Interview with Emanuel Xavier

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Emanuel Xavier is the author of the poetry collection Americano, editor of Bullets & Butterflies: Queer Spoken Word Poetry and Mariposas: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry. He also selected finalists for Best Gay Erotica 2008. The tenth anniversary revised edition of his novel, Christ Like, was recently published by Queer Mojo and is (hopefully) available at LGBTQ bookstores everywhere.

Regarding Emanuel's novel, Christ Like, the publisher says: "Mikey is a spirited but self-destructive survivor of sexual abuse, a gay Latino native New Yorker caught somewhere between Catholic guilt and club kid decadence looking to fit in as part of a family. Instead, Mikey delves into a demimonde of petty thieves, prostitutes, and pushers. Haunted by a father that Mikey has never met, a difficult childhood, recurring nightmares, the reality of death, and Christ, the story unfolds through the '80s and '90s following him on his journey through a fascinating world filled with Santeros, transsexuals and voguing queens."

Emanuel kindly agreed to answer a few questions for La Bloga:

DANIEL OLIVAS: Have you noticed a change or evolution in LGBTQ literature during the last decade since "Christ Like" was first published? If so, how has it changed or evolved?

EMANUEL XAVIER: There have been many changes in LGBTQ literature in the past decade for better and for worse. On the one hand, more people take advantage of purchasing their books over the internet, which has made titles available on a larger scale and more accessible for those who feel uncomfortable shopping for an LGBTQ title at a bookstore. However, this and the major chains have also caused the unfortunate demise of many queer bookshops. Unless you have the fan base of an Augusten Burroughs or your book is published by a major publishing house, chain bookstores will not bother carrying a single copy of most independently published queer titles while still ordering several quantities of others, which end up on the remainder bin. Therefore, on the one hand, there is more opportunity to reach a wider audience on questionably LGBTQ supportive sites such as Amazon and on the other hand, there is less visibility on actual bookshelves. The few queer bookshops that still exist throughout the country are genuine gems to our community, which should be supported as much as possible.

OLIVAS: The novelist Michael Nava has noted in interviews the tension between his identities as a Latino writer vs. his identity as a Gay writer. Such tension usually comes from straight Chicano/Latino writers' less than accepting attitude toward LGBTQ writers, though this seems to be changing. What has been your experience?

XAVIER: My own personal publishing experience would have me believe that I will never achieve the level of success of my fellow Latino literary peers and contemporaries because my queer identity creates unfortunate limits. I agree with Michael that it is more of a challenge for us because there continues to be much homophobia within the Latino community so it is difficult to reach that audience. However, I sometimes get letters and emails from straight male Latino fans that could care less about my sexuality and relate to my work as a writer. I have had strange occurrences like being asked for permission to reprint one of my poems in a newsletter for The Almighty Latin King & Queen Nation, being invited to perform for inmates at Riker’s Island Prison and even appearing on Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry. I think those that are secure enough in their masculinity and genuinely cool enough to accept the differences in people appreciate and enjoy a better sense of humanity. It is important for writers like Michael Nava and so many others, like me, to continue sharing our experiences and expressing ourselves as writers because it is the only way we could tear down these boundaries and share in our universality. Some of my poetry is political and cultural and not all of my work is queer specific but, as an openly queer artist, I occasionally wonder what it would be like to be a closeted Latino writer. I suppose I will never know the answer to that but I imagine it difficult trying to come across as something that you are not.

OLIVAS: What was your inspiration for creating the character of Mikey? Would you write a different novel today if you were to approach Mikey in 2009?

XAVIER: By my own admission, there is a lot of myself in Mikey X. The tenth anniversary edition is edited as more of a memoir but remains a fiction novel. If I wrote the novel today, it would probably be approached differently because I have had more experiences in life that have provided me with more opportunity to reflect on who I was back then. Originally, I wrote this book to come to terms with the mistakes I had made in life and make some sort of sense of them. I learned a lot about myself through this publication. Ten years later, it is nice to be able to look back and laugh at myself. However, I chose not to revise it too much for this publication because it is who I was as a writer at the time and it is, after all, Mikey’s story so I wanted to keep the language authentic to the character.

OLIVAS: Can you describe some of your more memorable experiences (good or bad) doing public readings of "Christ Like"?

