Overview

'Can't get enough of Pose? Then Las Biuty Queens will be your new fave read. Exploring the lives of the Latin American trans community, Biuty Queens effortlessly blends heart and humour while exploring life on the wrong side of the American dream. Ivan Monalisa Ojeda sparkles as one of 2021's boldest new writers' Cosmopolitan, Best books to read this summer 'The American dream as seen from the height of a good pair of heels' Pedro Almodovar Las Biuty Queens: a group of trans Latinx immigrant friends who walk the streets of New York, smoke crystal meth, compete in beauty contests, look for clients on their impossibly high heels and fall prey to increasingly cruel immigration policies. Drawing from his/her own perspective as a trans performer, sex worker and undocumented immigrant, acclaimed Chilean writer Ivan Monalisa Ojeda shines a light on a group of friends trying to survive the dark side of the American Dream and introduces readers to an unfamiliar, glittering and violent New York City that will draw them in and swallow them whole. 'This is New York, full of beauty and pain - turn away at your own peril' Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

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9781474621793

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Reviews

No one in Chile writes like Ivan Monalisa Ojeda. No one has his/her ease, his/her boldness, his/her tenderness. The stories we find in Las Biuty Queens fiercely depict the life of an undocumented immigrant in New York. Here the glamor and lights coexist with misery and solitude. The American dream doesn't exist. We're left with the fragile voices of this book as they tell, in rabid Spanglish, the story of a nightmare as gorgeous as it is infinite. * Diego Zuniga, award-winning author of Camanchaca * Vibrant, honest, and unfailingly engaging, the stories in this collection are a revelation and a source of great comfort. Ivan Monalisa Ojeda is a thrilling writer and a singular cultural observer * Rakesh Satyal, author of Blue Boy and No One Can Pronounce My Name * This story collection marks the arrival of a singular personality with a unique and quintessential American voice. You can't just read this book; you bathe in its grit, the resilience of its characters and, most of all, its beauty. What a stunning book * Jose Antonio Vargas, founder of Define American and author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen * These stories are about 'what it means to cross from one side to the other, what it means to get home in one piece...' A crystalline energy tears through these pages and insists we keep our eyes open. This is New York, full of beauty and pain-turn away at your own peril * Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City * Ivan Monalisa Ojeda brings to life a breathtaking world of camaraderie, beautiful messiness, pain, and resilience in Las Biuty Queens. He/she offers us captivating snapshots of Latinx trans sex workers living, working, and loving in New York City, telling a story close to my heart: that of keeping one another alive, fed, bailed out, and in deliciously deviant company amidst the harshness of criminalization. This book is like the money a friend slips in your pocket when they know you can't make rent: a fortifying whisper to carry on, and carry each other with us * Tourmaline, filmmaker and activist * Monalisa is a legend. She lives in New York as an illegal and her stories are about dressed addicts. A powerful pen. He looks a lot like Lemebel, but he has his own voice. Her personality is even more edge, and she doesn't want to make the world a better place with literature. Of survive on an expensive and tough New York is what it's all about. It's like being in a permanent apocalypse. * Carlos Velazquez * After Pedro Lemebel, Ivan Monalisa is the most extraordinary writer in this world of biuty queens. * Sergio Parra * Nobody in Chile writes like Ivan Monalisa Ojeda. Nobody has his self-confidence, his insolence, his tenderness. The stories we find in Las biuty queens portray in a fierce way the life of an illegal immigrant in New York. Here glamor and lights coexist with misery and loneliness. The American dream does not exist. Only the fragile voices of this book remain that, in rabid Spanglish, narrate a nightmare as beautiful as it is infinite. * Diego Zuniga *

Monalisa is a legend. She lives in New York as an illegal and her stories are about dressed addicts. A powerful pen. He looks a lot like Lemebel, but he has his own voice. Her personality is even more edge, and she doesn't want to make the world a better place with literature. Of survive on an expensive and tough New York is what it's all about. It's like being in a permanent apocalypse. * Carlos Velazquez * After Pedro Lemebel, Ivan Monalisa is the most extraordinary writer in this world of biuty queens. * Sergio Parra * Nobody in Chile writes like Ivan Monalisa Ojeda. Nobody has his self-confidence, his insolence, his tenderness. The stories we find in Las biuty queens portray in a fierce way the life of an illegal immigrant in New York. Here glamor and lights coexist with misery and loneliness. The American dream does not exist. Only the fragile voices of this book remain that, in rabid Spanglish, narrate a nightmare as beautiful as it is infinite. * Diego Zuniga *

Author Information

Ivan Monalisa Ojeda was born in the late sixties in southern Chile and grew up on the shores of Lake Llanquihue. He/she studied theater at the University of Chile, in Santiago, and when he/she got his/her degree, Ivan Monalisa settled in New York, where he/she currently lives. In addition to being a writer, he/she is a performer and is at work on a novel. Ivan Monalisa's preferred pronouns are he/she, his/hers, him/her because he/she considers him/herself to be both genders.

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