1,087 reviews
April 15, 2016
first person POV
memoir

Marie, the youngest of three children, was born around 1949 (she never really tells us her birth date). Her Peruvian father went to MIT to get a master's in engineering during WWII and met his future wife there. The kids grew up in Peru as part of a large extended family while her father worked for a big American company there. Around the time she was 10 her mother had enough and they moved to New Jersey. Where her mother had "wilted" in Peru she thrived back in the U.S. But her father did not do well and spent much of his time working abroad. This is the story of Marie's childhood, spent between two cultures, and her parents' unconventional marriage. Lyrical language. Loved it!
Profile Image for Suzanne Charles.
279 reviews4 followers
April 1, 2018
As a Spanish teacher, I am constantly addressing the ideas of multiculturalism and immigration. Logically, I am drawn to memoirs that can help me to better understand and teach about the immigrant experience. This book is "dense". It not only has a plethora of traditional memoir anecdotes, it also includes detailed descriptions of Peruvian traditions, history and politics. At times, I found it to be wordy and wandering, but there are passages that are beautifully written and very poignant. I especially enjoyed the fascinating marriage of the author's parents, and the point when the author as a 12 year old (a Peruvian-US hybrid), starts to ponder her cultures and accept that she is an original, honoring both parts of herself.
Profile Image for Paula Zoran.
77 reviews2 followers
July 24, 2019
American Chica has been on my To-Read bookshelf for awhile. The wait, however, was well worth it. Beautifully written. I have a beautiful 4-year-old granddaughter whose rich heritage is American and Costa Rican. I have the privilege of taking care of her 3 days a week. Her abuela and abuelo watch her 2 days a week. Since birth she has been encouraged to live in both worlds. In this ever changing world the next generation will need to bring something to the table. They will not survive on just getting by. In this story Marisi and her siblings were encouraged to learn and grow as individuals. Her rich Peruvian heritage educated her to dream and her American heritage opened doors. Ms. Arana is a most fortunate woman to have had the privilege of living in both worlds. A must read!
Profile Image for Lisa.
152 reviews
July 11, 2015
This book was on my to-read list, and then I saw it in a box by the curb while taking the pups for a walk around the neighborhood. Yea. Beautifully written, set in the context of the political, cultural, and personal aspects of bridging (her concluding central image) two very disparate cultural identities, this memoir hits all of the sweet spots for an excellent read and a profound exploration. I, too, "bridge" two cultures, and while my memory isn't as keen as Arana's, and my childhood was not as profoundly divided, I resonated with so much of what she chronicles. Thank you to the book donor who put this volume in my path.
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