XAVIER: It is a bit of a challenge for me because most of my career has been as a spoken word poet. It’s different reading a series of poems, which are often political, and reading excerpts from a novel with the purpose of selling the book to an audience. You have to select scenes that stand on their own or establish the characters, which is unlike reading a poem that has its own beginning and end. I naturally prefer to do reading events as a spoken word poet but I’ve been having fun sharing excerpts from the novel which have a lot of dialogue which I could play with and act out for the audience, if not my own entertainment. A lot of the novel is very dark and depressing so it’s humorous for me to read excerpts with a lot of Spanish dialogue. I don’t always bother to translate because I think the non-Spanish speaking audience members understand from my gestures and tone of voice what that character is trying to say. If they don’t, it’s amusing to look out and see the expressions on their faces. It’s so wrong but it’s funny because it’s true.

OLIVAS: Are you working on any new projects?

XAVIER: I am collaborating with producer El David on a compilation CD featuring my spoken word poetry accompanied by music. Many people have approached me about doing this throughout the years but, coincidentally, it took one of those cool straight guys (and former member of the Latin Kings) to make it happen. However, to maintain my pseudo reputation as a rebellious queer writer living on the edge, I also have a new poetry collection coming out from Floricanto Press before the end of the year appropriately titled (ahem) - If Jesus Were Gay & other poems. We’ll see if Barnes & Noble carries that one!

[Photo Credit: Shirley Miranda-Rodriguez, Somos Arte, 2009, http://www.somosarte.com/.]

◙ Rigoberto González, an award-winning writer living in New York City, reviews for the El Paso Times Helena Mesa's debut collection of poems, Horse Dance Underwater (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, $15.95 paperback). He notes, in part:

Horse Dance Underwater, with its strange and magical title, contemplates and celebrates "the moment before it's gone," because before an event locks itself into the immobility of memory or the past, it thrives with possibility.

Though fire and water dominate the imagery, neither can exist without oxygen -- that is, without breath or pause. And in Mesa's poetics, each of these moments opens up into a world of making sense of "what is, what was" and what can be: "leaves raise their silver hems / to walk though puddles not yet formed."

You may read the entire review here.

◙ A new online literary journal, The Coachella Review, is now live. Aside from having tasty literary treats such as an interview with Billy Collins, the editors have been kind enough to publish one of my sudden fictions entitled, Orange Line. If you have a few minutes, drop in, read (and hopefully enjoy) my story, and leave a comment under it, just so they know people are reading. Also, consider submitting your fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

◙ The 25 Most Influential GLBT Latinos were recently named by Mi Apogeo (My Latino Voice). Antonio Gonzalez writes:

Who are the top movers and shakers in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans American Latino community?

We tried to make our list as comprehensive as possible including suggestions from different editors in the office as well as some polling of our dearest blogger friends. That said, we probably missed someone. The good news is, we make lists like this all the time -- See our 7 LGBT bloggers to watch -- so, there's a solid chance that your nominee will be included in an upcoming list. Names are listed in alphabetical order by last name. The numbers do not represent a ranking order or countdown.

Included in this list are more than a few writers. Here are their listings:

4. Nilo Cruz, Playwright: Nilo Cruz was the first Latino to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2003 for his play Anna in The Tropics. The play was later adapted for Broadway with Jimmy Smitts in the lead role. That version of the play was nominated for Tony Award in 2004.

9. Rigoberto Gonzalez, Author/Critic: Gonzalez (pictured) is an award-winning author of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and bilingual children's books, and self-identifies in his writing as a gay Chicano. He is also contributing editor for Poets & Writers Magazine, an executive board member of the National Book Critics Circle, and is on the Advisory Circle of Con Tinta, a collective of Chicano/Latino activist-writers.

15. Himilce Novas, Author/Activist: Novas has worked as a journalist, magazine editor and publicist for Vanidades, The New York Times, The Connoisseur, and The Christian Science Monitor. As a human rights activist, Novas was a founding member of the National Organization for Women. She continues to work on behalf of women and those in the GBLT community and was featured in the book Feminists Who Changed America.

25. Emanuel Xavier, Poet: He transitioned himself from being a street hustler and a drug dealer to become one of the most significant and unlikely voices to emerge from the neo-Nuyorican spoken word movement using political, sexual and religious themes throughout his work.

Read the entire list here.

