Elena Poniatowska Critical Essay | Critical Review by Don M. Coerver

Critical Review by Don M. Coerver

SOURCE: A review of Nothing, Nobody, in Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 77, No. 1, February, 1997, pp. 141–42.

In the following review, Coerver notes that although Nothing, Nobody: Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake is hard to follow due to its lack of organization, it remains a compelling story that makes a strong impact on readers.

Elena Poniatowska—prominent journalist and prolific novelist—provides a compelling account of the Mexico City earthquakes of September 1985 through the recollections of the city's inhabitants. The much-maligned Mexican capital not only serves as the background against which the human drama unfolds; it is also a protagonist in its own right. The work is another example of the “testimonial literature” of Poniatowska, whose earlier book, Massacre in Mexico (1975), used eyewitness accounts to describe the events leading up to the violent government repression of the demonstration at the Plaza of the Three Cultures in Tlatelolco...
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