spanish-language reference

These 73 "points" on Hispanic Culture give insight in areas you may have puzzled over. The alphabetical arrangement of points may seem awkward, e.g., the second point is "Approaching strangers in public to ask something," but it does yield a pleasing eclecticism.
And there's a fine index to zero in on particular topics along with a helpful bibliography. The emphasis is on "little-c" culture -- those subtle elements of behavior in daily interaction that can add to culture shock if not understood. The points pertain to the entire Spanish-speaking world, and distinctions are often made between different countries. This will be a great help to you if you are traveling in a Spanish-speaking land.
Passport has put out other books in this series: The Russian Way, The German Way, The Italian Way, The French Way, etc. I've gleaned fascinating tidbits form several of them, but haven't found them intriguing enough to make part of my home library as I did The Hispanic Way.

I work at a Spanish language school in Costa Rica (ilisa.com) and we give this book to students on special occasions. It deals with and explains a lot of issues that people encounter when learning Spanish here. If you deal with Hispanics a lot or are going to live in Latin America, get this book!