Virgins, Guerrillas, and Locas: Gay Latinos Writing about Love

If I had come across this collection of fiction ten years ago, my teenage years would have been much, much less painful than they were. As a young gay Latino from a homophobic culture and in a racist environment, I needed to know that the voices of brown jotos were important enough to be expressed, written and certainly compiled in a book. There is much pain expressed in these stories, but also hope and redemption. Though these stories have come a little too late for me, it is heartening to know that they are now with us and that they are accessible to the young joteria.

Lyricism beyond expectation for an anthology. Several pieces (Daddy, Sun to Sun, I Love You Alto) are quietly devastating, underwater detonations. When funny, it's very funny. It seems a collusion by the contributors to trace and retrace the complex trajectories of the inploded heart, and this, the book suggests, is the arena of love between Latino men. Editor Jaime Cortez has given us a freaking good read.

I bought this book just to read the latest from Erasmo Guerra and it was toally worth it. Not to slight the others in this book, but Guerra's work is always so poignent and beautiful. Getting to read his work now is like reading the early work of a great master. If you're gay and live in New York you HAVE to read his story (which I think is an excerpt from his upcoming first novel).