Prince of Los Cocuyos

<p><strong>In this vibrant memoir Obama-inaugural poet Richard Blanco tenderly exhilaratingly chronicles his Miami childhood amid a colorful if suffocating family of Cuban exiles as well as his quest to find his artistic voice and the courage to accept himself as a gay man. -- <em>O The Oprah Magazine</em></strong></p><p>A poignant hilarious and inspiring memoir from the first Latino and openly gay inaugural poet which explores his coming-of-age as the child of Cuban immigrants and his attempts to understand his place in America while grappling with his burgeoning artistic and sexual identities.</p><p>Richard Blanco's childhood and adolescence were experienced between two imaginary worlds: his parents' nostalgic world of 1950s Cuba and his imagined America the country he saw on reruns of <em>The Brady Bunch</em> and <em>Leave it to Beaver</em>--an exotic life he yearned for as much as he yearned to see la patria.</p><p>A prismatic and lyrical narrative rich with the colors sounds smells and textures of Miami Richard Blanco's personal narrative is a resonant account of how he discovered his authentic self and ultimately a deeper understanding of what it means to be American. His is a singular yet universal story that beautifully illuminates the experience of becoming; how we are shaped by experiences memories and our complex stories: the humor love yearning and tenderness that define a life. </p>