◙ That’s all for now. So, in the meantime, enjoy the intervening posts from mis compadres y comadres here on La Bloga. And remember: ¡Lea un libro!

Book winners, finally!

Okay, this is a day late, but after some thought, much beer and a little coin tossing, we have the winners of the Drollerie Press Ebook anthology Needles & Bones that includes my Chicano fantasy story Memorabilia.

The original contest rules were to "compose a synopsis of what a book entitled Agujas & Huesos (needles & bones) might be about. 'Best' synopsis wins."

N.G. Rodriguez submitted: "No podia ser de otra manera. Con cara de preocupación les ordeno que le trajeran media docena de agujas, (una por cada extremidad mas una extra), y un rollo de hilo blanco. Abrieron ataúd, y Don Jose se dio a la tarea de ligar los huesos como si remendara un pantalón roto. Eran las cinco de la tarde, y hacia calor. Observando el desorden en se encontraban los huesos pensó que antes de las tres de la madrugada habría terminado de hilar el esqueleto de Domingo Rosas, eso suponiendo que no faltara ninguna pieza."

Blogger Artful Chica submitted: The dreams came in spurts, sometimes leaving Ofelia paralyzed and disoriented. She would wake up screaming and flailing at things that didn't exist. "Mama what are we going to do?"
"Go get your Abuela and hurry." Nana came running with her little black bag. Just as the old Indian woman unfurled a piece of ancient cloth that held a needle and bones. Ofelia sat straight up and screamed CHANECO!

Since I couldn't decide which was "better", both submitters win.

The following week I changed the rules to:
"Submit the names of three of Ramos's novels, spelled correctly, and I will randomly draw the name of one winner."

Out of the submissions--and here's where the coin tossing came in--the winner is . . . (insert drumroll here): Pati!

Since I don't know if I can get three copies of Needles & Bones, I'm going to see if one of the U.S. winners will accept a copy of Latinos in Lotusland instead. (Autographed by myself and Ramos, who also has a story in it.)

One encouraging thing to read in the readers' submissions was the following:
""LOVE the Blog...
"*Love, love, love* the blog as well!!!"
"Love the blog!"

We probably get more direct E-mails from readers telling us what they like (or don't) than we do Comments on the site. Maybe gente just prefer to give that personal touch, but I think I speak for all La Bloga Contributors who make this site what it is when I say that we love all feedback, but especialmente feedback left in the Comments section.

Lastly, you've only got one more week to get in on winning one of the five copies of The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas that will be provided by the Hachette Book Group. Go here for details.

Speaking of contests

Mario Acevedo, another Denverite, of vampire novel fame, is running a really stupid contest called "Man, was I dumbass!" Here's the rules:

"The contest, in 75 words or less: Man, was I dumbass! Post your submission as a comment. The contest will be judged by our panel of crack contest judges in India. (Yes, in order to reduce costs, Biting-Edge has off-shored our contest judging.) Submissions will be graded on originality, spelling, and of course, the all important dumbassness. Contest decision will be final and not subject to appeal or bribery or complaining. Contest ends Midnight, Thursday, July 16, 2009."

He's even giving away prizes, but you're going to have to do better than Mario's testament. For more details go to The Biting Edge.

4th of July

For a different take on this 4th, go to Sedano's piece.

Es todo,
RudyG

Living things from two "deserts"

Why grow cactus in Colorado?

Since Manuel Ramos (who assumedly will be back next week) left no protocols on what I should post in his usual Friday spot, I'm sharing photos of two deserts.

The first set is in my Denver front yard, although with the Portlandish monsoons of recent weeks, it appears more like selva than llano.

The set that follows is from my cousin Annette's yard in Phoenix. She's posted articles on La Bloga about our family and other topics, and may again(?).

Plants have obsessed me for more than the month I've spent weeding and pruning, apparently with no end in sight because it's supposed to rain heavily again over the weekend. Anyway . . .

I never been able to remember the names, neither scientific nor common, of all the varieties I've got. (If you're interested in such, use this site to try identifying cacti.) I sometimes classify them in terms of color. It's also useful, and important, to remember their classification in terms of their espinas. This one doesn't have the nastiest spines, which means I don't cry for my mom when I get stuck by one. I just . . .

