Becoming Reinaldo Arenas explores the life and work of the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (1943-1990), who emerged on the Latin American cultural scene in the 1960s and quickly achieved literary fame.

Becoming Reinaldo Arenas explores the life and work of the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (1943–1990), who emerged on the Latin American cultural scene in the 1960s and quickly achieved literary fame. Yet as a political dissident and an openly gay man, Arenas also experienced discrimination and persecution; he produced much of his work amid political controversy and precarious living conditions. In 1980, having survived ostracism and incarceration in Cuba, he arrived in the United States during the Mariel boatlift. Ten years later, after struggling with poverty and AIDS in New York, Arenas committed suicide.

Through insightful close readings of a selection of Arenas's works, including unpublished manuscripts and correspondence, Olivares examines the writer's personal, political, and artistic trajectory, focusing on his portrayals of family, sexuality, exile, and nostalgia. He documents Arenas's critical engagement with cultural and political developments in revolutionary Cuba and investigates the ways in which Arenas challenged literary and national norms. Olivares's analysis shows how Arenas drew on his life experiences to offer revealing perspectives on the Cuban Revolution, the struggles of Cuban exiles, and the politics of sexuality.

"“[A] fascinating view of Cuban history, culture, and sexuality that should, if nothing else, send one back to that thrilling jeremiad, Before Night Falls.”" - Gay & Lesbian Review

"“Olivares . . . draws from his personal connection with Arenas to illuminate novels and short stories by this daring writer . . . . Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.”" - Choice

"“Jorge Olivares's admiring, meticulously researched study aims to establish Arenas's status as one of the maJor writers of the 1960s and 70s: a figure to stand comparison with Gabriel García Márquez or Mario Vargas Llosa.”" - TLS

"Olivares carries the weight of a thorough and profund critique of Arenas's work, while transcending the boundaries of literary criticism to become the novel of the life and work of Reinaldo Arenas." - Bulletin of Hispanic Studies

"“Becoming Reinaldo Arenas is an exemplary work of literary criticism. Using biographical criticism, intertextuality, and queer theory, Jorge Olivares presents a comprehensive study of Arenas’s literary work that balances careful readings of a number of short stories and novels with readings of his autobiography, unpublished correspondence, and drafts.”" - New West Indian Guide

"Becoming Reinaldo Arenas simply inspires us to reread this all-too-neglected author. Olivares' book invites us to view Arenas as a central figure in multiple literary canons, not least a trans-American queer canon. But beyond its conception of queer kinship, Becoming Reinaldo Arenas advocates for the centrality of queer experience to Cuban literature." - Sargasso