- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: WW Norton (July 24 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0393039595
- ISBN-13: 978-0393039597
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
A collection of short stories about the seductive, vibrant, often defiant lives of lovers, not all of them boys. In "La Ronde," women fall for women, for men, for both, and explore the complex extension of this love in their own families. In "Vatolandia," an independent-minded woman creates a critical system in which to classify the men she dates. And in the title story a woman muses at the hypocrisy of life while mourning the departure of her latest boyfriend over drinks in a gay bar. Though the women in these stories have their fair share of heartache, they refuse to be victims. As they face their challenges head-on, they unknowingly shape their own destinies.
From Publishers Weekly
The vitality of Castillo's voice, and the fully engaged lives of her hot-blooded characters, endow her first collection of short stories with earthy eroticism and zesty humor. These 22 tales of love, lust, and Latina tradition showcase bold protagonists while investigating the substance of their lives. Despite the title, however, the lovers here are most often not boys, but experienced women, of Mexican heritage. In the title story, the essence of love's magic is slowly revealed by narrator Carmen, a bisexual would-be writer and proprietor of "the only bookstore in town that deals with the question of the soul." Carmen learns how to experience love from her friends, first as she secludes herself in a primitive adobe in the desert outside of Santa Fe and later from La Miss Rose's pied a terre in Chicago's Barrio. Friendship is vital in these often hilarious, sometimes tragic and always compelling stories about love in its many different permutations, or "multitudes," as one large and sexy character, Sara Santistevan, says in "Vatolandia." And we're not talking about idealized romance or even great physical specimens here. The gamut includes some unattractive, emotionally misguided, pathetic or bizarre social rejects. The white loverboy wearing the Malcolm X T-shirt never laughs, only knows how to smooch gay boys in dark corners; the brawny beer-bellied guy with Pancho Villa charm leaves his wife and kids each night to tend a gay bar, and poor little Mirna sleeps in a tomb to escape the importuning of the man for whom she works. Paco and Rose have no blankets for their beds but bask in the warmth of a 25-inch color TV while they wait to trap another golden cockroach to sell to the pawnbroker. The world of Castillo's literary art resembles the cinematic bohemia depicted by Pedro Almodovar, and her inventive vignettes convey the volatile magic of such a world. Carmen says: "I wish I could talk like my eyes can see." Castillo does. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
lovely and fulfilling,
By
This review is from: Loverboys (Paperback)
Ana Castillo explores her unique perspective on the joys and sorrows of love in all of its manifestations: woman and woman, man and man, woman and man. It was funny, heartbreaking, and beautifully written. There were a couple of stories that were rather slow; however, there were other stories written so well (for instance "Loverboys and "La Miss Rose"), that one will definitely want to read them more than once. This book takes you into the realm of the Latino world with wit and grace.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovergirls would be a better title,
This review is from: Loverboys (Paperback)
This is a good book of stories maligned by bad editorial design. Please take my advice and read it in the opposite order in which the stories are arranged. Short story books should always start with the best stories up front, and the best stories in this collection are towards the end. The high comic spirit of "La Miss Rose" is definitely the gem of the book, with a surprising ending that doesn't feel like a resolution but like a new start; it made me want to know more about the three characters in the story. I was also profoundly affected by "Conversations with an Absent Lover on a Beachless Afternoon," which contains very powerful writing, including segments that appear to be autobiographical in nature. Try the short vignettes: two as short as a paragraph and one, "Foreign Market," seems as complete as any story despite its brevity. Try "Vatolandia." Then try the rest. You'll savor then Ana Castillo's rare gift for invention. She's a really good writer. And she happens to be Chicana.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A box of delights, to suit many different tastes,
By
This review is from: Loverboys (Paperback)
I recommend the stories highly. Think of them as a box of Turkish Delight: best savored one piece at a time. Eat the whole box in one sitting and you're liable to make yourself sick. Read them singly, with breaks in between, and you'll appreciate each story for its own wit, charm, chutzpah. You may not love every story, but you'll definitely find that one or two sticks with you.My personal favorite is "Crawfish Love," whose protagonist has the knack of reading a woman's shoe size at a glance. We see how upward mobility can make you overlook what's most important. Castillo demonstrates her command over both the art and the craft of writing.
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