Mayra Lazara Dole's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"
Everyone who reads knows "Why the Caged Bird Sings" deals with a rape of an 8-year-old girl. After a gazillion years of being in print, it's now one of the books Orange County is challenging as "unfit for school libraries." As per the LA Times, Judy Ahrens, a former Westminster School District said at the podium before reading the detailed scene, "...I don't wish to read this material … but for the sake of the innocence of our children … sometimes we have to do things in life we are uncomfortable with..."
My friend Marissa reminded me of one of Maya's quotes: "The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart."
the following books were banned for one or more of these reasons: Sexually Explicit, Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Offensive Language and Racism.
And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
If I were a teen, I'd make a list of all the banned books and gobble them up. There's nothing like controversy to motivate youths to rebel.
My friend Marissa reminded me of one of Maya's quotes: "The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart."
the following books were banned for one or more of these reasons: Sexually Explicit, Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Offensive Language and Racism.
And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
If I were a teen, I'd make a list of all the banned books and gobble them up. There's nothing like controversy to motivate youths to rebel.
Down to the Bone will be taught at UM's Spring semester (Jan-May) in a Women and Gender Studies class, alongside:
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
Over the years, I've tried hard to read masterful Octavia Butler but I can't stomach the vivid, graphic violence. I don't know why violence in lit and film affects me so adversely, since I've never, ever experienced violence. I'm dying to read all her books and will keep trying, perhaps at some point I'll become desensitized.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
Over the years, I've tried hard to read masterful Octavia Butler but I can't stomach the vivid, graphic violence. I don't know why violence in lit and film affects me so adversely, since I've never, ever experienced violence. I'm dying to read all her books and will keep trying, perhaps at some point I'll become desensitized.
When I was naive about the publishing world, I thought "graphic" novels had explicit sexual content unfit for young readers. I can't tell you how embarassed I felt after I widened my eyes and asked a soon-to-be-published MG author, "YOU write graphic novels?"
Thank the mango trees those days of innocence (er... ignorance) are over--at least for this instant and on the HF topic.
The Storm in the Barn, a graphic novel by Matt Phelan, wins the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction (Candlewick is one of my favorite presses) http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?mod...
Some literati call the book a “fable” that doesn’t work as a historical novel because “comics” and fantasy don't give us a real view into historical events.
A few in the publishing world are asking, "What is historical fiction and should a graphic novel be considered for a prize?"
If the word Fiction is included, why would anyone question a graphic novel's eligibility for a historical fiction award just because it contains illustrations and fantasy?
One of my favorite books of all times, The Watson’s go to Birmingham (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...) is a great example of Historical Fiction. Christohper Paul Curtis' setting and time period are accurate and authentic. Although a reader might not have been born in 1963, they'll feel they're living among the characters, eating their food, learning the territorial colloquialisms... they're transported to a distinct time period and feel it in their marrow. http://www.randomhouse.com/features/c...
Historical fiction's criteria is that fictional events must feel authentic (as if they really happened) and blend with accuracy (extensive research).
Fiction is invented.
Historical Nonfiction is factual.
Marry the above and you get an accurate, fictional account of a reliable view into a historic time period (thirty years past or more), hence, the infamous Historical Fiction.
Thank the mango trees those days of innocence (er... ignorance) are over--at least for this instant and on the HF topic.
The Storm in the Barn, a graphic novel by Matt Phelan, wins the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction (Candlewick is one of my favorite presses) http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?mod...
Some literati call the book a “fable” that doesn’t work as a historical novel because “comics” and fantasy don't give us a real view into historical events.
A few in the publishing world are asking, "What is historical fiction and should a graphic novel be considered for a prize?"
If the word Fiction is included, why would anyone question a graphic novel's eligibility for a historical fiction award just because it contains illustrations and fantasy?
One of my favorite books of all times, The Watson’s go to Birmingham (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...) is a great example of Historical Fiction. Christohper Paul Curtis' setting and time period are accurate and authentic. Although a reader might not have been born in 1963, they'll feel they're living among the characters, eating their food, learning the territorial colloquialisms... they're transported to a distinct time period and feel it in their marrow. http://www.randomhouse.com/features/c...
Historical fiction's criteria is that fictional events must feel authentic (as if they really happened) and blend with accuracy (extensive research).
Fiction is invented.
Historical Nonfiction is factual.