These are the first type I ever grew and are the rose-colored. Again, their spines don't draw that much blood. As for why I grow these, Denver is normally an arid state--pretty, but with little precipitation (excluding the next 2,000 years of global warming). Clay, instead of dirt, sits under our yards and isn't conducive to anything green that requires regular watering. Over time, like fifteen minutes, it compacts down into medium-grade concrete. But prairie grass, buffalo grass, yuccas and cacti thrive . . .

This is a type of fat barrel cactus that I only have one of. This is its actual pinkness: swear I didn't Photoshop it. Many of these flowers only last one day. The largest type that are a good foot high I decided not to put into this post for fear the cactus bandits might be enticed to pay a midnight visit to my desert . . .

This one likes to spread itself, traveling wherever I haven't put stones in its path. Its white espinas aren't just a pretty face. They're mean enough to make even a Denver cop put his baton away. And it's obviously known as the . . .

Lastly, come what are definitely chollas. It's difficult to distinguish, given their growth this year, but there's two on the sides from El Paso--part of my Uncle Jess's legacy--and one in the middle that is a Colorado cholla. I've also got another one that's six-foot tall, but its flowers pale in numbers compared to these smaller ones.

This year the chollas flowered much later than usual, which I also attribute to the extended cold and wet. Nor have they ever all bloomed together, at least not to this extent. You might recognize these from some of Ramos's photos of the same. I snuck into his yard late one night. . .

Global warming may eliminate homo and hetero sapiens from contention, but it appears that along with the cucarachas, cactus, at least cholla, may prevail.

Like selling cactus in the desert

Now we come to my cousin's front yard. Sure, hers are bigger, but how hard could it be to raise saguaros where daytime temps get to 110? This hovel is not her house, but the photo was taken nearby. As you can see, the neighbors aren't very good about watering their lawn. Reminds me of someone down the block. . .

There seemed to be a lot of animals around, birds too, usually moving too quickly for me to take a photo. These two are the best I could do. The javelinas I saw one morning across the street when I went out to get the morning paper didn't wait long enough for the camera. Take my word for it though, they were serious mero meros of the desert.

Two forms of wildlife posing in the inevitable tourist photo. I had to take one, no? This is of an Arizona cactus and one from Colorado. (In case you're wondering, yes, I did ask the barrel if he'd allow me to take his photo.) The taller one is my wife Carmen. If she doesn't look that tough, you try hugging a barrel cactus, even a willing one, and see if your sunglasses stay put.

This little beauty was anything but little. Would you believe I took this shot from fifty feet away and that the thing's got three climate zones? I didn't think so.

I've got about fifteen varieties of cacti throughout my front yard. I've got opuntia, I've got yucca, I've got echinocereus, but none can compare to the saguaro. How could they? The saguaro stand, hell, they thrust themselves, above the sand as if they know the javelinas don't amount to a pig in a poke. They may not have three climate zones, but they probably could if they wanted to. For some reason they've allowed people, including my cousin, to live amongst them. At least for now. If you get to Phoenix, stop to see the plant life, not at her place but at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Warning! Afterward, you too may tear out the water-hungry grass in your yard.

RudyG

N.B.: Tomorrow's the last day to enter to win an Ebook copy of the Drollerie Press's latest anthology Needles & Bones that has a story of mine entitled Memorabilia. It's easy to win, but you do have to enter.

Reading Algarín

I just finished reading "Survival/Supervivencia," the Miguel Algarín anthology recently published by Arte Público. It chronicles his more than 35 years of literary activism in prose and poetry, describing in a new language of "raw verbs and nouns" the Nuyorican experience, naked and luminous.

I came upon Algarín's poetry by chance, some 15 years ago in Austin, in a second-hand bookstore on the Drag (the Gwa-da-loop). Reportedly misshelved under "Caribbean writers," I found a volume titled "Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café". I opened it at random, as Unamuno used to do with the Bible, and found the following words: "CONGRATULATIONS: YOU HAVE FOUND THE HIDDEN BOOK." How could I stop reading? Especially as it assured me that I would not have to bother reading the book... "It will read to you," it said. So I moved stacks of books piled high on the floor and sat down to let it read to me...

For the first time I heard the story of the Piñero's death and the scattering of ashes, some years before its Hollywood moment. I heard the poem "Sunday, August 11, 1974" peaceful, joyful, celebratory. A true call for independence. I was enthralled. And also pissed off.

