Young Che

December 1, 2008
Former journalist and interpreter De Toledo translates for the first time into English the loving memoirs (from 1981 and 1987) of Che Guevara's father. Guevara Lynch chronicles his son's upbringing in their upper-middle-class, politically active family and draws on anecdote to illustrate the boy's tenacity (e.g., Che struggled with asthma all his life). Many of Che's early years were spent in rural Argentina, where, Guevara Lynch explains, he came to love the exploited agrarian workers he would one day fight for, and where he developed a sense for navigating wilderness similar to the terrain he would one day traverse as a guerrilla fighter. The notebooks and letters Che sent home while touring South America as a worker and medical student-including those he wrote while preparing to invade Cuba with Fidel Castro-evoke a fervent mind almost as fond of family jokes and the study of allergies as he was of revolution.

November 15, 2008
Considered one of the 20th century's most idealistic revolutionaries, Che Guevara is remembered for his deeds, words, and legacy. The Argentine-born international revolutionary spent over a decade championing the downtrodden and economically oppressed until his death in 1967 at the age of 39. His story has been widely told, beginning with his arrival in Mexico in 1954 to join Fidel Castro's planned invasion of Cuba. This volume brings together two memoirs about Che, written by his father and published in Spanish in 1981 and 1987. This first English translation edits those works into one volume focused on Che's young years, from his youth in Argentina to his travels in South and Central America. Though displaying the obvious bias of a father, the book is still a valuable account of the formative years of a revolutionary icon, antedating the time chronicled in Guevara's own "Motorcycle Diaries" (2003) and Alberto Granado's "Traveling with Che Guevara". Editor/translator Toledo's diligence is noted in providing useful biographical notes in a relatively smooth translation. Recommended for larger public and academic libraries.Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., AL

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2008
This narrative combines two earlier memoirs written by Ches father, and it includes his account of the Guevara family history, Ches formative years, his correspondence with family members during his wanderings across Latin America, and a tribute to Che from one of his closest friends. For those familiar with Ches life before the Castro triumph, Guevara Lynch doesnt offer anything new. Some of his account is blatantly self-serving, and he paints a rosy picture of family life, which contradicts descriptions by more objective writers. Still, those less informed will find much of value here. It is interesting to track the development of Ches political consciousness as his vaguely leftist sympathies coalesce into a rigid and dogmatic Marxism. On a personal level, his father reveals aspects of Ches personality that lay behind the facade of the relentless, even merciless crusader for world revolution. The most moving element of this book is a closing tribute to Che from Tita Infante, Ches closest friend during his medical school studies, who recalls his warmth, devoted friendship, and questing, restless spirit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)