Customer Reviews

Eminent Maricones: Arenas, Lorca, Puig, and Me (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiog)

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"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 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 black 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.

This slender book is almost epic in its emotional density and in the issues raised by expatriot Colombian writer Jaime Manrique, an award-winning writer in two languages. The author first lays out the facts of his own extraordinary childhood and his development as a write of poetry, prose and nonfiction. Then considers his friendships with Reinaldo Arenas and Manuel Puig, and his albeit tangential relationship as a gay Latino writer and teacher with Lorca, who was murdered by Falangists forces in Spain long before Manrique was born. The issues of EMINENT MARICONES ("maricones" is sland for "fag" in Spanish) are family, country, politics, aesthetics, personal and sexual identity, homophobia, and the absolute triumph of all four of these characters, three of whom died tragically if transcendently. Happily, Manrique himself is alive and writing in his strong, compassionate voice. What a privilege to read so clear-headed a look at sometimes difficult realities. I could not put it down.

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 next logical step being to return to the recommended books Manrique thoughtfully suggests!

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.

As an intellectual diary, this book is fascinating in charting Jaime Manrique's growth as a man and a writer from his youth in Colombia to his present day life in New York City. The descriptions of his friendships with Manuel Puig and Renaldo Arenas vividly demonstrate that although marketers would like to think "Latin American writer" means only one thing, three more different temperaments than Puig, Arenas and Manrique could not be found in any group. Their differences did not, however, prevent them from becoming supportive writing colleagues and close friends. Since those same differences led inevitably to intense disagreements and hilarious misunderstandings, Manrique has some delicious dish to spill and he does that with flair. Manrique's exhilarating discussion of his two friends' work will spur many, including me, to read more of it. And the fact that Manrique resisted the lure of Federico Garcia Lorca for so long makes his eventual capitulation to Lorca's power (especially the plays) an object lesson in not forcing our reading of some writers until we are "ready." That Manrique's compact and loving homage to his heroes packs an emotional wallop is a surprsing and welcome bonus.

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!!

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.