February 7, 2003, Bloomfield, NJ -- Bloomfield College Library Director
Dan Figueredo of Piscataway recently wrote two books on Latino history and
culture: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Latino History & Culture, and
The Encyclopedia of Cuba.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Latino History & Culture was published by Alpha Books and was recently released to bookstores across the country. The Idiot’s Guide was a labor of love, according to Dan, allowing him to channel his knowledge into a readable and informative volume.
“As a country we have a fascination with the British component of American history, yet much of our country was settled by Spanish-speakers,” said Figueredo. “For me, the book was an opportunity to remind people of an exciting and often overlooked aspect of American history.”
When he was initially approached to write the book, Figueredo admitted he was reluctant because of the title “Idiot’s Guide.” After purchasing The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Bible, however, Dan changed his mind.
“I wanted to see how they treated the subject, and I thought it was fun, very illuminating, and not too casual,” said Figueredo. “It was highly readable, but not too simplistic. The idea of writing an ‘Idiot’s Guide’ appealed to me because it was a good way to get a lot of information to the general public.”
In his research, Figueredo used the Bloomfield College Library’s Latin American collection as well as resources from Princeton University, Miami (FL) University, the Research Libraries of New York Public and the Library of Congress. He also interviewed many experts and scholars.
Figueredo’s other recent project, The Encyclopedia of Cuba,
published by Greenwood Press, was released last weekend. Figueredo wrote and
edited the Encyclopedia with three friends and colleagues: renowned
scholar Lou Perez from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill,
respected historian Luis Martinez Fernandez from Rutgers University, and Lou
Gonzalez, an editor and consultant on Cuban matters.
“It was a thrill to work with these individuals and for Bloomfield College to be associated with these universities,” said Figueredo.
The Encyclopedia of Cuba is a two-volume set covering everything from Cuban cuisine to Castro. It includes dozens of photographs that are being published for the first time.
“Finding the photographs was a very difficult task,” said Figueredo. “We tried to get rare pictures whenever possible and often had to rely on the kindness of strangers.”
Figueredo was responsible for writing the Encyclopedia’s section on writers and literature, and was excited to “do some scholarly discovery and uncover facts that hadn’t been printed before.”
Working on the two books took Figueredo about five years. The projects sprung from an article he had written for The Multicultural Review entitled “To be Cuban: The Evolution of Cuban-American Literature.”
“Lou Gonzalez had read my article from The Multicultural Review and asked me to write and edit the Encyclopedia with him. While we were working on the Encyclopedia, Lou referred me to his agent, who got me involved in The Idiot’s Guide. I had already been toying with the idea of writing something general about Latino culture and history for a long time,” said Figueredo.
Figueredo has also written a children’s book, When This World Was New,
and two easy readers: Cleaning Day and Big Snowball Fight.
