1: Beautiful pictures, Good introduction.
I was really excited to see this book, as I am very intrested in learning more about Latino and Afro Latino religions and spiritual expressions, as well as the visual representations that come along with them (altars, dress, etc). The book itself has beautiful detailed pictures taken from the Los Angeles area botanicas and homes of practitioners of Curanderismo, Espiritismo, Santeria, and Palo.
The concept of the book is documenting religious expression of Latin Americans in L.A. Unfortunately becuase of the very academic approach, the first two chapters (which are really the reflections of the ethnographer who visits various botanicas) are very dry and detached. They are definately written from the perspective of "an outsider looking in" to an extreme extent. The information is presented in a way such that someone who is completely unfamiliar with Afro Latino/Latino religions and spirituality is assumed to be the reader.
Despite that, most of the other chapters (written by various authors) are very warm and include interviews with practioners, as well as personal knowledge and experiences of the authors themselves within various practices. Subjects included in the book are Puerto Rican Mesa Blanca (espiritismo), the Guatamalan saint San Simon, understanding what a botanicas are and why they exist, and a breakdown of the African origins and orishas of the Santeria and Palo traditions.
This book is by no means comprehensive of Latin American spiritual tradtions, however it is a good introduction to the religious expressions of the Dispora found in "the City of Angels".
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