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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 809
EAN num: 9780299161842
ISBN number: 0299161846
Label: University of Wisconsin Press
Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 128
Printing Date: January 04, 2002
Publishing house: University of Wisconsin Press
Sale Popularity Level: 1130716
Studio: University of Wisconsin Press
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Product Description:
Jaime Manrique weaves into his own memoir the lives of three important 20th-century Hispanic writers: the Argentine Manuel Puig, the author of 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'; the Cuban Reinaldo Arenas, author of 'Before Night Falls'; and Spanish poet and playwright Frederico Garcia Lorca.
Amazon.com Review:
Jaime Manrique's slim Eminent Maricones starts off with some disjunctive memories of his childhood in Colombia, but truly begins to pick up steam when Manrique recounts his friendship with fellow writer Manuel Puig (best known as the author of Kiss of the Spider Woman), who, despite his 'drag queen mannerisms' was 'one of the most tough-minded people I've ever met.' After a short chapter portraying an encounter with Reinaldo Arenas two days before Arenas, his body ravaged by the effects of HIV, committed suicide, Manrique launches an in-depth consideration of the shifts in attitude toward homosexuality in the writings of Federico García Lorca. Reading Lorca after the deaths of Puig and Arenas, Manrique explains, helped him come to terms with his own internalized homophobia; it also creates a loose canon of gay Latino writers who fought against tyranny--though any influence this canon may have had on Manrique's own writing is left undiscussed. Although its intimate portraits will be appreciated by those with an interest in gay or Latino literature, or both, other readers may find Eminent Maricones too brief to hold their interest.
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Rated by buyers -
This small book is glorious. It is beautiful and poetic. It contains much self analysis on the part of Manrique, and has many intimate details on the men featured therein. It is extremely inspiring and should be read by anyone with even the slightest interest. I will read his other works now. Bravo Jaime!!
Rated by buyers -
"Eminent Maricones: Arenas, Lorca, Puig, and Me" is an extraordinary achievement by author Jaime Manrique. The book combines autobiographical material by the Colombian-born Manrique with chapters about three other gay male Hispanic writers: Cuba's Reinaldo Arenas, Spain's Federico Garcia Lorca, and Argentina's Manuel Puig. The book thus constitutes an exploration of a sort of pan-Hispanic gay male identity, as well as a moving meditation on the place of the literary artist in the modern world. Portions of the book have been previously published in both Spanish and English.
Manrique's autobiographical writing is fascinating. He describes his childhood in Colombia, his emigration to the United States, and his "births" as both a writer and a gay man. Particularly powerful is his memoir of learning how to read; for him, awakening to the power of literacy was a life-changing revelation: "I felt as Balboa must have felt when he very first glimpsed the Pacific."
Manrique knew both Arenas and Puig personally, and he writes with tenderness and insight of the last days of these two great writers. In his chapter on Lorca, he "reconstructs" a portrait of the man and the artist through second-hand accounts and through readings of Lorca's own fascinating writings.
Manrique describes Arenas, Lorca, and Puig as "the great triumvirate of openly homosexual writers who have written in Spanish." Reading his reclamation of these three writers as his literary forbears, I was reminded of the work done by African-American writer Alice Walker to recover Zora Neale Hurston as a grey literary foremother. Like Walker, Manrique honors those whose revolutionary literature continues to inspire new generations of writers.
Ultimately, Manrique expresses solidarity with and compassion for all who have suffered dispossession or persecution due to the prejudice of an entrenched status quo. I recommend "Eminent Maricones" to those interested in Latin American and pan-Hispanic studies, gay literature, and contemporary autobiography.
Rated by buyers -
Jaime Manrique writes clearly and with precision about himself and the three authors he joins with himself as "eminent maricones." I found this book to be very enjoyable and educational. I was familiar with all of these authors, and now feel closer to each of them. I hope that this book will be read by Latin Americans who like to read; by North Americans interested in Hispanic-American culture; by gay activists interested in our history and the coming-out process.
Rated by buyers -
Emminent Maricones is a treasure. It is rare that a writer of Manrique's skill takes the time to lovingly explore the very human side of the lives and literary contributions of fellow writers. This is not a an irreverant comparison of whether or not Puig, Lorca, and Arenas were able to write well BECAUSE they were gay but how perhaps their perception and world view was more acute because of their sexuality. I found it irresistable and read through this little jewel of a book twice in one sitting, the subsequent logical step being to return to the recommended books Manrique thoughtfully suggests!
Rated by buyers -
Simply stated, I learned plenty about these great literary heroes. Manrique does not pretend to know everything, but he has much to share in this touching memoir about his encounters with Lorca, Puig and Arenas. I commend Manrique for showing us how human--vulnerable and flawed--these men were. Grounded in a prose that is unpretentious and generous with glimpses of writers at their best and at their worst, this is a must for any collector of Lorca, Puig or Arenas scholarship.
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