I, Carmelita Tropicana: Performing between Cultures (Bluestreak) [Paperback]

Alina Troyano (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2000 | Series: Bluestreak

Alina Troyano's one-woman shows, plays, and essays have astonished audiences and readers with their creativity, humor, and crackling political energy. I, Carmelita Tropicana offers the first comprehensive collection of her work, from "Memorias de la Revolución" (with Uzi Parnes) to "Your Kunst is Your Waffen" (with Ela Troyano).

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Carmelita Tropicana, according to writer and performer Troyano, liberates the Cuban-feminist-lesbian-performance artist from thoughts that she is otherwise too self-conscious to speak. In this book, she collects some of Tropicana's work: four performance scripts, a screenplay, and three essays, all of which are well-developed, insightful, and humorous. She includes clear staging directions and actors' notes so that her work can be visualized by the reader and possibly future performers. A good addition to a variety of collections including lesbian studies, Cuban American studies, and theater.
-J. Sara Paulk, Coastal Plain Regional Lib., Tifton, GA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

This book makes you cry in one eye and laugh in the other. -John Leguizamo, author of Freak

"The writing in this wonderful book is like café Cubano: rich, strong, satisfying." -Steve Buscemi

"Dwellers of the Lower East Side have long known of the magic they call Carmelita Tropicana. Carmelita and her comrades-in-arms teach us that humor can have a subversive edge and that politicized performance can be hilarious. This book is a triumphantly tacky treasure trove of tropical delights." -José Esteban Muñoz, author of Disidentifications

"The inimitable Carmelita Tropicana is one of the queer world's wonders: sexy, outrageous, and insightful, her performances transform rooms full of strangers into communities of lovers, friends, and admirers." -Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire

"Laughter is Troyano's weapon, and she wields it expertly to send up stereotypes like the Latina spitfire and to push the limits of rigid identities. This long-awaited book will be a boon in any classroom studying performance, as well as in racially and gender-inflected queer and cultural studies." -Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, editor of Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985

"I, Carmelita Tropicana brings together in print the amazing work of one of the most important performance artists of the Americas." -David Román, author of Acts of Intervention

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (February 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807066036
• ISBN-13: 978-0807066034
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #995,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Lesbian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolutely Amazing, Essential Book, April 4, 2006

By 

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I, Carmelita Tropicana: Performing between Cultures (Bluestreak) (Paperback)

This extraordinary anthology brings together hilarious performance and film scripts, plays, and moving personal reflections. An absolute must for anyone who wants insightful, progressive viewpoints about Cuban American and queer life in the U.S. Read it! Memorize your favorite lines! Go to Carmelita Tropicana's shows and laugh out loud! You won't regret it.