Marry the above and you get an accurate, fictional account of a reliable view into a historic time period (thirty years past or more), hence, the infamous Historical Fiction.
Latino cultures are as Distinct, Diverse and Different as ants http://www.antstuff.net/html/species_... (Cubans being fire ants of which there are 280 different species).
Latinos don’t share the same “language,” heritage, values, history, stories, customs or culinary traditions. The reason you might think we do is because we’ve been lumped into the category of “Latino” or “Hispanic” which strips uniqueness from our cultures.
A few months ago an Anglo author/professor emailed me to let me know she was preparing tacos, homemade guacamole, chips and salsa for her book club. She said, "We're reading Down to the Bone and want the full Cuban experience!" I gently explained that what she mentioned was Mexican food and the only Latinos who grow up eating Mexican fare are Mexican. "Don't feel embarrassed," I said. "Most of my Latino and Chicano friends had never heard of Ropa Vieja, Moros y Christianos, Boliche or Ajiaco until they met moi."
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
The root of our mother tongue is Spanish. Latinos understand all Spanish-speaking folks, but sometimes we don't fully comprehend parts the other's dialect just as you may not completely understand someone speaking Shakespearean or British English.
Our different dialects form a crucial part of our identity.
Spanish spoken in Argentina and Uruguay is influenced by Italians who settled there in the early nineteenth century thus they sound massively different from other Spanish speaking cultures (my ex was Argentinean and we spent a great deal of time laughing after explaining what we meant by this or that).
Latinos don't use the same territorial colloquialisms or standard dialect in our nineteen countries (not including Puerto Rico). South American Spanish is different from Caribbean Spanish (we drop our S's). Latinos don’t understand Catalan Spanish spoken by Catalan folks in Cataluña. Some of us have Indian or African blood while white Latino ancestry (blonde hair and blue eyes included) can be linked not only to Spain, but to England, Scotland and so forth. (Oh, and our accents differ, too!)
Since our cultures and traditions are as diverse as the Europeans (Germans, Italians, Spaniards and French aren’t lumped in one “European” category) the literary world should consider making distinctions between us. A German would never say something as cliché as, “I’m European. All Europeans Eat wurst and drink beer!” http://www.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/kids04... (She/he is German first and then European.)
180--(at least it’s not a 360!)
I still can’t find many culturally authentic Latina/o YA and middle grade novels with true diversity from big publishers and there are barely any with LGBTQ characters (many kids come out in middle grade).
“Culturally Authentic” means:
* A Bilingual author born in Latin America and raised in a Hispanic US community intimately knows what she/he is writing about because she/he has lived, breathed and experienced it to the fullest.
* A US-born author with Hispanic parents or grandparents doesn't speak Spanish but grew up in a Latino community, feels "Latino," has Latino friends and understands the dialect.
* A U.S.-born author with Hispanic heritage who may not speak Spanish or Spanglish. She/he understands, respects and loves the culture, has lived in a Hispanic community, feels Latino and has Latino friends. (Included are Nuyoricans and Chicanos.)
Authentic does not mean:
* Caucasian authors (Marcy SingaLittleTune or Sam GetMeOuttaHere)using pen last names such as Garcia and Rodriguez.
* Authors with Spanish last names with no clue what it means to be Latina/o (the only words they know in Spanish are “No” and “Sí Señora”) and have never lived in a Latino community or heard family stories but give Spanish names to characters to fill diversity quotas.
This post isn’t about cultural pride. Some journal reviewers and publishers’ book lists refer to “Latino” or "Hispanic" categories. This will lead children to believe we are all the same and thus why I hope the publishing world considers announcing what kind of Latino culture is being depicted in contents, such as:
Cuban-American (Cubiche)
Puerto Rican (Nuyorican/Boriqua)
Chilean-American
Nicaraguan-American
Colombian-American
Dominican-American
Mexican-American/Chicano (two-thirds of Latinos in the US are Mexican and most children's books are Mexican thus why most think all our customs and traditions are Mexican.)
And so on…
The words “Latino” and “Hispanic” when talking about books don't allow children and young adults to understand or learn about the rich diversity in our massively different cultures (which can transfer into desire to learn geography and history).
It’s important for kids to connect with their heritage through literature but we have no authentic MG book and only one or two YA books that authentically show our varied and unique cultures. Latino kids and teens in the US need to feel pride in their heritage and every kid in our country deserves to be exposed to diversity in literature thus I strongly feel publishers shouldn't consider Latino books stricly for a "niche" audience and publish authenic Latino authors.
