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A review by mood_reading_maya
High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez
medium-paced
3.0
In my hunt for nonfiction that looks at the intersections between queerness and Latinidad, this was one of the books that I landed on during my library catalog search.
Gomez relays personal experiences as a child, teen, and young man navigating the world as a gay man. While there are moments of insightful reflection on themes of masculinity, machismo, in/visibility, and community, most of the essays contend with Gomez's struggle with internalized homophobia. I can appreciate this message, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. It's heavy on the personal anecdotes and storytelling and very light on the broader conclusions or reflections on what they meant for the queer & Latinx community. Just...a touch too surface level? The sections centered on Pulse Nightclub had the most depth.
The narration, done by the author, was really not for me. Lots of repeated lip smacking and breathy pauses after every other sentence forced me to break up my listening because it was distracting.
Gomez relays personal experiences as a child, teen, and young man navigating the world as a gay man. While there are moments of insightful reflection on themes of masculinity, machismo, in/visibility, and community, most of the essays contend with Gomez's struggle with internalized homophobia. I can appreciate this message, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. It's heavy on the personal anecdotes and storytelling and very light on the broader conclusions or reflections on what they meant for the queer & Latinx community. Just...a touch too surface level? The sections centered on Pulse Nightclub had the most depth.
The narration, done by the author, was really not for me. Lots of repeated lip smacking and breathy pauses after every other sentence forced me to break up my listening because it was distracting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Medical content
Minor: Gun violence and Hate crime