You see, after 12 years of school in Puerto Rico and many others of undergraduate and graduate work in the US in the field of Latin American literature, I'd never been formally introduced to Algarín's work and the questions it so forcefully raised. Soon after my chance encounter with his poetry, I discovered that Nuyorican poetry was indeed taught and discussed in many schools and universities, just not in Puerto Rico and certainly not as pertaining to Puertorrican literature. I hear this has changed drastically in the past decade. Yet, although Nuyorican poets are beginning to appear in dictionaries of Puertorrican literature, there's still great resistance on the island to recognizing their work as part of, or at least related to, Puertorrican literature. This reticence, I believe, is mostly owing to language. Many independentistas on the island seem to identify their goal with linguistic purity. (Never mind that the language they seek to keep from "foreign" contaminants is that of a former ruler...) Still, I find it odd that many independentistas should persist obstinately in advocating, through practice and exclusion, an anachronistic purity of language--and if you've watched a certain TV program dedicated to cultural matters, you'll know what I'm talking about--when, in my humble opinion, such linguistic snobbery has made them deaf to the solidarity of those across the pond who champion their very cause, yet, in a hybrid, real, and always-new language.

But, anyway, back to the anthology, it's a jewel. Just this time, do judge the book by its cover: a vibrant photo of the poet with his eyes closed, mouth wide open, laughing? crying? yelling? As his poems will read to you: all of the above!

Sundays on Fourth Street/ Los domingos en la calle Cuatro

Written by Amy Costales

Illustrated by Elaine Jerome

*Reading level: Ages 4-8
*Hardcover: 32 pages
*Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público Press (October 2009)
*Language: Bilingual English/Spanish
*ISBN-13: 978-1-55885-520-5

My cousin Pepe combs my hair back just like his, and Aunt Pilar laughs. Then she slides her red lipstick across my lips, but Mamá wipes it off because I’m too young. Mamá puts on her new jeans, and Aunt Pilar polishes her high heels. Uncle Armando finishes washing his old car.

Thus begins a family’s journey to Fourth Street. A little girl and her two cousins eat mangos, long for new boots, ride the carousel, get hair cuts and buy groceries on a family excursion to the center of Santa Ana, California. The cousins enjoy treats, a loving family and lots of excitement, even if nobody gets new boots. The journey ends with the sleepy girl’s last thoughts as she is being tucked into bed next to her cousins:

I know that once I outgrow my boots, I may not get the red ones with the fringe and the silver tips. I know that I may not get a new bike. But what I do have is an uncle who will carry me and my sleepy cousins to bed. I have an aunt who lets me pretend to be grown-up. I have a mother who tells me stories at night. And I have my cousins Pepe and Edgar beside me to share every Sunday on Fourth Street.

From the author:

Several years ago, when I sent my first manuscript to a publisher, I got a hand-written note, suggesting I write a story about Día de Los Muertos or Cinco de Mayo. Hungry for an acceptance letter, I really tried to write those books, but it didn’t work. Those weren’t the stories in my heart. I wanted to write about every day, not holidays. My efforts of write a story about my dead grandmother turned into my second book, Abuelita Full of Life. As for the Cinco de Mayo book, well, I set it in Santa Ana, but I couldn’t get away from memories of my daughter and her two cousins on Sunday excursions to Fourth Street. I ended up celebrating, not a holiday, but two things important to me; extended family and every day life on Fourth Street. It was bitter-sweet writing this book. My nephews, who spent almost their whole lives in California, had just been deported to Mexico. Edgar is working with his dad near Toluca, Pepe is in university in Tampico, and Kelsey is in university in Oregon.

From the publisher:

A young girl enjoys her family's weekly trip to Fourth Street, where she and her cousins eat mangos and tacos, look at clothes and shoes, watch all the people on the busy street and take care of such chores as haircuts and grocery shopping.

Based on real-life visits to Fourth Street in Santa Ana, California, author Amy Costales has written a story that pays homage to a special street and—more importantly—time spent with loved ones. Paired with Elaine Jerome’s colorful illustrations that depict lively street scenes, readers of all ages will enjoy Sundays on Fourth Street.