Ignoring critical distinctions lump us in one category and it will be easier for kids and teens to see us as one-dimensional and to judge us as ONE group.
When I came from Cuba the only Americanito blonde, blue-eyed boy in our Cuban barrio called our neighbors and me, SPICS! He’d speed his bike along the sidewalk, spit, and boom, “You SPICS!”
Note: The word SPIC probably originated from the way some Latinos say “speak.” My mom never learned English because there is no need for it in Miami (a Latin American “country”). She and our neighbors always said, “Me no espiky dee Engli.” Espiki = SPIC?
Well, yes. I’m a SPIC and proud!
360--TIDBITS:
If you’re still interested and aren’t snoozing http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/... here’s a mini Latino 101 course:
“Latin” doesn't mean "Latino." Latin has to do with romance languages such as Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, etc. http://www.referencecenter.com/ref/re... .
"Spanish" is our mother tongue/language. The only people on earth who call themselves “Spanish” are born in Spain.
"Hispanic" was coined by the government to lump us together which in some ways is a powerful political tool to enhance our visibility. Normally, when folks say, "I'm Hispanic," they're usually whiter and better educated and don't like to be called "Latino."
“Latino” in the US was once related to the working-class and a word incorporated by Hollywood, the media, and publishers, to glamorize actors and authors. Once Latino’s climb the ladder of success they tend to call themselves "Hispanic." For accurate representation of these words, check out: http://www.elboricua.com/latino_hispa...
In the following interview I talk more about Latino cultures and Miami's LGBTQ Cuban subculture: http://www.chasingray.com/archives/20...
And for the record, I'm a Cuban-American LATINA!
Latinos don’t share the same “language,” heritage, values, history, stories, customs or culinary traditions. The reason you might think we do is because we’ve been lumped into the category of “Latino” or “Hispanic” which strips uniqueness from our cultures.
A few months ago an Anglo author/professor emailed me to let me know she was preparing tacos, homemade guacamole, chips and salsa for her book club. She said, "We're reading Down to the Bone and want the full Cuban experience!" I gently explained that what she mentioned was Mexican food and the only Latinos who grow up eating Mexican fare are Mexican. "Don't feel embarrassed," I said. "Most of my Latino and Chicano friends had never heard of Ropa Vieja, Moros y Christianos, Boliche or Ajiaco until they met moi."
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
The root of our mother tongue is Spanish. Latinos understand all Spanish-speaking folks, but sometimes we don't fully comprehend parts the other's dialect just as you may not completely understand someone speaking Shakespearean or British English.
Our different dialects form a crucial part of our identity.
Spanish spoken in Argentina and Uruguay is influenced by Italians who settled there in the early nineteenth century thus they sound massively different from other Spanish speaking cultures (my ex was Argentinean and we spent a great deal of time laughing after explaining what we meant by this or that).
Latinos don't use the same territorial colloquialisms or standard dialect in our nineteen countries (not including Puerto Rico). South American Spanish is different from Caribbean Spanish (we drop our S's). Latinos don’t understand Catalan Spanish spoken by Catalan folks in Cataluña. Some of us have Indian or African blood while white Latino ancestry (blonde hair and blue eyes included) can be linked not only to Spain, but to England, Scotland and so forth. (Oh, and our accents differ, too!)
Since our cultures and traditions are as diverse as the Europeans (Germans, Italians, Spaniards and French aren’t lumped in one “European” category) the literary world should consider making distinctions between us. A German would never say something as cliché as, “I’m European. All Europeans Eat wurst and drink beer!” http://www.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/kids04... (She/he is German first and then European.)
180--(at least it’s not a 360!)
I still can’t find many culturally authentic Latina/o YA and middle grade novels with true diversity from big publishers and there are barely any with LGBTQ characters (many kids come out in middle grade).
“Culturally Authentic” means:
* A Bilingual author born in Latin America and raised in a Hispanic US community intimately knows what she/he is writing about because she/he has lived, breathed and experienced it to the fullest.
* A US-born author with Hispanic parents or grandparents doesn't speak Spanish but grew up in a Latino community, feels "Latino," has Latino friends and understands the dialect.
* A U.S.-born author with Hispanic heritage who may not speak Spanish or Spanglish. She/he understands, respects and loves the culture, has lived in a Hispanic community, feels Latino and has Latino friends. (Included are Nuyoricans and Chicanos.)
