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Book Cover for: The Five Acts of Diego León, Alex Espinoza

The Five Acts of Diego León

Alex Espinoza

Paperback
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Growing up in a rural village at the height of the Mexican Revolution, Diego León has many first loves: singing, dancing, and hearing the stories of his ancestors, the P'urhépecha. But when tragedy strikes, young Diego is sent to the city to live with his white, aristocratic grandparents, who insist he forget his roots and groom him to take over the family business. Under pressure to enter a profession--and a life--he cares nothing for, and haunted by the violence once again erupting all around him, Diego flees his war-torn country to forge his own destiny. Diego arrives in Hollywood in 1927, when silent films are giving way to talkies, Prohibition is in full swing, and "Latin lover" types are sought out even as they are looked down upon. Working his way up in the movie business with talent and ingenuity, Diego soon figures out that getting one's face on the silver screen has as much to do with what goes on behind the camera as what goes on in front of it. But the closer Diego comes to stardom, the more he finds that the past is not so easily escaped, as he is drawn again and again to the painful legacy of history and the wounds of his homeland. A sweeping, sensual novel of love, ambition, and identity, The Five Acts of Diego León bears all the marks of a classic Hollywood story: romance, betrayal, glamour, and an underdog hero to root for till the end.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Los Angeles Review of Books
  • Publish Date: Feb 18th, 2020
  • Pages: 320
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.90in - 5.00in - 0.70in - 0.70lb
  • EAN: 9781940660585
  • Categories: • LGBTQ+ - Gay• Hispanic & Latino• Historical - General

About the Author

Espinoza, Alex: - Alex Espinoza was born in Tijuana, Mexico. He came to the United States with his family at the age of two and grew up in suburban Los Angeles. Author of the novel Still Water Saints, he received an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. A recipient of the Margaret Bridgman Fellowship in Fiction at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Espinoza is currently an associate professor of English at California State University, Fresno.

More books by Alex Espinoza

Book Cover for: The Sons of El Rey, Alex Espinoza
Book Cover for: Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime, Alex Espinoza
Book Cover for: Still Water Saints, Alex Espinoza

What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Stanford Press
Stanford Press
@stanfordpress
1 year

Stanford University Press publishes books in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, Business, Security Studies, and other areas.

Praise for Who Needs Gay Bars? "With intelligent and easily accessible writing, this account stands as a testament to our community's resilience." —Alex Espinoza, author of Cruising & The Five Acts of Diego León https://t.co/akLrPjEOp4

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Mentioner image for: LARB Books
LARB Books
@LARBBooks
4 years

The @LAReviewofBooks publishing project, bringing you SoCal classics, political essay, translations, and more.

"I always seek to write the experiences of characters facing the extreme dilemmas of identity, nationhood, and sexuality." — @alex_esp, author of The Five Acts of Diego León https://t.co/6GsSDzXJAL

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Mentioner image for: Daniel A. Olivas (he/him)
Daniel A. Olivas (he/him)
@olivasdan
2 years

Daniel A. Olivas is an attorney, playwright, and author.

And let's not forget Alex Espinoza's wonderful novel, The Five Acts of Diego León. I had the opportunity to interview Alex about this book for the Los Angeles Review of Books: https://t.co/xWnSqn7Jwm @alex_esp @LAReviewofBooks @latimesbooks #HispanicHeritageMonth #novels #Latinx

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Praise for this book

Excellent....[The Five Acts of Diego León] has many of the elements of the classic Hollywood novel, but works on a much larger canvas.

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