Sirena Selena: A Novel [Hardcover]

Mayra Santos-Febres (Author), Stephen A. Lytle (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2000

Discovered by Martha Divine in the backstreets of San Juan, picking over garbage, drugged out of his mind and singing boleros that transfix the listener, a fifteen year old hustler is transformed into Sirena Selena, a diva whose uncanny beauty and irrisistable voice will be their ticket to fame and fortune. Auditioning for one of the luxury hotels in the Dominican Republic, Selena casts her spell over Hugo Graubel, one of the hotel's rich investors. Graubel is a powerful man in the Republic, married with children. Silena, determined to escape the poverty and abuse s/he suffered as a child, engages Graubel in a long seduction in this mordant, intensely lyrical tragi-comedy - part masque, part cabaret - about identity (class, race, gender) and "the hunger and desire to be other things."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this titillating debut novel, a follow-up to her well-received short fiction collection, Urban Oracles, Santos-Febres evokes the sometimes dreamy, always seamy world of Caribbean drag queens, hustlers, transsexuals and two remarkable divas. Strung out and singing his dead abuela's boleros, a 15-year-old street urchin/hustler named Leocadio rummages through the garbage in a shabby San Juan alley looking for food. His crystalline singing voice is "as old and as fresh as the perennial pain of love" and his beautiful face and honey-colored mane enchant Martha Divine, a respected, worldly transsexual and owner of the Blue Danube, a seedy but chic drag club. A consummate businesswoman, Martha immediately sees Leocadio's star potential, plucks the androgynous teen off the streets, helps him kick the cocaine habit that's ravaging his nasal passages ("that's not where a young lady is supposed to have her first period"), and transforms Leocadio into Sirena Selena, a spellbinding bolero-singing diva. After successful shows in Puerto Rico, Martha decides it's time for Sirena to take on the Dominican Republic. While auditioning at a posh Santo Domingo hotel, Sirena is bidden to entertain Hugo Graubel III, a rich businessman who recognizes her as "the woman of his dreams." Sirena ditches Martha to stay with Hugo (who nonchalantly sends his wife packing) and performs, with smashing success, at the dinner party Hugo gives for the Dominican elite. Meanwhile, enterprising Martha finds another gig providing live entertainment at an upscale, underground gay club. Flashbacks throughout this lushly lyrical novel reveal decades in the lives of Martha and Sirena, while an array of vibrant narrators animate the plot twists. Deep purple prose strikes just the right campy, melancholy note as Santos-Febres illuminates the essence of these unforgettable, fiery femmes with moving pathos. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In her first novel, Santos-Febres, a theorist, poet, and award-winning short story writer from Puerto Rico, explores the world of drag queens and, in particular, the young boy Sirenito, who is rescued from the streets by cabaret owner Martha Divine. Divine transforms the boy into Sirena Selena, the mesmerizing transvestite singer-entertainer, expecting that they will both make their fortunes and escape from the dangers and uncertainties of their not-quite-legal way of life. Unfortunately, neither the omniscient narrator nor the stream-of-consciousness monologs provide interesting insight into Divine, Sirena, or the novel's many other characters. Their thoughts rarely go deeper than the details of forks and table cloths, wardrobe, wigs, makeup, nail polish, and petty rivalries. Conflicts are so cursorily and superficially dealt with that they inspire little concern for their resolution. Perhaps this illustrates self-denial and suffocation of the spirit? It is possible that the translation does not do justice to Santos-Febres's writingAlacking subtlety and complexity, providing few evocative images and no sense of place. Portions of this novel might have contributed to several good short stories, but this work does not succeed as a novel.ARebecca Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 214 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st edition (August 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312252277
• ISBN-13: 978-0312252274
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,332,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Caribbean

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sirena Selena: Caribbean Queen!, October 24, 2000

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sirena Selena: A Novel (Hardcover)

It has been a long time since I have read a beautiful novel set in the Caribbean. I had to get my hands on Mayra Santos Febres's book! It is so great to rediscover my Latin roots!

Sirena Selena is a fifteen-year-old boy whose grandmother died and left him alone in the streets of San Juan. The boy, however, had a great gift: he had the voice of an angel. Having heard him sing sad boleros in an alley, La Martha -- a Drag Queen and nightclub owner -- decides to take the boy under "her" wing. The novel takes you on a delicious and poignant trip to the life-altering events of Selena's life.

I love the bickering and the conversations between the "locas"; it is hilarious. The storytelling and language is beautiful. I marvel at the flawless translation. This is a very unique novel that everyone should indulge in. I highly recommend it!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great look at locas from inside out, September 13, 2000

By 

"berenjena" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sirena Selena: A Novel (Hardcover)

I loved this book. It has the feel of an anthopological study on street living and the glamour that is always elusive and fleeting. Martha is indeed divine, as a character and the wisdom that she imparts. A great look at a very vibrant part of society which most of us don't know. It has many tragic and unjust moments, but it all goes towards making that perfect performance. Great book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Caribbean Sizzle, September 23, 2000

By 

J. McFarland "jbmcfar" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sirena Selena: A Novel (Hardcover)

When the 15 year-old Sirena Selena gets dolled up like a goddess and emotes her way through heart-wrenching boleros that her abuela taught her, men get weak in the knees and women swoon. That Sirena happens to be a boy (and massively hung) with his whole illusion masterminded by La Martha (another draga of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico) makes no difference to anybody once they are in the overwhelming power of the voice and the image. They have seen Heaven and they want a piece of it, whether under the gown they find boy, girl or something totally new. Santos-Febres is brilliant in her descriptions of gender construction and the artifice of "womanly wiles" as well as of the fragility of their opposite, the macho facade. The gossip, cat-fighting and climbing that the dragas of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic indulge in becomes almost heroic in her capable hands. The tale of a "woman" besting her man is as old as the hills, but the Caribbean sizzle and drag-queen sass make this novel as refreshing a delight to read in the moment as it is a provocative moral tale to ponder after the fact. Ay, carajo! Sing out, Sirena Selena!