Authentic does not mean:
* Caucasian authors (Marcy SingaLittleTune or Sam GetMeOuttaHere)using pen last names such as Garcia and Rodriguez.
* Authors with Spanish last names with no clue what it means to be Latina/o (the only words they know in Spanish are “No” and “Sí Señora”) and have never lived in a Latino community or heard family stories but give Spanish names to characters to fill diversity quotas.
This post isn’t about cultural pride. Some journal reviewers and publishers’ book lists refer to “Latino” or "Hispanic" categories. This will lead children to believe we are all the same and thus why I hope the publishing world considers announcing what kind of Latino culture is being depicted in contents, such as:
Cuban-American (Cubiche)
Puerto Rican (Nuyorican/Boriqua)
Chilean-American
Nicaraguan-American
Colombian-American
Dominican-American
Mexican-American/Chicano (two-thirds of Latinos in the US are Mexican and most children's books are Mexican thus why most think all our customs and traditions are Mexican.)
And so on…
The words “Latino” and “Hispanic” when talking about books don't allow children and young adults to understand or learn about the rich diversity in our massively different cultures (which can transfer into desire to learn geography and history).
It’s important for kids to connect with their heritage through literature but we have no authentic MG book and only one or two YA books that authentically show our varied and unique cultures. Latino kids and teens in the US need to feel pride in their heritage and every kid in our country deserves to be exposed to diversity in literature thus I strongly feel publishers shouldn't consider Latino books stricly for a "niche" audience and publish authenic Latino authors.
Ignoring critical distinctions lump us in one category and it will be easier for kids and teens to see us as one-dimensional and to judge us as ONE group.
When I came from Cuba the only Americanito blonde, blue-eyed boy in our Cuban barrio called our neighbors and me, SPICS! He’d speed his bike along the sidewalk, spit, and boom, “You SPICS!”
Note: The word SPIC probably originated from the way some Latinos say “speak.” My mom never learned English because there is no need for it in Miami (a Latin American “country”). She and our neighbors always said, “Me no espiky dee Engli.” Espiki = SPIC?
Well, yes. I’m a SPIC and proud!
360--TIDBITS:
If you’re still interested and aren’t snoozing http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/... here’s a mini Latino 101 course:
“Latin” doesn't mean "Latino." Latin has to do with romance languages such as Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, etc. http://www.referencecenter.com/ref/re... .
"Spanish" is our mother tongue/language. The only people on earth who call themselves “Spanish” are born in Spain.
"Hispanic" was coined by the government to lump us together which in some ways is a powerful political tool to enhance our visibility. Normally, when folks say, "I'm Hispanic," they're usually whiter and better educated and don't like to be called "Latino."
“Latino” in the US was once related to the working-class and a word incorporated by Hollywood, the media, and publishers, to glamorize actors and authors. Once Latino’s climb the ladder of success they tend to call themselves "Hispanic." For accurate representation of these words, check out: http://www.elboricua.com/latino_hispa...
In the following interview I talk more about Latino cultures and Miami's LGBTQ Cuban subculture: http://www.chasingray.com/archives/20...
And for the record, I'm a Cuban-American LATINA!
I’m craving Boston and Cambridge's Indie and Antiquarian bookstores tucked away on corner streets, browsing al fresco or ambling through dense basements along massive amounts of collectible tomes. I miss meandering inside dark wood bookshops through a trove of first editions or rare and out-of-print books (including foreign language sections). Specialty bookstores are dying and the only thing resembling them are home libraries and Booktowns in faraway lands. If you’re a bibliophile boasting a variety of genres in your home library, I’d love love to see pics (of your shelves).
They say libraries and bookstores will die and electronic books and libraries are the wave of the future. Many bookstores have passed away and some libraries need monetary help to stay afloat, but death to ALL books? Are you ready for this type of mourning? And besides, mention FIVE MILLION FREE BOOKS and look what happens: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
Millions of books in one place remind me of BookTowns (villages or towns connecting antiquarian bookstores with stunning backdrops developed to create historic interest).
