The Prince of los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood

ISBN: 0062313770

Author: Blanco, Richard

Condition: New

In this vibrant memoir, Obama-inaugural poet Richard Blanco tenderly, exhilaratingly chronicles his Miami childhood amid a colorful, if suffocating, family of Cuban exiles, as well as his quest to find his artistic voice and the courage to accept himself as a gay man. - O, The Oprah MagazineA poignant, hilarious, and inspiring memoir from the first Latino and openly gay inaugural poet, which explores his coming-of-age as the child of Cuban immigrants and his attempts to understand his place in America while grappling with his burgeoning artistic and sexual identities.Richard Blancos childhood and adolescence were experienced between two imaginary worlds: his parents nostalgic world of 1950s Cuba and his imagined America, the country he saw on reruns of The Brady Bunch and Leave it to Beaver-an exotic life he yearned for as much as he yearned to see la patria.A prismatic and lyrical narrative rich with the colors, sounds, smells, and textures of Miami, Richard Blancos personal narrative is a resonant account of how he discovered his authentic self and ultimately, a deeper understanding of what it means to be American. His is a singular yet universal story that beautifully illuminates the experience of becoming; how we are shaped by experiences, memories, and our complex stories: the humor, love, yearning, and tenderness that define a life.