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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsOther titles in the Writing in Latinidad: Autobiographical Voices of U.S. Latino/as series:Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa (Writing in Latinidad)by Rigoberto Gonzalez
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:'\' In 2003, after serving five and a half years as a carpenter in a North Dakota National Guard engineer unit, Bronson Lemer was ready to leave the military behind. But six months short of completing his commitment to the army, Lemer was deployed on a yearlong tour of duty to Iraq. Leaving college life behind in the Midwest, he yearns for a lost love and quietly dreams of a future as an openly gay man outside the military. He discovers that his father’s lifelong example of silent strength has taught him much about being a man, and these lessons help him survive in a war zone and to conceal his sexuality, as he is required to do by the U.S. military. The Last Deployment is a moving, provocative chronicle of one soldier’s struggle to reconcile military brotherhood with self-acceptance. Lemer captures the absurd nuances of a soldier’s daily life: growing a mustache to disguise his fear, wearing pantyhose to battle sand fleas, and exchanging barbs with Iraqis while driving through Baghdad. But most strikingly, he describes the poignant reality faced by gay servicemen and servicewomen, who must mask their identities while serving a country that disowns them. Often funny, sometimes anguished, The Last Deployment paints a deeply personal portrait of war in the twenty-first century. Review:"This moving memoir of a young Chicano boy's maturing into a self-accepting gay adult is a beautifully executed portrait of the experience of being gay, Chicano and poor in the United States. Now an associate professor of English and Latino studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Gonzalez writes in a poetic yet straightforward style that heightens the power of his story (mariposa is Spanish for 'faggot' as well as butterfly). As he describes growing up in an extended migrant-worker family, his youth in Bakersfield, Calif., and his departure for college, some readers may recognize similar characters and situations from his 2003 novel, Crossing Vines (University of Oklahoma). Like other gay coming-of-age memoirs, this one recounts the hardship of being an effeminate youth with a high singing voice and a penchant for cross-dressing, and the delight in discovering the homoeroticism of classic literature by Melville and E.M. Forster. But Gonzalez transforms these standard conceits into an affecting narrative in which his class and ethnic identities are as vital as his often painful metamorphosis into a fully formed gay man. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"In the tradition of Richard Rodriguez, this stirring memoir of a first-generation Mexican American's coming-of-age and coming out is wrenching, angry, passionate, ironic, and always eloquent about conflicts of family, class, and sexuality....An unforgettable story of leaving home today." Booklist Review:"A deeply felt work that belongs in the company of classic American memoirs such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, When I Was Puerto Rican, and Hunger of Memory....Engrossing, supremely enjoyable, and beautifully written." Jaime Manrique, author of Eminent Maricones Review:"Rigoberto González is a writer who walks, with an elegant gait, the line between sorrow and laughter, anger and acceptance. His prose is shaped by the poetry of irony. And he is a master of it." Richard Rodriguez, author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America Synopsis:'\'\\\' In the midst of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy debate, a gay former soldier offers a firsthand account of his experiences in the Iraq war, capturing the real experience of gay servicemen and servicewomen. \\\'\'' Synopsis:'\'\\\' Bronson Lemer served in the North Dakota Army National Guard for six years, including deployments to Kosovo and Iraq. His writing has appeared in Blue Earth Review, The Rekjavik Grapevine, and Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers. He teaches English and humanities courses at Turtle Mountain Community College near Belcourt, North Dakota. \\\'\'' Synopsis:'\' From sensual pieces to comical romances, from inner city dramas to portraits of gay domesticity, the stories in this collection reflect a vibrant and creative community and redefine received notions of “gay” and “lesbian.” \'' Synopsis:'\' Lázaro Lima is associate professor of Latino studies at Bryn Mawr College and author of The Latino Body: Crisis Identities in American Literary and Cultural Memory. Felice Picano is an accomplished author, editor, publisher, journalist, screenwriter, and playwright, and is one of the founders of the Violet Quill. \'' Synopsis:' As the U.S. Latino population grows rapidly, and as the LGBTQ Latino community becomes more visible and a more crucial part of our literary and artistic heritage, there is an increasing demand for literature that successfully highlights these diverse lives. Edited by Lázaro Lima and Felice Picano, Ambientes is a revolutionary collection of fiction featuring stories by established authors as well as emerging voices that present a collective portrait of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience in America today. With a preface by Picano and an introduction by Lima that sets the stage for understanding Latino literary and cultural history, this is the first anthology to cross cultural and regional borders by offering a wide variety of urban, rural, East Coast, West Coast, and midwestern perspectives on Latina and Latino queers from different walks of life. Stories range from sensual pieces to comical romances and from inner-city dramas fueled by street language to portraits of gay domesticity, making this a much-needed collection for many different kinds of readers. The stories in this collection reflect a vibrant and creative community and redefine received notions of “gay” and “lesbian.” Synopsis:Heartbreaking, poetic, and intensely personal, Butterfly Boy is a unique coming out and coming-of-age story of a first-generation Chicano who trades one life for another, only to discover that history and memory are not exchangeable or forgettable. Growing up among poor migrant Mexican farmworkers, Rigoberto González also faces the pressure of coming-of-age as a gay man in a culture that prizes machismo. Losing his mother when he is twelve, González must then confront his father’s abandonment and an abiding sense of cultural estrangement, both from his adopted home in the United States and from a Mexican birthright. His only sense of connection gets forged in a violent relationship with an older man. By finding his calling as a writer, and by revisiting the relationship with his father during a trip to Mexico, González finally claims his identity at the intersection of race, class, and sexuality. The result is a leap of faith that every reader who ever felt like an outsider will immediately recognize.
2007 Finalist, Randy Shilts Awards for Gay Nonfiction, Publishing Triangle Winner, American Book Awards, Before Columbus Foundation About the AuthorRigoberto González is the author of So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water until It Breaks, a selection of the National Poetry Series, and of Other Fugitives and Other Strangers. A recipient of Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships and of several international artist residencies, he has also written two children's picture books, a literary biography, and an award-winning novel, Crossing Vines. He is on the Advisory Circle of Con Tinta–a coalition of Chicano/Latino activist writers. He works and lives in New York City. Table of Contents'\'\\\' Prologue
1. Olympic Hopefuls
2. Last Supper
3. Snowbullets
4. Even Pawns Have Great Legs
5. Click, Click, Click
6. The Mustache Race
7. All Sand and Stars
8. Wolves
9. This is Our Comfortable Hell
10. Icarus In Iraq
11. Baghdad in My Boots
12. Don\\\\\\\'t Tell
13. If Charles Bronson Were Here
14. How to Build Your Own Coffin
15. Two Toonies and a Loonie
16. Vets
17. Out Came a Spider
18. Dump Gulls
Epilogue: The Lost Year
Acknowledgments \\\'\'' What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
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