Puerto Rico: Land of Lost Dreams: Politics, Religion, and the ''rican'' Way [ペーパーバック]

For being a "controversial" book, this literary entry is less than stellar. The author desperately needed an editor to organize his ideas a little better, and perhaps more importantly, correct his grammar and guide his poor writing skills into something a little less embarassing. How can an author ask his readers to take his work seriously when his work is as flawed as this book? Perhaps the only thing controversial about this book is the fact that the author shamelessly chose to release this work as flawed as it is. This calls into question his claim that he went to college, or that if he did, he failed to pay attention in his English 101 class.

Poor grammar and writing skills aside, I found it shameful how a self-professed "half-Puerto Rican" came to despise the island and its people so much. I'm not saying Puerto Rico is a great place to live by any strectch of the imagination, it isn't, but d@mn man, if you really loved Puerto Rico, then you should've stayed and fight for it. Now all that this book is steering is anti-Puerto Rican sentiment in the US mainland. There is certainly misunderstanding between the mainland residents and the island residents - but one thing is for sure - Puerto Rico will choose to remain with the US, and in all likelyhood, it will choose Statehood very very soon. What then?

Yes, we have an out of control crime rate. America's drug wars are front and center here. It is perhaps safer to walk down the streets of Bahgdad than in some crime ridden areas of the island. Crime has spun out of control.

Yes, a lot, perhaps most of the population are not fluent in English. This is not by choice. The people have been taken hostage by a powerful few who refuse the proper teaching of English in our public schools so they can bloat about the fact that people in the island do not know English in order to prevent Statehood. This is a betrayal. Ask any Puerto Rican in the countryside and they will tell you they wish they knew more English. Many end up paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, to send their children to private schools just so they can learn to be fluent in English because public schools do not do a good job.

Yes, there is corruption in our government and police. What else can you expect happen in an island territory conferred fiscal autonomy with hardly no federal involvement or oversight (only perhaps ex post facto), where the money is plenty and everyone is willing to "help" each other out as long as they look the other way? Yes, it's a matter of who you know, not what you know. Yes, our police are highly undisciplined, corrupt, and in serious need of reform.

Despite all these problems and many more too long to mention here, our Puerto Rican people fight on. Sometimes we feel discouraged and helpless, but we keep believing in a better tomorrow. Many of us are ready to fight for our island - for that better tomorrow. Many of us will choose a status change because we realize that, while it may not be the "magic stick" many hope, a status change like statehood will confer to us the tools necessary to tackle many of these problems. We aspire to be self-sufficient, much like most States of the Union. In order to change many things for the better here, an institutional implosion is necessary - and that can only be possible with the final elimination of the status quo.

Here in Puerto Rico - most of us keep fighting to make the dreams we have of a better Puerto Rico a reality. We choose to stay in the island to fight for what we believe in, much like many men and women during the revolutionary times of our great American nation. That's not to say we do not understand the decision to leave the island for the mainland countless families make everyday. But that is exactly the point. We want to see a Puerto Rico where people leave the island because they want to, not because they need to. We want an island where all the opportunities and rights people leave the island for are offered right here at home. We want a Puerto Rico with a dignant government and a people not full of pride, but full of self-worth. Eyes are opening more and more everyday.

There is a common saying here in the island that roughly translated says: "History has never written anything nice about cowards." That is very salient in the case of the author and I'm sorry for that.

But should we win the day, you are always welcomed back anytime to your island Mr. Mihelich. Hopefully then, you'll find it to be the inspiration to a new book about a dream again found.

What a unique perspective of Puerto Rico this author has! All I could think of was, it's like seeing Puerto Rico through the eyes of a lunatic. Don't get me wrong, it's not an awful book. In fact, I read it cover to cover in a few days time. The only way I could describe it is that it's like watching a NASCAR race, you keep watching because you know there will be a big wreck sooner or later, and this author's life is a giant wreck. To state that the Puerto Rican people are so bad, while Dominicans are so respectful and quiet just tells me the author has never visited Providence, Rhode Island, commonly referred to as "Little Santo Domingo".

The point of Puerto Rico: Land of Lost Dreams is not to demonstrate fine English writing, but a little editing would have helped. Sometimes it was difficult to follow the author because his sentences were jumbled and often difficult to follow. His grammar would be graded "F," I'm afraid. Someone should have helped him so that his story would be more cogent and easier for the reader to understand.