Have you ever traveled to Ohio on a whim to look at covered bridges http://www.coveredbridgefestival.org/ and stumbled upon a vast field of antiquarian shops? (I used to enjoy obscure festivals. If you mentioned an AIR festival, I'd be the first in line!). One chilly morning, I dragged my ex girlfriend out of bed. We climbed into my little convertible and sped to Ashtabula after gorging on an all-you-can-eat ECOLI Buffet and almost didn’t make it. If you've ever been to a huge antique fair that goes on for miles and miles, you then have an idea of what a Booktown looks like. (The next International Booktown Festival will be in, Germany, 9-12 September 2010. They say Stillwater Minnesota has the first Northamerican booktown ever.)
Although I might miss books if they disappeared from the planet, I'm glad collectors will always exist thus they might salvage a few dusty tomes for museums of the future.
They say libraries and bookstores will die and electronic books and libraries are the wave of the future. Many bookstores have passed away and some libraries need monetary help to stay afloat, but death to ALL books? Are you ready for this type of mourning? And besides, mention FIVE MILLION FREE BOOKS and look what happens: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
Millions of books in one place remind me of BookTowns (villages or towns connecting antiquarian bookstores with stunning backdrops developed to create historic interest).
Have you ever traveled to Ohio on a whim to look at covered bridges http://www.coveredbridgefestival.org/ and stumbled upon a vast field of antiquarian shops? (I used to enjoy obscure festivals. If you mentioned an AIR festival, I'd be the first in line!). One chilly morning, I dragged my ex girlfriend out of bed. We climbed into my little convertible and sped to Ashtabula after gorging on an all-you-can-eat ECOLI Buffet and almost didn’t make it. If you've ever been to a huge antique fair that goes on for miles and miles, you then have an idea of what a Booktown looks like. (The next International Booktown Festival will be in, Germany, 9-12 September 2010. They say Stillwater Minnesota has the first Northamerican booktown ever.)
Although I might miss books if they disappeared from the planet, I'm glad collectors will always exist thus they might salvage a few dusty tomes for museums of the future.
SATIRE using Latino cliches:
I’m sure it’s every literary person's fantasy to awaken next to a voluptuous Latina. For valor, you grab Beowulf, the Old English heroic epic poem you were reading before falling asleep, and quickly flip to the page you left off: http://www.lone-star.net/literature/b...
Your eyes veer over to the seductress you just met...
For some reason she's in your room and suddenly, you remember spooning her last night.
She slips on a spandex mini-dress decorated with mandarin orange ruffled sleeves. With a flick of a finger, she turns on the CD player and sensual music fills the room. Her hips jiggle, feet shuffle, shoulders shake and bootay bounces as she cakes on neon glitter eye shadow.
Your Ping Pong eyes bounce from her stiletto heels clickety clacking towards you, to her EXTRA LARGE…
gold hoop earrings and fruit-filled sombrero.
In a Spanish accent, and sultry, dripping-in-caramel-voice, she whispers into your hair, “I’m going to serve you breakfast in bed, Papi (or Mami). I’m saving the ripe banana for desert, before I set off to teach Borges at the university. Afterwards, I'm giving a lecture on deconstructionism and why 'the interpretive movement in literary theory rejects absolute interpretations and stresses ambiguities and contradictions in literature.' Later on tonight, I'm flying to Venezuela to save female authors from oblivion..." http://www.laht.com/article.asp?Categ...
You wag your head in disgust and wish she'd STOP the literary nonsense and either peel your banana or sing to you, "I'm Chiquita Banana and I've come to say/I eat the Banana in a special way...." http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/old_r...
Now, let me show you why some Latinos and people of color would love the opportunity to write our own books: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC7v0G...
What it looks like when authentic Latinos and people of color write our own stories:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4e7Vc... (check out the footwork/moves of the guy in the chartreuse shirt and white pants).
Oops, gotta go! It's time to shake my maracas and whip out an exquisite breakfast in bed for my special mujer!
Tidbits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLTUC7... (brilliant, artistic manipulation of how advertisers make Americanos think we look like and behave in the kitchen. Do you blame me for loving it and wanting to RUN to buy Tostitos and salsa or perform a little cha-cha-cha of my own in the kitchen?).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDOI2...
http://www.wikihow.com/Peel-a-Banana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uKACm...
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...
I’m sure it’s every literary person's fantasy to awaken next to a voluptuous Latina. For valor, you grab Beowulf, the Old English heroic epic poem you were reading before falling asleep, and quickly flip to the page you left off: http://www.lone-star.net/literature/b...
Your eyes veer over to the seductress you just met...
For some reason she's in your room and suddenly, you remember spooning her last night.
