Latin Moon in Manhattan [Hardcover]

Jaime Manrique (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1992

Santiago Martinez, a loner and would-be poet living in an Latino community in New York City, is surrounded by a cast of colorful characters--among them a midget hooker, a rich Venezuelan gourmand, a librarian from Alabama, and a crooning parrot.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like Manrique, the narrator and protagonist of this debut novel is a Colombian poet transplanted to New York City. Santiago Martinez has come from Bogota 18 years ago, "from one cocaine capital to another." Santiago struggles--with his overprotective mother, who refuses to accept that he is gay; with his nephew, Gene, who wants to be Marlon Brando but works as a messenger for coke dealers; with his cat, Mr. O'Donnell, who is dying; and, fundamentally, with his epic poem on the life of Christopher Columbus. From such highly colored material Manrique fashions this often hilarous and sometimes touching entertainment around the theme of letting go of inhibitions and preconceptions. He casts a knowing eye on the habitu al homesickness of emigres, recording their efforts to recreate their homelands. wherever they settle. The result is a surprisingly sweet work, appealing in its warmth and elegant in its language.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Colombian-born poet Manrique sends N.Y.C. a crazy valentine: a sexy, offbeat novel that's as much about the city itself as about a gay Latino finding his place there. Santiago (Sammy) Martinez thinks ``immigration'' is too big a word for relocating from one cocaine capital (Bogot ) to another (Jackson Heights, Queens). The significant move was away from his mother to an apartment in Times Square; he works as an interpreter, nurses his dying cat, and tries to complete his epic poem about Columbus. During a weekend visit to Queens--where his seductive mother and three lady poetasters are scheming to marry him to a lesbian drug-fortune heiress--he sees his best friend die of AIDS, survives a shootout at the Japanese nightclub where his sister sings hot tangos, and finds himself in inadvertent possession (thanks to his teenage nephew) of a cache of cocaine. Fleeing back to the comparative tranquility of crime-ridden, crack-driven Times Square, Sammy's soon got a gun in his toilet tank and gangsters on his trail. Without overlooking the despair and poverty of contemporary urban life, Manrique celebrates New York's vitality and beauty. Drug use is frowned on, but characters engage in bestiality, exhibitionism, etc., without ever ceasing to be endearing--good-hearted folks who almost anyone (well, maybe not Jesse Helms) would welcome as neighbors. In this world, a midget hooker--and maybe even Sammy--can find true love. Ethnic details will tickle insiders and tourists: a humorous, essentially optimistic vision. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 212 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (February 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312071000
• ISBN-13: 978-0312071004
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,138,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent novel of the immigrant experience in the U.S., September 5, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Latin Moon in Manhattan: A Novel (Stonewall Inn Editions) (Paperback)

"Latin Moon in Manhattan," by Jaime Manrique, is a wonderfully funny and moving novel. The protagonist, Sammy, is a gay, Colombian-born poet who lives in New York City (where the novel mainly takes place). The novel is full of colorful, engaging characters (such as a midget hooker named Hot Sauce and a parrot named Simon Bolivar). The novel follows Sammy as he spends time with his family, with the Colombian community in NYC, at his stressful job as an interpreter, and with his circle of friends and neighbors.

Manrique expertly blends comedy and tragedy, as well as realism and humorous absurdism, in this story. Although the novel is full of appealing silly moments, Manrique also deals with many serious topics, such as ethnic/national identity, literary politics, AIDS, and anti-gay prejudice. He treats his characters with insight and compassion. And throughout, the novel is enriched with the spicy tastes of Latin American food and the rhythms of Latin music. Also adding to the rich flavor of "Latin Moon" are the many cultural references (both pop culture and "high" culture) that are woven into the dialogue and narration.

"Latin Moon" is at times wildly outrageous. The first chapter, for example, ends with one of the most hilarious, explicit, taboo-busting sex scenes that I have ever encountered in literature. But such over-the-top elements are just part of a book with a tender heart and a keen intelligence. Also recommended: the same author's nonfiction prose work "Eminent Maricones," and his poetry collection "My Night With Federico Garcia Lorca."

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To Laugh for a Change - It's Healthy!, December 21, 2000

By 

IsolaBlue (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latin Moon in Manhattan: A Novel (Stonewall Inn Editions) (Paperback)

Santiago Martinez is a Colombian poet struggling to live in New York City at a time when everyone seems to equate Colombians with the cocaine trade and crime. Santiago wants nothing more than to be able to pay his rent and to finish the epic poem he is writing about Christopher Columbus. He's a quiet guy, this Santiago, and he's gay. Interestingly enough, the fact that he is gay is not that important to the novel. That he is Colombian overrides his sexuality, and his desire to write rules his life. This is not our typical look at gay life in the late 80s, early 90s. It is more the story of a sensitive man born into a lively culture. Manrique's descriptions of Santiago's family and of Colombians living in New York in general, are vivid and convincing. He has managed to paint - in splendid oils - a portrait of a tropical people transported to the North and living the American dream . . . .or at least trying to. There are some incredibly funny scenes in LATIN MOON IN MANHATTAN, scenes that are funny and refreshing at the same time. One that comes to mind is Santiago's visit to a friend dying of AIDS. Unlike most gay novels dealing with this topic during this time period, Manrique has managed to come up with a wonderfully humorous moment between two friends. Death is turned into something other than dying. And by no means is Manrique irreverent, for Santiago sees everything for what it is and the reader is able to feel for him as he moves about the city, living among three cultures: the Colombian community, the gay world, and New York in general. The novel moves along, action-wise, much like a film, and it is easy to see how it could be made into an excellent one. Manrique must be commended on his quirky characters and, most of all, on his ability to make the reader relax and laugh, something that is rare in contemporary literature. LATIN MOON IN MANHATTAN is great - and well-written - FUN.

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time, September 3, 2010

By 

Richard C. Burrows (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Latin Moon in Manhattan: A Novel (Paperback)

In my opinion this book is pretty much a waste of time, being a very rambling, often unlikely, quite amateurish (throw in lotsa description) series of pages. Knowing that the "hero"/author is a gay Colombian, one might expect some realistic expression of his situation; but essentially nothing . . . Save your "postage and handling" - - even the one cent for "used" doesn't warrant the delivery cost.