Chulito: A Novel [Paperback]

Charles Rice-Gonzalez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 2011

Set against a vibrant South Bronx neighborhood and the queer youth culture of Manhattan's piers, Chulito is a coming-of-age, coming out love story of a sexy, tough, hip hop-loving, young Latino man and the colorful characters who populate his block. Chulito, which means "cutie," is one of the boys, and everyone in his neighborhood has seen him grow up--the owner of the local bodega, the Lees from the Chinese restaurant, his buddies from the corner, and all of his neighbors and friends, including Carlos, who was Chulito's best friend until they hit puberty and people started calling Carlos a pato...a faggot.

Chulito rejects Carlos, buries his feelings for him, and becomes best friends with Kamikaze, a local drug dealer. When Carlos comes home from his first year away from college and they share a secret kiss, Chulito's worlds collide as his ideas of being a young man, being macho, and being in love are challenged. Vivid, sexy, funny, heartbreaking, and fearless, this knock out novel is destine to become a gay classic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A tremendous debut...full of heart and courage and a ferocious honesty."--Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“Hilarious, unique, heartfelt and sharp. A wonderful read.”-Sandra Cisneros, author of the acclaimed The House on Mango Street and Caramelo

“Chulito introduces a fresh, engaging, and stirring voice. Rice-Gonzalez’s memorable characters live on the page with a force and verve and vulnerability that touches our heart. This is a beautiful debut.”-Jaime Manrique, author of Latin Moon in Manhattan and Eminent Maricones.

About the Author

Charles Rice-González, born in Puerto Rico and reared in the Bronx, is a writer, long-time community and LGBT activist and Executive Director of BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. He received a BA in Communications from Adelphi University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College.

Rice-Gonzalez attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, VONA: Voices of Our Nation, the Lambda Literary Foundation Writers' Conference and Sandra Cisnero's Macondo Writers' Conference. He's worked with Sarah Schulman, Rebecca Brown, David Leavitt, Percival Everett, Helena Maria Viramontes, Elana Dykewomon and Stacey D'Erasmo. He was awarded a residency at the Byrdcliffe Artist Colony in Woodstock, NY and at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.

Charles received an Audre Lorde scholarship from the ZAMI Foundation and a P.R.I.D.E. (Puerto Rican Initiative to Develop Empowerment) Award.

Rice-Gonzalez's plays include What Carlos Feels, Pink Jesus, and Los Nutcrackers: A Christmas Carajo and I Just Love Andy Gibb which won Pregones Theater's 2005 ASUNCION Play Reading Series and received a workshop production in May 2007.

He's read at the Bowery Poetry Club, The Living Room, the PANIC series at Nowhere Bar, the Gerber/Hart Library in Chicago, and several venues in the burgeoning South Bronx arts scene including Bruckner Bar and Grill, and was a featured writer at the Downtown Bronx Café.

Rice-Gonzalez is a public relations and marketing specialist in the area if Latino arts and culture. He worked for nearly 20 years in the field at Universal Pictures in New York, for Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and Repertorio Español - Spanish Theatre Repertory before forming Rice-González Public Relations in 1997. He's worked with every major Latino theater company in New York and was the Latino Marketing specialist with the Broadway production of Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize winning Anna in the Tropics. He lives in the Bronx, NY.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Magnus Books (December 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936833034
• ISBN-13: 978-1936833030
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Rice-González, born in Puerto Rico and reared in the Bronx, is a writer, community and LGBT activist and Executive Director of BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. He received a BA from Adelphi University and an MFA from Goddard College. His debut novel, Chulito, will be published by Magnus Books in the fall 2011. His work's been published in The Pitkin Review, Los Otros Cuerpos - the first anthology of Puerto Rican queer work, Best Gay Stories 2008, The Best of PANIC!: En Vivo from the East Village and in the upcoming Ambientes: New Queer Latino Writing edited by Lázaro Limas and Felice Picano. He co-edited, with Charlie Vázquez, From Macho to Mariposa: New Gay Latino Fiction. He's working on his second novel, Hunts Point, a look at a South Bronx neighborhood through a queer Latino lens. He's attended Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, VONA: Voices of Our Nation, Lambda Literary Writers' Retreat and Sandra Cisnero's Macondo Writing Workshop, and has done residencies at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. He received an Audre Lorde scholarship from the ZAMI Foundation and a P.R.I.D.E. (Puerto Rican Initiative to Develop Empowerment) Award.

Mr. Rice-González has written several plays including Pink Jesus, Los Nutcrackers: A Christmas Carajo and I Just Love Andy Gibb which won Pregones Theater's 2005 ASUNCION Play Reading Series and received a workshop production in May 2007.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Story, Gorgeous writing, OUTSTANDING February 29, 2012

By Laura A Rodriguez

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Chulito is a hoodrat. Born and raised in the South Bronx. A beautiful 16 year old boy who grew up in the streets of his neighborhood and lives by the rules of that small world.

Carlos, was Chulito's best friend while they were boys, and later when they got a little older Chulito realized that he maybe felt more than just friendly towards Carlos.

But Carlos is an outsider now. He has left the Hood, and gone to Long Island for college. He is also openly gay. Those two things put Chulito and Carlos in two worlds so distant they might as well be in different planets.

Chulito's life revolves around hanging out on the corner with the Fellas, running drugs for his best friend Kamikaze, the local TOP DOG, and being the hardest thug he can be. He dropped out of high school, and all his ambitions pretty much lie within whatever is confined to his block and the people in it.