She slips on a spandex mini-dress decorated with mandarin orange ruffled sleeves. With a flick of a finger, she turns on the CD player and sensual music fills the room. Her hips jiggle, feet shuffle, shoulders shake and bootay bounces as she cakes on neon glitter eye shadow.
Your Ping Pong eyes bounce from her stiletto heels clickety clacking towards you, to her EXTRA LARGE…
gold hoop earrings and fruit-filled sombrero.
In a Spanish accent, and sultry, dripping-in-caramel-voice, she whispers into your hair, “I’m going to serve you breakfast in bed, Papi (or Mami). I’m saving the ripe banana for desert, before I set off to teach Borges at the university. Afterwards, I'm giving a lecture on deconstructionism and why 'the interpretive movement in literary theory rejects absolute interpretations and stresses ambiguities and contradictions in literature.' Later on tonight, I'm flying to Venezuela to save female authors from oblivion..." http://www.laht.com/article.asp?Categ...
You wag your head in disgust and wish she'd STOP the literary nonsense and either peel your banana or sing to you, "I'm Chiquita Banana and I've come to say/I eat the Banana in a special way...." http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/old_r...
Now, let me show you why some Latinos and people of color would love the opportunity to write our own books: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC7v0G...
What it looks like when authentic Latinos and people of color write our own stories:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4e7Vc... (check out the footwork/moves of the guy in the chartreuse shirt and white pants).
Oops, gotta go! It's time to shake my maracas and whip out an exquisite breakfast in bed for my special mujer!
Tidbits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLTUC7... (brilliant, artistic manipulation of how advertisers make Americanos think we look like and behave in the kitchen. Do you blame me for loving it and wanting to RUN to buy Tostitos and salsa or perform a little cha-cha-cha of my own in the kitchen?).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDOI2...
http://www.wikihow.com/Peel-a-Banana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uKACm...
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...
In Boston I cut the hair of a 23 year-old bookish Harvard grad with twenty-seven polydactyl cats. On that dark chilly morning she invited me to her Sunday book club potlucks.
Yesterday, I received an email from her and remembered how I stepped into her house with a big pot of frijoles negros under one arm and my Senegalese Djimbe drum in the other. She walked me through a living room decorated with black velvet curtains, couches and arm chairs. Thumping rock music played in the background while she introduced me to folks sipping mojitos —I skipped the alcohol. On the way outdoors, I noticed walls adorned with Hemingway photographs and pictures of his infamous six-toed cats and wondered why she was so enamored of the author.
Outside, we sat on logs and huddled in a circle by a small fire pit.
I sat among two disheveled lit geeks (a guy and a girl), a Republican Nazi with a long beard (no one knew he was Nazi until he spoke of his passion for Hitler and was thrown out of the house), a punk rocker poet/English-teacher-to-be with a Mohawk and tattoos, a preppy female Art History student, an attractive crossed-eyed female English Lit student, an ultra conservative-looking guy with the heart of a hippie who read one historical novel per day, and a gorgeous Jewish girl with fiery long curls and freckles attending BU of which she lovingly called: “Be Jew.”
I was the only Latina and felt a bit insecure and jittery about flexing my intellectual muscles within a group of literary geniuses. I sensed that because of lovely media stereotypes, and lack of authentic Latinos in YA lit, they might have considered me intellectually inept/inferior. Also, regardless of how much I adored literature, my having been a hairstylist/drummer/dancer might have added to the Latina stereotype. I had to give it my all so I could represent and be respected.
That week I read The Sun Also Rises twice, memorized lines verbatim and equipped myself with Hemmingway quotes and anecdotes. The book discussion was engaging and lively and to my surprise I didn’t feel insecure about speaking with what they considered, “a slight Spanish accent.”
During the discussion I threw in facts about Hemmingway, such as that in Cuba he invited a bunch of boys to play ball every day with his son (Hemingway was the pitcher). One of the kids, René Villarreal, grew up and became his (and his wife’s) houseboy and butler at seventeen until age 32. Although I was born a rebel, and am more interested in asking questions than finding answers or believing in a set truth, I didn’t mean to insinuate that Hemingway was gay when I asked, “Could having fallen in love with René, the man (or any other man), and his inability to express his desire, or do anything about it, have led Hemmingway to commit suicide?”