Amy Costales grew up in Spain and on the U.S.-Mexico border. She has taught Spanish in California, Thailand, India and Oregon and completed an M.A. in Spanish literature at the University of Oregon. Her daughter Kelsey and nephews Pepe and Edgar spent many Sundays of their childhood on Fourth Street in Santa Ana, California. After spending most of their lives in California, Pepe and Edgar were deported to Mexico with their parents. Kelsey and her cousins are separated by the border, but memories of Fourth Street live on. Today Amy lives in Eugene, Oregon, with her family. This is her fourth picture book. To learn more about the author, visit www.amycostales.com

Elaine Jerome grew up with a love of travel after living in both Hong Kong and New York as a child. She has a background in both art and science, and finds illustrating for children a field that unifies her past experiences. She is the illustrator of The Woodcutter's Gift / El regalo del leñador (Piñata Books, 2007). Elaine currently resides in Lake Tahoe, where she and her husband enjoy snowboarding together. To see more of Elaine's work, visit www.jeromeillustration.com.

Review: The World In Half.

Cristina Henríquez. The World In Half. NY: Riverhead Books, 2009.
ISBN 9781594488559


Michael Sedano

Cristina Henríquez’ The World In Half is a deceptively complex, deeply romantic novel that should be next on your summer reading list, and an ideal choice for book groups who enjoy a rich discussion that balances decisions looked back on from middle age against possibilities open only to youth.

Deceptive because on its surface it recounts a naïve young woman’s search for an absent father whose identity has been a closely guarded secret by a steely, abrasive mother. Complex because the still-young mother’s mind has begun to fail under the merciless attack of Alzheimer’s Disease. As mother’s memory fades, the daughter fears what her own future health may bring, the total loss of her mother, and along with that, all connection to the mystery of her father.

Miraflores Reid, “Mira,” a University of Chicago scholarship student majoring in Geology, knows only that her mother lived in Panama with her husband, a Marine stationed in the Zone, where she conceived the child with an unnamed local. The pregnant woman returned to New York to live with her family near West Point, where Catherine Reid’s father taught. Mira wonders how difficult the pregnancy and birth must have been in that small-minded military town. Catherine is white. Was Gatún black? Danilo has “brown” skin, and Mira may “look” Puerto Rican, or like a local of whom Panameño travelers ask directions.

Escaping that life, Catherine takes her child to Chicago where she works a series of survival jobs as waitress, pizza delivery, receptionist. Mother keeps a wall between herself and the social world, treating others abruptly and welcoming little humor or flirtation into her privacy. Mira carries herself similarly, but this may simply reflect her nerdly scientific bent.

Much of the mother’s personality emerges over the course of the story. Early in the novel, as Mira is organizing her mother’s property, she comes across a box of letters her father mailed to the woman who abandoned him. Mira’s mother led the daughter to believe the man had no interest in either of them. The letters open Mira to a poetic and broken heart whose longing for a daughter and fugitive lover cries off the pages.

The letters provide two vital clues to help Mira unravel the mystery. A name, Gatún Gallardo, and an address in Panama. With these, the desperate young woman launches herself on an ill-planned, desperate quest to recover the facts of her own birth and reconnect with the heart-broken man. Fortunately for Miraflores, her mother has enrolled the child in Spanish language classes and, as a Spanish minor, she has superb bilingual skills.

Arriving in Panamá--note the diacritic, an authorial denotation that the English-language narrative is taking place in the local idiom—Mira makes friends with Hernán, a hotel bellman, and his nephew Danilo, an ambulante flower seller. Hernán invites Mira to move into their home while Danilo helps Mira track down the clues leading to her father. Danilo warms to the task of tour guide and intercultural informant.

Mira is a guileless virgin and would be easy prey for a womanizing school dropout like Danilo. But he wants to be her friend. In fact, the most serious crisis in their relationship occurs when, nearing the end of her stay, a drunk Mira caresses her host in a late-night conversation. He bolts and she spends the next day tracking him down instead of tracking down clues to her still-unreachable father.

Danilo looks into Mira’s heart and fears, and draws them out in conversation. On the surface, they talk of her fears that Alzheimer’s will strike Mira young, as it has her mother. On a different level is the parallel of Catherine coming to Panama to find a man, and here is the daughter, come to Panama and finding a man. The mother, nineteen years earlier, had returned home pregnant. Now here is the fruitless frustration Mira experiences of not finding any trace of her mother’s lover, even as Danilo unwittingly draws Mira’s affection toward himself.

