Review of Magical Habits by Monica Huerta (Duke University Press)

Abstract

In 'Magical Habits,' Monica Huerta delivers a labyrinthine and whimsical study on the intersection between stories, race, place, and archive. The author's lived experience as a second-generation Mexican immigrant living in Chicago is dissected to bring about an original understanding of how race complicates notions of history, capitalism, and narratives of the self. The reader's curiosity will be piqued by 'Magical Habits'' experimental structure, and by the author's decision to abandon traditional academic writing in favor of an intimate prose that fluctuates between storytelling and critical thinking.