The Presence of the Past
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MY BODY IS PAPER
Stories and Poems
by Gil Cuadros
City Lights Publishers. 176 pages, $17.95

GIL CUADROS CEMENTED his reputation as a writer shortly before his death, at 34, with 1994’s City of God. This groundbreaking collection of short stories and poems explores being gay, Chicano, and living with AIDS in Los Angeles. Today, a growing interest in Cuadros’ writing has led to the discovery of previously unpublished prose and poems that touch on those same themes. His literary executor and a dedicated group of editors have compiled these pieces into an outstanding new collection, My Body Is Paper. Although long dormant, the work teems with life.

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Michael Quinn writes about books in a monthly column for the Brooklyn newspaper The Red Hook Star-Revue.