To Puerto Ricans, I've become an American. But to Americans of Puerto Rican descent, I'm insufficiently Puerto Rican because I've not undergone the years of prejudice they have." So the question becomes, who are any of these characters, these authors, these people? And we've not yet begun to explore other themes of this writing: machismo versus homosexuality, male versus female, and how or even why that should alter to catch up to the rest of the world. Or the role of the various religions-Catholicism versus Santeria for example-that permeates in the novel. So much to read. So much to think of. Meanwhile welcome to this new line of Floricanto gay Hispanic books. I hope you enjoy the work, as much as I've enjoyed it." Felice Picano Dr.

Carlos Mock was born in San Juan, PR in 1956. After a career in Medicine, he turned to literature. Papi Chulo is his third novel. He currently edits Floricanto's LGBT Latino series

Book Review 11.8.07
 
Carlos T Mock MD  “Papi Chulo: a legend, a novel, and the Puerto Rican Identity
Floricanto Press 2007 230pgs paperback
ISBN 9780979645709
 
The author has chosen to explore the history of Puerto Rico and what it means to be a Puerto Rican through the story of intertwined lives of Maria Rexach and Clara Rodriquez and the Maria’s daughter Ines Subira.   Born of a wealthy family Maria becomes the guiding force field of women’s rights, medical services and the republican movement.   Clara is the illegitimate daughter of the father of Maria’s future husband and becomes a key figure in the nationalist movement for independence. Ines Subira is the woman in which both of these women’s lives come together and their common goals for the future of Puerto Rico merge into the creation of an independent nation.
 
Ines and her brother Enrico move to the United States and find themselves in a place in which they are no longer part of the upper class society.   Enrico must deal with the problem of having an Anglo lover, living in three different worlds, support himself as an airline steward and as a smuggler to support the nationalist movement.  Both Enrico and Ines are observers of the Stonewall Riots and wonder what this will mean for the gay Puerto Rican community in New York.
 
The use of historical events such as the national and republican conflicts of independence versus statehood, the legal changes in the status of the government and the massive migration to New York in the 1950-1960’s help move the story along while at the same time examining the underlying question as what is it to be a Puerto Rican?  Dr. Mock does not assume the person is fluent in the history of Puerto Rico and provides the background to certain events as part of the story.  Spanish poems are intermingled in the text with English translations and each poem relates to the events within the chapter.
 
I found the book to be enjoyable, the characters to be realistic along with the settings in which they are placed.  While reading the book I learned some about the history of Puerto Rico and the events that lead to the massive migration to New York in the 1950’ and 1960’s.
 
I would recommend purchase for most public libraries especially those with large Puerto Rican populations.   University libraries with special collections that deal with the Puerto Rican community might consider this for their collections as well.
 
Norman J. Eriksen
Assistant Division Manager Languages Literature and Fiction
Brooklyn Public Library