The canal across the isthmus cut the world in half. That is what the laborers who dug the waterway used to say. Alzheimer’s is cutting Catherine and Mira’s world in half, as their personalities do in their social world. Mira stands astride both halves, her parental history on the one side, her own future on the other. How much will history repeat itself, will Mira make the same errors her mother has, abandoning love in Panama to a bitter life of denial in Chicago? Adding complexity to themes of choice and circumstance, Danilo’s story echoes Mira’s. He’s been abandoned by his parents, a difference being he has their address and phone number but they never call. That story lurks in the background as we work through Mira’s story.

Henríquez draws a parallel between mother and daughter when Mira meets her father’s sister in a rich part of town. A box of letters Gatún Gallardo never mailed to Catherine fills in blanks missing from the letters Catherine closeted. Mira gets unreasonably angry that Hernán and Danilo knew and didn’t help until her stay was near its end. Unlike her mother, however, Mira lets it out, confronting Danilo angrily. He convinces her that friendship and love were the motive for what Hernán and Danilo suspected, only suspected. They believed it would be preferable to keep hope alive in Mira’s heart, rather than break it with a hard truth.

The World in Half tells a complex story that a casual summary can only hint at. Cristina Henríquez rewards her readers with compelling narrative and touching personal portraits of the city and residents. Much of the enjoyment of the romantic nature of the novel comes as the story unfolds, and to disclose details will spoil the pleasure of seeing it firsthand with your own eyes. One indication of this comes in the names. Both Miraflores and Gatún are names of locks on the canal. It’s not just that a lock allows the uniting of both halves of the world, but that Catherine, despite closing off her daughter’s life from her father’s, gave her daughter a name like her father's, one that foretells her quest to bring both worlds together.

As the novel ends, Catherine’s illness grows increasingly severe and dictates much of what must come next. But beyond a daughter’s responsibilities lie the choices Miraflores can make, but that Henríquez leaves open to delicious speculation. Your book group will enjoy discussing and accounting for what happened in Catherine’s life, more so the undefined what ifs that lie ahead for a young woman like Mira and a young man like Danilo.

There's the final Tuesday of June 2009. A Tuesday like any other Tuesday, except you are here. Thank you for visiting La Bloga. And a quick question, with Independence Day hard upon us. How many other countries have a fourth of July?

mvs

La Bloga welcomes your comments on this and all columns. Click the comments counter below to add your observations. La Bloga welcomes guest columnists. If you have a book review, an extended commentary on something you've read here at La Bloga, a literary, arts or cultural event to report, or something from your writer's notebook, click here to discuss being our guest.

Summer reading list

For those of you who are planning a much-deserved vacation (or staycation), here are a few recent releases that will bring great enjoyment as you sit back and re-charge that internal battery. And if you have a few titles you want to recommend to La Bloga readers, post a comment below. Remember: be safe, have fun, use sun screen and: ¡Lea un libro!

Best of Contemporary Mexican Fiction (Dalkey Archive Press) edited by Álvaro Uribe; translation edited by Olivia Sears (hardcover and paperback)

From the publisher: Sixteen of Mexico's finest fiction writers born after 1945 are collected in this compelling bilingual anthology, offering a glimpse of the rich tapestry of Mexican fiction, from small-town dramas to tales of urban savagery. Many of these writers, and most of these stories, have never before appeared in English. Readers will meet an embalmed man positioned in front of the TV, a mariachi singer suffering from mediocrity, a man's lifelong imaginary friend, and the town prostitute whose funeral draws a crowd from the highest rungs of the social ladder. The writers that Mexican editor Álvaro Uribe selected for this volume are deeply engaged in the literary life of Mexico and include prominent editors, translators, columnists, professors, and even the young founder of a new publishing collective. Between them they have received dozens of prizes, from the Xavier Villaurrutia prize to Guggenheim fellowships and other international awards.

Praise: "It is a fine book for either those curious about current Mexican fiction or those simply in search of some good things to read." —Scott Esposito for The Quarterly Conversation (read whole review here)

Christ Like (Queer Mojo) by Emanuel Xavier (paperback)

From the publisher: Mikey is a spirited but self-destructive survivor of sexual abuse, a gay Latino native New Yorker caught somewhere between Catholic guilt and club kid decadence looking to fit in as part of a family. Instead, Mikey delves into a demimonde of petty thieves, prostitutes, and pushers. Haunted by a father that Mikey has never met, a difficult childhood, recurring nightmares, the reality of death, and Christ, the story unfolds through the '80s and '90s following him on his journey through a fascinating world filled with Santeros, transsexuals and voguing queens.

