American essayist and journalist Richard Rodriguez, whose autobiographical essays are frequently assigned in college writing courses, is best known to readers as a memoirist and cultural critic who writes about issues of race, language, identity, and spirituality. His four autobiographical books—
Hunger of Memory,
Days of Obligation,
Brown, and
Darling—have gained Rodriguez a reputation as both a prose stylist and a provocative essayist who is not afraid to take a controversial stance when writing about both the personal and public dimensions of politically-charged issues such as assimilation, affirmative action, bilingual education, and gay marriage.
Though he might object to being classified as an “ethnic” writer rather than simply an “American” author, Rodriguez is arguably
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Citation: Garcia, Michael Nieto. "Richard Rodriguez". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 May 2011; last revised 19 August 2015. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12900, accessed 16 April 2024.]
