Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa: Writing in Latinidad: Autobiographical Voices of U.S. Latinos/as

“González’s elegant, wrenching, and poetic memoir recounts his childhood among poor Mexican farmworkers, losing his mother at twelve, whippings for youthful cross-dressing, being abandoned by his father, and coming out and finding peace with his identity amid a culture where machismo is prized.”—Out

“Wrenching, angry, passionate, ironic, and always eloquent about conflicts of family, class, and sexuality. The son and grandson of farmworkers, constantly moving between Mexico and the U.S., then and now, González weaves together three narrative threads: his angry present journey across the border with his estranged father; childhood memories of growing up a fat, bookish ‘sissy-boy’; and his urgent longing for his sexy, abusive older lover. . . . An unforgettable story of leaving home today.”—Booklist (Starred review)

“This moving memoir of a young Chicano boy’s maturing into a self-accepting gay adult is a beautifully executed portrait of the experience of being gay, Chicano and poor in the United States. . . . González writes in a poetic yet straightforward style that heightens the power of his story.”—Publishers Weekly

“A poignant, heartfelt memoir of a gay Latino . . . coming-of-age, played out against a relentless backdrop of abuse and neglect.”—Kirkus Reviews

Rigoberto González is the author of many award-winning books for adults and children, among them So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water until It Breaks, a selection of the National Poetry Series; the novel Crossing Vines, named the ForeWord Fiction Book of the Year; and the teen novel The Mariposa Club, named to the American Library Association’s Rainbow List. He is a contributing editor to the magazine Poets and Writers, on the board of directors of the National Book Critics Circle, and on the advisory circle of Con Tinta, a coalition of Chicano/Latino activist writers. He is associate professor of English at Rutgers University at Newark.

Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement, Publishing Triangle

Acknowledgments



Part 1: Smarting Points, Starting Points

Summer's Passage, Southern California, 1990

Welcome to Indio, California, Pop. 36,793

Ghost Whisper to My Lover

Now Leaving Mexicali, Baja California, Norte

Ghost Whisper to My Lover



Part 2: Childhood and Other Language Lessons

Bakersfield, California, 1970–72

Zacapu, México, 1972–79

Thermal, California, 1979–80

Thermal, 1981–82 (Our Little Home on Top of the Garage)

Summer’s Passage



Part 3: Adolescent Mariposa

Ghost Whisper to My Lover

Indio, 1983–88 ("El Campo" Years)



Part 4: Zacapu Days and Nights of the Dead

Summer’s Passage

Ghost Whisper to My Lover

Zacapu, July 1990 (Imago)



Part 5: Unpinned

Riverside, California

Ghost Whisper to My Lover

Winner of the American Book Award