Brewster, Claire. Responding to Crisis in Contemporary Mexico: The Political Writings of Paz, Fuentes, Monsivais, and Poniatowska.

Brewster, Claire. Responding to Crisis in Contemporary Mexico: The Political Writings of Paz, Fuentes, Monsivais, and Poniatowska. Tucson: U of Arizona P, 2005. 272 pp.

Focusing her work on the understudied, political writings of Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Carlos Monsivais, and Elena Poniatowska, Claire Brewster explores several significant events in Mexico between 1968 and 1995. Brewster argues that "their work charts, in microcosm, an important historical era; examining their essays reveals their maturation as writers and provides an understanding of the development of Mexican society" (3). Working from a well-researched and largely un-catalogued bank of politically intentioned writings by these four authors--mainly published in Mexican periodicals--Brewster begins her study by outlining the definition and role of the intellectual, generally within Latin America and particularly in Mexico. After describing the publication channels available to the intellectual as well as challenges to political expression in Mexico, Brewster ends her first chapter with brief biographies of Paz, Fuentes, Monsivais, and Poniatowska.

This book's true work begins in the second chapter as Brewster follows these writers' response to the Student Movement of 1968. Brewster marks 1968 as the beginning of Mexico's "slow, faltering, and yet to be completed path toward democratization" (6). This chapter displays Brewster's skill as writer and researcher as she provides a detailed overview of the historical events that contextualize well the writings produced by Paz, Fuentes, Monsivais, and Poniatowska. Subsequent chapters follow this same framework to explore the presidency of Luis Echeverria Alvarez (Chapter 3), the earthquake in Mexico City of September 1985 (Chapter 4), the Mexican presidential elections in 1988 (Chapter 5), and the Zapatista rebellion of 1994 (Chapter 6). This book contains wonderful transitions within and between the various chapters, which provide the reader with a coherent argument to follow throughout the work.

Brewster's respect for Elena Poniatowska and Carlos Monsivais--personally and professionally--becomes quickly apparent, with her treatment of these writers revealing their deep connection to the people and ideas about which they write. Octavio Paz receives a more testing portrayal; this book presents us with a man whose tremendous talent and convictions are greatly challenged by a well-developed hubris. Carlos Fuentes' engagement with these events is also presented as complicated and contradictory, as his writings demonstrate the difficulties that result from his--often official--political engagements.

Brewster confronts a staggering challenge with skill and clarity: this work contains more than one thousand referenced quotations. Weaving the writing of these four authors together, along with copious, ancillary sources, this book certainly contributes to our understanding of these various historical events in Mexico. In addition, Brewster presents a compelling argument for additional studies of social and political writings published in the Latin American press. This work leaves open the possibility for a more detailed study of the actual media employed by the writers. While Brewster does study the differences in political and editorial approach by several of the Mexican publications, opportunities remain for further considerations of the readership of these works.

While I believe the inclusion of this incredible amount of research to be this book's greatest asset, the frequent quotes and subsequent translations make at times for a halting read. Luckily, Brewster's own narrative voice guides the reader throughout. I found her voice and analysis clear and consistently relevant to the overall project of the book. She analyzes well the writing styles of the four authors and provides her own conclusions at the end of each chapter. Brewster's competency also reveals itself in her English translations from the Spanish language. Providing both the Spanish text and her English translations of the primary sources informing her arguments, Brewster demonstrates a nuanced understanding of the Spanish language as well as an intimate familiarity with the context in which these quotes came to exist.

In gauging the success of this project, evaluating the compilation and presentation of so many sources and using them to present the function and efficacy of the intellectual within the Mexican social and political discourse between 1968 and 1995, I find this book a wonderful achievement.

SEAN KNIERIM

Duke University