Reception - Ben Chappell

Mexican American Fastpitch Identity at Play in Vernacular Sport

“Ben Chappell’s Mexican American Fastpitch is among the best ethnographies about Mexican Americans. Documenting the rich story of a community that has been too often overlooked in terms of vernacular tradition and geographic location, he pushes anthropologists and Chicanx Studies scholars to reconsider our academic notions of ‘culture’ and ‘ethnic/racial’ identity and performance.”

          —Michael L. Trujillo, University of New Mexico

“Fast-pitch softball provides a social space unique to Mexican Americans. It supplies elements vital to the community: a place where traditions, language, and culture thrive. It is a vehicle for leyendas who have inspired generations. Ben Chappell’s work informs us that local sport is a powerful tool for community uplift and solidarity.”

          —Jorge Iber, Texas Tech University

Lowrider Space: Aesthetics and Politics of Mexican American Custom Cars

“One of the ‘Bibles’ of the existing scholarship.”

          – John Ulloa, Skyline College, and active lowrider, First Annual International Lowrider Studies Conference

“Chappell convincingly shows that lowriders helped construct the geography of Austin rather than simply driving through it.”

          – Luis Alvarez, University of California, San Diego

“Chappell legitimizes lowrider members as theorists of their own trade and documents a cadre of vernacular subjugated knowledge that to some degree coauthors this text.”

          – Eric Castillo, University of Florida

“…an important work that makes many generative contributions to Latino studies.”

          – Crystine Miller, Arizona State University