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Sirena Selena, un adolescente gay que se ha echado a la calle para ganarse la vida, posee un don especial: una voz dulce, cristalina, fresca "como el mism#65533;simo mal de amores sobre la faz de la tierra". Y cuando Martha Divine, una vieja travest#65533; due#65533;a de un bar en Puerto Rico, descubre ese talento sin igual, decide "promocionar" al joven... aunque hay un "peque#65533;o" detalle: en Puerto Rico es ilegal el trabajo de menores. Miss Divine, como manager, decide buscar otros horizontes donde este aspecto legal se menos r#65533;gido, y para ello se dirigen a la Rep#65533;blica Dominicana.Sirena Selena vestida de pena es un excelente relato de un mundo de la sociedad caribe#65533;a y una magn#65533;fica elaboraci#65533;n de las ambig#65533;edades de la sexualidad, escrito con un lenguaje fascinante y perturbador. Con esta primera novela, Mayra Santos-Febres explora el mundo de los travestis de una manera afortunada y con gran sentido del humor. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Sirena Selena is a gay teenager with a gifted voice. When she leaves home to make her way in the world, she meets bar-owner Martha Divine, an old transvestite who decides to "promote" the young girl. Sirena Selena vestida de pena is a brilliant portrayal of a world within Caribbean society and a superb exposition of the sexual ambiguities of human beings, written in a fascinating and disquieting manner. In this debut novel, Mayra Santos-Febres explores the world of transvestites with a great sense of humor.

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Library Journal Review

Arguably the most famous novel by 2009 Guggenheim fellow Santos-Febres, this is the story of Sirena ("mermaid") Selena, a teenage Puerto Rican transvestite with an enchanting voice and a complicated past, who flies to the Dominican Republic with his/her manager, Martha Divine, an older and wiser cross-dresser, in an attempt to find success as a hotel singer. Using first- and third- person narrators, the author explores the emotional, mental, and physical challenges of male sexuality and its transformations within the context of a traditional, superstitious, and classist Caribbean society. Mimicking the nostalgic and tragic aura of the boleros (the kind of songs that Serena learned from her grandma), the language is lyrical and melodic, with tints of humor. The time line of events is sometimes confusing, but the author does a great job of unfolding a story of ambitions and lack of opportunities, mixing flashbacks from Serena's life in the streets, Martha Divine's stand-up routine, and stories about the characters that work at the hotel. Recommended for public libraries with a Spanish-language Caribbean literature or LGBT collection.-Angela Lang, New York, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Santos-Febres won the 1996 Juan Rulfo prize for her short story "Oso blanco" ("White Bear"), found in her collection, El cuerpo correcto (The Correct Body, R & R Editoras). This is the talented Puerto Rican writer's hilarious first novel about drag-queen life in the Caribbean. The novel's charismatic protagonist, Martha Divine, once made her living performing at fabulous international gay clubs with girlfriends who dressed up as Bianca Jagger and Margot Hemingway, among others. When she discovers a young, effeminate boy with the voice of an angel singing in the streets of San Juan, she immediately becomes his agent. Taking him to the Dominican Republic to perform at its most elegant hotel and giving him his first waxing from head to toe, she transforms him into the breathtaking and naughty Sirena Selena, capable of seducing the straightest of men. The novel, narrated by both Sirena and Martha, is written in the sassy and charming voice of a Caribbean diva, peppered with occasional Spanglish. It explores the nuanced layers of sexuality and the notion of how makeup and costumes can bring out one's hidden personalities. Recommended for a wide range of bookstores and all public and academic libraries. [The English translation, Sirena Selena, is available from Picador. Ed.] Adriana Lopez, "Criticas" (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Mayra Santos-Febres (Carolina, Puerto Rico, 26 de febrero de 1966) es una escritora puertorrique#65533;a. Comenz#65533; a publicar poemas desde el 1984 en revistas y peri#65533;dicos internacionales tales como Casa de las Am#65533;ricas de Cuba, P#65533;gina doce de Argentina, Revue Noire de Francia y Review: Latin American Literature and Arts, en Nueva York. En el 1991 aparecen sus dos poemarios: Anam#65533; y manigua, libro que fue seleccionado como uno de los 10 mejores del a#65533;o por la cr#65533;tica puertorrique#65533;a, y El orden escapado, ganador del primer premio para poes#65533;a de la Revista Tr#65533;ptico en Puerto Rico.

En el 2010 la editorial Trilce de M#65533;xico public#65533; Tercer Mundo, su tercer poemario. Adem#65533;s de poeta, Mayra Santos-Febres es ensayista, y narradora. Como cuentista ha ganado el Premio Letras de Oro (Estados Unidos, 1994) por su colecci#65533;n de cuentos Pez de vidrio, y el Premio Juan Rulfo de cuentos (Par#65533;s, 1996) por su Oso Blanco. En el 2000 Grijalbo Mondadori en Espa#65533;a public#65533; su primera novela titulada Sirena Selena vestida de pena que ya cuenta con traducciones al ingl#65533;s, italiano, franc#65533;s y que qued#65533; como finalista del Premio R#65533;mulo Gallegos de Novela en el 2001. En el 2002 Grijalbo Mondadori public#65533; su segunda novela Cualquier mi#65533;rcoles soy tuya.