The only thing that Chulito can't do is not be friends with Carlos, he misses him. Wants to reconnect with his boy, so he makes a move to get in touch with Carlos, and ends up being surprised by his friend coming back to the Hood for the whole summer.

This book was SET SO PERFECTLY. The author captured the sub-culture so well, and not just of the NYC, but of the Latin communities, especially Neuyoricans and Dominican Yorks. It's such an insular world. Comes from immigrant generations that preferred staying up there in Washington Heights, Harlem or The Bronx where everyone spoke their language, ate their foods, listened to their music, knew their history, their culture, and most importantly UNDERSTOOD why it was preferable to come to the United States to the ghetto than remain in a homeland that had nothing to offer.... Even if the memory of that homeland is something so large and painful that it's present in everything the do.

He captured, The Hood and its cycles of poverty, and outdated views on gender roles, who men and women should be or act like. These attitudes can entrap many kids, wanting MORE or wanting DIFFERENT, whether it is ambition to move elsewhere, being open about your sexuality, daring to demand respect as a woman, or show vulnerabilities as a man, cannot only make you an outcast it can make you a target. But he also showed the love and support that exists in those neighborhoods, strong loyalty and such a deep understanding of each other.

We understood all the contradictions of that world. Who Chulito was, and his yearning for something more that the Hood, but also his loyalty to the neighborhood that has been his whole world. Carlos' need to leave it, but also feeling pulled back by those he loves that are still there. The women in the neighborhood and how they cope with hard lives, the lack of aspirations and ambitions and posturing of the men. The trials that those who dare to be different have to endure. All SPOT ON.

I know that for some readers Chulito and Carlos will be strange characters, they seem so much more mature than their age. It is strange it's true, but kids like Chulito and Carlos grow up fast and hard. It is rough living with no daddies, hustling to make a living, mothers that care but have to work hard to provide fortheir kids. There are too many harsh realities everywhere in places like Chulito's world.

THE VERY BEST thing about this book are Chulito and Carlos. What a JOY is was to watch them fall in love. To see Chulito discover a whole world outside of the Bronx. I just loved them. They were so open, so hopeful and brave to be who they were, despite a more than hostile environment.

There were too many things I loved about this book, it's worth reading if only to get a glimpse at a slice of American life that people rarely get to read about, especially from the perspective of young gay men.

Chulito and Carlos were TRAILBLAZERS, I wish that every boy like them could find a way to love and be loved openly like they did.

RECOMMEND. RECOMMEND. RECOMMEND. RECOMMEND. RECOMMEND. RECOMMEND. RECOMMEND. RECOMMEND. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding story of a young Puerto Rican dealing with his sexuality in the hood. January 15, 2012

By Bob Lind TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Chulito is a 15 year old Puerto Rican high school dropout, who is right at home among the hip-hop-loving, macho, "anything to survive" neighbors in a tough section of the Bronx. Growing up, he was close to Carlos, who - like himself - lived with a single mother in the same building, although he has grown apart from Carlos - who finished high school and is now attending college on Long Island - primarily because he is perceived as being gay. Chulito starts making good money as a helper to a local drug dealer, but is disturbed by reoccurring feelings he still has for Carlos. Chulito knows that any attempt at reconciliation could create a dangerous situation for both of them, and perhaps others.

The author presents an outstanding coming-out / coming-of-age story, told with realistic emotion and colorful characters, including straight allies of the couple. It perfectly captures the differences in atmosphere and attitudes within the boroughs of New York City, and how one's heritage and upbringing can affect a person's tolerance and beliefs. Bravo, and much recommended. Five stars out of five.

- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars chulito = cutie September 18, 2012

By Jeffrey I. Weinstein

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

while i grew up in new york city, i know nothing about the south bronx. so this was like uncharted territory for me.

chuilto and carlos were boyhood friends but when the story starts - carlos is the college boy back in the barrio for his summer vacation, and chulito (cutie) the gangsta, is hanging out on the street corner with his friends going noplace fast.

carlos is gay, and out, so everytime he leaves his building he has to put up with razing from the guys on the corner, especially chulito.

chulito wants to rekindle their friendship but knows if the guys see him hanging out with carlos, or god-forbid leaving the building together, it is guilt by association.

they eventually figure it out. having lots of FUN!! in the process.

and i had fun reading this story of teenagers trying to find their way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Startlingly Fine Debut Novel July 22, 2012

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Charles Rice-González has established himself as a communicator in journalism, as playwright, an expert in Latino culture in film, poetry, and theater and as an activist for LGBT rights. His background is both Puerto Rican and the Bronx and all of this background comes pouring through this excellent novel CHULITO.

Rice-González writes with a thorough comprehension of the lingo and the mannerisms of the characters that populate this book - a factor that not only adds to the credibility of the story he has spun but makes his characters multidimensional instead of the stereotypes that too frequently figure in stories form the streets like this one. Chulito is a handsome young Puerto Rican lad whose best friend since childhood has been Carlos, a boy who has more advantages than Chulito. As Carlos leaves the hood for studies in school he is perceived as effeminate and Chulito discovers aspects of his feelings for Carlos that take the course of the book to fully develop. In short it is a coming of age story as well as a coming out story and both aspects of the tale are so well defined by Rice-González that this book is rapidly becoming a classic in the short time since it was published.

Charles Rice-González seems destined to become an even more important figure in the world of words with this his first novel. Expect more - he always delivers. Grady Harp, July 12