The group's passion for Hemingway’s writing was that of enthusiasts and scholars of his work. They believed Hemmingway was a macho man who attempted suicide after receiving ECT treatments which made him lose bits of his memory and hence ability to write as well as he used to. I knew about ECT because a great deal of ancient LGBT's endured them. The treatments are SUPPOSED to help with depression, mania, guilt and compulsive thoughts and behaviors that can’t be stopped thus the main reasons gays were subjected to it.
Ending your life with a shotgun blast to the head is an extreme act of violence towards self and it seems to reek of self loathing behavior.
It seemed that scholarly and medical opinion had never been attentive to the view that Hemmingway might have lived a guilt-ridden life because he was a repressed and oppressed homo. I might be 100 percent wrong, but back in the day when I read his books and researched him, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was a suffering closeted gay.
Hemmingway once said, “All things truly wicked start from innocence.” He stated, “About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after” and “Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts.”
In all fairness to Hemingway, I think his suicidal tendency (to put it mildly) was also genetic since his father, siblings, and granddaughter committed suicide too.
In order to prove that Hemmingway was a straight man, the group discussed an affair he’d allegedly had with the married Jane Manson. That cracked me up. I’m always amazed how quickly het folks dismiss someone’s homoness simply because they had an affair with a person of the opposite sex. I asked if they’d never heard of the rumors about Papa and F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Fitzgerald’s wife said her husband and Hemmingway behaved like “lovers.”)
In A Moveable Feast, Hemmingway has a conversation with Gertrude Stein about homosexuality. He seems to accept lesbians but not gay men. Gertrude let him know, “You know nothing about this, Hemingway. You’ve met known criminals and sick people and vicious people. The main thing is that the act male homosexuals commit is ugly and repugnant and afterwards they are disgusted with themselves. They drink and take drugs, to palliate this, but they are disgusted with the act and they are always changing partners and cannot be really happy."
Honestly, I think SHE knew nothing about male homosexuality.
Hemingway was obsessed with masculinity and had male gay characters in some of his work, such as:
The Mother of the Queen (about a homo bullfighter).
Across the River and into the Times (has a male homo artist).
I went on to speak about Hemingway's love for Havana’s Barrio Chino (Cuba's Chinatown) and explained how Cuba sold Hemingway to tourists as part of Cuba’s ’50’s image even though they reject the Corporate Capitalist era. http://www.hemingwaysociety.org/justice/ Everything Hemmingway in Cuba has been franchised. I never thought I could become so inspired by Hemingway, but having been surrounded by his fans made all the difference.
Gregory Hemingway, the author’s s transsexual son, a former doctor who went by Gloria Hemingway after a sex change operation, died in jail at 69. He seemed drunk and “charged with indecent exposure and resisting arrest without violence after a park ranger reported a pedestrian with no clothes on” (the officer said she was shoeless and had a dress and heels in her hands).
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conwa...
These days, the Hemmingway's wouldn't be in turmoil for being LGBTQ. Lady Gaga is rumored to be a hermaphrodite and no one gives a flying porcupine: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/200...
If you’re the type of traveler that plans a trip around visiting old authors’ homes, be sure to make a stop at Hemingway’s Key West Home, also known as the “gay capital” of Florida. (I’m just saying…).
Tidbit:
At 28, Hemingway wrote, MEN WITHOUT WOMEN
Yesterday, I received an email from her and remembered how I stepped into her house with a big pot of frijoles negros under one arm and my Senegalese Djimbe drum in the other. She walked me through a living room decorated with black velvet curtains, couches and arm chairs. Thumping rock music played in the background while she introduced me to folks sipping mojitos —I skipped the alcohol. On the way outdoors, I noticed walls adorned with Hemingway photographs and pictures of his infamous six-toed cats and wondered why she was so enamored of the author.
Outside, we sat on logs and huddled in a circle by a small fire pit.
I sat among two disheveled lit geeks (a guy and a girl), a Republican Nazi with a long beard (no one knew he was Nazi until he spoke of his passion for Hitler and was thrown out of the house), a punk rocker poet/English-teacher-to-be with a Mohawk and tattoos, a preppy female Art History student, an attractive crossed-eyed female English Lit student, an ultra conservative-looking guy with the heart of a hippie who read one historical novel per day, and a gorgeous Jewish girl with fiery long curls and freckles attending BU of which she lovingly called: “Be Jew.”
