"A deeply-felt work that belongs in the company of classic American memoirs such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, When I Was Puerto Rican, and Hunger of Memory. Where it differs most memorably from those books is in its uncompromising depiction of a young person's sexual orientation. Engrossing, supremely enjoyable, and beautifully written."—Jaime Manrique, author of Eminent Maricones

"Rigoberto González is a writer who walks, with an elegant gait, the line between sorrow and laughter, anger and acceptance. His prose is shaped by the poetry of irony. And he is a master of it."—Richard Rodriguez, author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America

Acknowledgments





Part 1: Smarting Points, Starting Points


Summer's Passage, Southern California, 1990


Welcome to Indio, California, Pop. 36,793


Ghost Whisper to My Lover


Now Leaving Mexicali, Baja California, Norte


Ghost Whisper to My Lover





Part 2: Childhood and Other Language Lessons


Bakersfield, California, 1970–72


Zacapu, México, 1972–79


Thermal, California, 1979–80


Thermal, 1981–82 (Our Little Home on Top of the Garage)


Summer’s Passage





Part 3: Adolescent Mariposa


Ghost Whisper to My Lover


Indio, 1983–88 ("El Campo" Years)





Part 4: Zacapu Days and Nights of the Dead


Summer’s Passage


Ghost Whisper to My Lover


Zacapu, July 1990 (Imago)





Part 5: Unpinned


Riverside, California


Ghost Whisper to My Lover

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