Book Review: “High Pink,” Latino, Pocho, Gay And Human

The first thing that happens when you begin reading Franco Mondini-Ruiz’s book “High Pink: Texas-Mex Fairy Tales,” is that you lose yourself in the stories the artist and former attorney tells you. Although I myself am obviously not a gay man, I found myself laughing and crying along with Mondini-Ruiz’s memories of identity struggles, career choices, familial vignettes and general coming-of-age tales. I met with him recently, and that’s what I told him: the book is about being human.

Of course, the particulars do matter, and going through the 126-page book — mind you every other page is a photo of one of the sculptures created by the artist/author — is a cinch. You can finish it in one sitting, but the stories in the book will stay with you long after you close the book. Some of the stories are four sentences, some longer, some written as poems. Each one, though, has something to offer.

There’s the one about falling in love with a Mexican man, that is, a Mexican national. There’s the one about not being accepted by your parents. Parents and their quarrels with each other, with themselves. About feeling in or out of place. There’s so much about culture passing you by, grasping your culture, recycling it, until you create a culture almost of your own. In short, there’s literally a story for everybody in this book.

My favorite thing about “High Pink” is that, whether you’re white or Mexican, a man or a woman, straight or gay, the stories in this book are about being human. And as a Latina constantly on the lookout for positive portrayals of Latinos and Latino live, this one stood out for it’s matter-of-fact approach to everything from sexuality to culture to family dysfunction (or what we perceive as such). In other words, Mondini-Ruiz talks honestly about things without imbuing them with drama or racism or homophobia.

Mondini-Ruiz just is, and as he tells his story, you get the feeling that you can be, too.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

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