In this collection of essays, a range of literary scholars trace gay and lesbian themes in Latin American, Hispanic and US Latino literary and cultural texts. It includes discussion of texts from as early as the 17th century to writings of the late-20th century.

In this collection of essays, a range of literary scholars trace gay and lesbian themes in Latin American, Hispanic and US Latino literary and cultural texts. It includes discussion of texts from as early as the 17th century to writings of the late-20th century.

This is a rarity in contemporary writing, a truly bilingual enterprise, as in Susana Chavez-Silverman's previous memoir, Killer Cronicas. Chavez-Silverman switches between English and Spanish, creating alinguistic mestizaje that is still a surprise encounter in the world of letters today, and the author forms one of a small but growing band of writers to embrace bilingualism as a literary force. Also like Killer Cronicas, each chapter in Scenes from la Cuenca de Los Angeles is a "cronica," a vignette that began as intimate diary entries and e-mails and...

A woman living and communicating in multiple lands, Susana Chavez-Silverman conveys her cultural and linguistic displacement in humorous, bittersweet, and even tangible ways in this truly bilingual literary work. These meditative and lyrical pieces combine poignant personal confession, detailed daily observation, and a memorializing drive that shifts across time and among geocultural spaces. The author's inventive and flamboyant use of Spanglish, a hybrid English-Spanish idiom, and her adaptation of the confessional "cronica" make this memoir compelling and powerful. Killer Cronicas...