Praise: “Christ Like is the harrowing first novel by Emanuel Xavier. When it was first published ten years ago, it announced the arrival of a unique and important new voice among both gay and Latino/a writers. Ten years later, the novel retains its compelling power as it takes the reader on a jagged journey though the New York club scene; in theme and naked urgency, it may be justly compared to Dancer from the Dance and Last Exit to Brooklyn, but its heartbeat is puro latino.” —Michael Nava, author of The Little Death and Rag and Bone

Land of a Thousand Dances: Chicano Rock 'n' Roll from Southern California (University of New Mexico Press) by David Reyes and Tom Waldman (paperback, revised edition)

From the publisher: Reyes and Waldman tell the stories of Chicano rock music in Southern California and the musicians who continue to make pop music with a Latin beat.

Praise: "It's fascinating to read this alternative history of pop music, as Land of a Thousand Dances offers a wealth of anecdotes, interviews, and facts that have never been so meticulously documented. The book helps fill one of the biggest gaps in the rock timeline, ensuring that rock 'n' roll's Chicano roots will not be forgotten." —A. V. Club

"Authors [David] Reyes and [Tom] Waldman give a flavorful overview of the ever-changing East L.A. scene. . . . They note that barrio culture, which so richly intertwines American and Mexican traditions, has given rise to groups who move through many different types of music with ease, as well as the type of fans who can appreciate them all." —Raza Report

Latinos and the Nation's Future (Arte Público Press) edited by Henry G. Cisneros (hardcover)

From the publisher: The outgrowth of a conference involving Latino leaders and exploring the impact of the dynamic growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S., Latinos and the Nation's Future contains essays by leading scholars, civil rights leaders and other professionals on issues impacting the advancement of Latino citizens—and therefore, all U.S. citizens. Contributors include Harry P. Pachón, Tamar Jacoby, Sarita E. Brown and Elena Ríos, M.D.

Although the future is never certain, it is inevitable that the Latino community is destined to shape the future of the United States, and Cisneros contends, it is imperative that Americans accept this fact and work to harness its growth, develop its educational potential, engage its community-building energies, and transform it into the next middle class.

Media coverage: Watch a panel discussion at Center for American Progress.

Postnationalism in Chicana/o Literature and Culture (University of Texas Press) by Ellie D. Hernández (hardcover)

From the publisher: In recent decades, Chicana/o literary and cultural productions have dramatically shifted from a nationalist movement that emphasized unity to one that openly celebrates diverse experiences. Charting this transformation, Postnationalism in Chicana/o Literature and Culture looks to the late 1970s, during a resurgence of global culture, as a crucial turning point whose reverberations in twenty-first-century late capitalism have been profound. Arguing for a post nationalism that documents the radical politics and aesthetic processes of the past while embracing contemporary cultural and sociopolitical expressions among Chicana/o peoples, Hernández links the multiple forces at play in these interactions. Reconfiguring text-based analysis, she looks at the comparative development of movements within women's rights and LGBTQI activist circles. Incorporating economic influences, this unique trajectory leads to a new conception of border studies as well, rethinking the effects of a restructured masculinity as a symbol of national cultural transformation. Ultimately positing that globalization has enhanced the emergence of new Chicana/o identities, Hernández cultivates important new understandings of borderlands identities and post nationalism itself.

Read an excerpt of the book.

Crazy Chicana in Catholic City: Poems (Ghost Road Press) by Juliana Aragón Fatula (paperback)

From the publisher: "Juliana Aragón Fatula is one of those rare poets who can grip the smoke of myth and pack it with her two hands into clay. She takes the largest subjects—the death of a parent, drug and alcohol abuse, even massacre and colonization—and transforms these into hats, lizards, coffee, pennies, bullets. She offers us the tiniest artifacts of the most beautiful, unthinkable human experiences. Here is a poet of great skill and resilience. Here is a master of the lyric of sorrows." —David Keplinger, author of The Prayers of Others