I was the only Latina and felt a bit insecure and jittery about flexing my intellectual muscles within a group of literary geniuses. I sensed that because of lovely media stereotypes, and lack of authentic Latinos in YA lit, they might have considered me intellectually inept/inferior. Also, regardless of how much I adored literature, my having been a hairstylist/drummer/dancer might have added to the Latina stereotype. I had to give it my all so I could represent and be respected.
That week I read The Sun Also Rises twice, memorized lines verbatim and equipped myself with Hemmingway quotes and anecdotes. The book discussion was engaging and lively and to my surprise I didn’t feel insecure about speaking with what they considered, “a slight Spanish accent.”
During the discussion I threw in facts about Hemmingway, such as that in Cuba he invited a bunch of boys to play ball every day with his son (Hemingway was the pitcher). One of the kids, René Villarreal, grew up and became his (and his wife’s) houseboy and butler at seventeen until age 32. Although I was born a rebel, and am more interested in asking questions than finding answers or believing in a set truth, I didn’t mean to insinuate that Hemingway was gay when I asked, “Could having fallen in love with René, the man (or any other man), and his inability to express his desire, or do anything about it, have led Hemmingway to commit suicide?”
The group's passion for Hemingway’s writing was that of enthusiasts and scholars of his work. They believed Hemmingway was a macho man who attempted suicide after receiving ECT treatments which made him lose bits of his memory and hence ability to write as well as he used to. I knew about ECT because a great deal of ancient LGBT's endured them. The treatments are SUPPOSED to help with depression, mania, guilt and compulsive thoughts and behaviors that can’t be stopped thus the main reasons gays were subjected to it.
Ending your life with a shotgun blast to the head is an extreme act of violence towards self and it seems to reek of self loathing behavior.
It seemed that scholarly and medical opinion had never been attentive to the view that Hemmingway might have lived a guilt-ridden life because he was a repressed and oppressed homo. I might be 100 percent wrong, but back in the day when I read his books and researched him, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was a suffering closeted gay.
Hemmingway once said, “All things truly wicked start from innocence.” He stated, “About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after” and “Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts.”
In all fairness to Hemingway, I think his suicidal tendency (to put it mildly) was also genetic since his father, siblings, and granddaughter committed suicide too.
In order to prove that Hemmingway was a straight man, the group discussed an affair he’d allegedly had with the married Jane Manson. That cracked me up. I’m always amazed how quickly het folks dismiss someone’s homoness simply because they had an affair with a person of the opposite sex. I asked if they’d never heard of the rumors about Papa and F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Fitzgerald’s wife said her husband and Hemmingway behaved like “lovers.”)
In A Moveable Feast, Hemmingway has a conversation with Gertrude Stein about homosexuality. He seems to accept lesbians but not gay men. Gertrude let him know, “You know nothing about this, Hemingway. You’ve met known criminals and sick people and vicious people. The main thing is that the act male homosexuals commit is ugly and repugnant and afterwards they are disgusted with themselves. They drink and take drugs, to palliate this, but they are disgusted with the act and they are always changing partners and cannot be really happy."
Honestly, I think SHE knew nothing about male homosexuality.
Hemingway was obsessed with masculinity and had male gay characters in some of his work, such as:
The Mother of the Queen (about a homo bullfighter).
Across the River and into the Times (has a male homo artist).
I went on to speak about Hemingway's love for Havana’s Barrio Chino (Cuba's Chinatown) and explained how Cuba sold Hemingway to tourists as part of Cuba’s ’50’s image even though they reject the Corporate Capitalist era. http://www.hemingwaysociety.org/justice/ Everything Hemmingway in Cuba has been franchised. I never thought I could become so inspired by Hemingway, but having been surrounded by his fans made all the difference.
Gregory Hemingway, the author’s s transsexual son, a former doctor who went by Gloria Hemingway after a sex change operation, died in jail at 69. He seemed drunk and “charged with indecent exposure and resisting arrest without violence after a park ranger reported a pedestrian with no clothes on” (the officer said she was shoeless and had a dress and heels in her hands).
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conwa...
These days, the Hemmingway's wouldn't be in turmoil for being LGBTQ. Lady Gaga is rumored to be a hermaphrodite and no one gives a flying porcupine: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/200...
If you’re the type of traveler that plans a trip around visiting old authors’ homes, be sure to make a stop at Hemingway’s Key West Home, also known as the “gay capital” of Florida. (I’m just saying…).
Tidbit:
At 28, Hemingway wrote, MEN WITHOUT WOMEN
