Eminent Maricones: Arenas, Lorca, Puig, and Me

Jaime Manrique weaves into his own memoir the lives of three important twentieth-century Hispanic the Argentine Manuel Puig, author of Kiss of the Spider Woman ; the Cuban Reinaldo Arenas, author of Before Night Falls ; and Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. Manrique celebrates the lives of these heroic writers who were made outcasts for both their homosexuality and their politics.

“Manrique’s double vision yields insights into Puig, Arenas, and Lorca unavailable to a writer less attuned to the complex interplay of culture and sexuality, as well as that of race and class in Latino and Anglo societies.”—George DeStefano, The Nation

“A splendid memoir of Manuel Puig. It evokes him—how he really was—better than anything I’ve read.”—Susan Sontag

“Where Manrique’s tale differs from others is in its unabashed and sensitive treatment of sexuality. One reads his autobiographical account with pleasure and fascination.”—Jose Quiroga, George Washington University

“Manrique’s voice is wise, brave, and wholly original. This chronicle of self-discovery and literary encounters is heartening and deep.”—Kennedy Fraser

“In this charmingly indiscreet memoir, Jaime Manrique writes with his customary humor and warm sympathy, engaging our delighted interest on every page. He has the rare gift of invoking and inviting intimacy, in this case a triangulated intimacy between himself, his readers, and his memories. These are rich double portraits.”—Phillip Lopate