"Mexican Jumping Bean", Signed and Inscribed First Edition, 1953 Reflections on Mexican-American Identity and Chicano Culture

Pepe Romero

First Edition

[Mexico and Chicano][Literature] Romero, Pepe. Mexican Jumping Bean. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1953. Inscribed by the author on front free endpaper to “matador Rex Smith” and signed “Pepe Romero / Mexico D.F. 1953.” First edition. Jacket caricature by Ernesto Garcia Cabral. Original binding in original dust jacket illustrated with a caricature of Romero in mariachi attire and a wide-brimmed sombrero against the Mexico City skyline.

A colorful, often biting midcentury chronicle of post-revolutionary Mexico through the eyes of a bicultural Mexican-American columnist and performer. Born in Mexico City and raised partly in New York, Romero styled himself “the Walter Winchell of Mexico” and used his column, and this semi-autobiographical book, as a platform to narrate and satirize Mexican life for American readers. Mexican Jumping Bean blends memoir and travelogue with a distinctly comic voice, traversing topics ranging from nightlife and bullfighting to tipping etiquette, slang, and gender dynamics. Romero’s cultural ambassadorship is shaped by his transnational identity: as the dust jacket notes, “half in the United States and half in his native land,” he sought to cultivate “good will between the two countries,” even while caricaturing aspects of both. A self-proclaimed “jumping bean,” his exuberant narration reflects his bicultural identity, particularly visible in his irreverent commentaries on Mexican nationalism, oil expropriation, and American imperialism. Romero also offers humorous reflections on American women, Mexican masculinity, and gendered codes of behavior, a complex snapshot of machismo and sexual politics in the early 1950s. Dust jacket chipped at head of spine and upper rear corner, bumping at corners and moderate edgewear with a few surface scuffs. Overall very good in good jacket. An engaging perspective on Mexican identity and U.S.-Mexico cultural exchange, inscribed by the author.

Item #22702

Price: $285.00