NONFICTION - Nov. 18, 1990

MEXICAN VOICES/AMERICAN DREAMS: An Oral History of the Mexican Immigration to the United States by Marilyn P. Davis (Henry Holt: $29.95; 446 pp.) . “Mexican Voices/American Dreams” is a labor of love--just look at the back cover, where author Marilyn Davis is pictured with 17 of her 25 Mexican godchildren. Davis acts as witness for a group of people whose stories have for the most part gone untold, and they do much to correct the stereotypes about Mexican immigrant culture. The accounts of border crossings and coyotes and federales are familiar, but it’s a pleasure to listen to Luis Perez describe his pride in becoming a soccer coach in Colorado, and moving to hear Teresa Olmos of Guadalajara express her complete dependence on her husband’s U.S.-earned income by saying, “I don’t know how to do anything except raise animals, make tortillas and sweep.” Davis’ passion is sometimes one-sided--even the coyote she interviews is sweet--but the roots of her devotion come through loud and clear. Family, work and the chance to succeed, in either Mexican or U.S. terms, is all that most of the people we meet here ask, and it seems churlish to consider denying them so little.