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Sirena Selena
Mayra Santos-Febres (Translated by Stephen A. Lytle). Picador: 2000 (paperback. ISBN: 0312263929. 214 pages.
Guide not available
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“You know the desires unleashed by urban nights. You are the memory of
distant orgasms reduced to recording sessions.” Now, how many people can you say that about? Well, Puerto Rican writer
Mayra Santos-Febres can say that about her stunning creation Sirena Silena, and get away with it, too. This astonishing
little novel would make the perfect choice for any reader who yearns for something completely different. It’s the story
of an unbelievably sexy chanteuse, the breathtaking, barely-legal singer whose voice has the power to render an audience
prostrate with longing. Only thing is, this overpoweringly exotic girl used to be just another dirty little homeless boy
roaming the streets of San Juan, in search of a trick or a fix. But fortune, in the shape of drag-queen diva Martha Divine,
smiles on fifteen-year-old Leocadio, transforming a scared young man into a dangerous young woman. Sirena Selena offers a
surprisingly substantial mix of both giddy and serious pleasures. On the one hand, you meet a cast of gutsy transvestite
performers who share the kind of black comedy insight you can only gain by shaving your back and stuffing it into a cocktail
dress. But on the other hand, this is a deeply serious novel, which offers a startling look at the boundaries of gender
that separate man from woman, and the boundaries of love that separate each of us from our heart’s desire.
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