When Love was Reels / Jose B. Gonzalez / 2017
I also feel guilty as hell for sleeping on this touching collection. It’s an utter shame this book hasn’t gotten more attention and love, because what it pulls off takes a lot of work. Literally every single poem in the collection takes a classic film or TV Show, largely from Latin or Latino America, and uses them as a window into his childhood in El Salvador, as well as his experience migrating and his youth in New York. Early on, the movies created a space where he could witness his abuela reflect on intense experiences brought on by movies. Later on, TV is how he learns English and an activity his tio and him would essentially disassociate to together. Gonzalez also weaves throughout the collection an unrequited love story between him and a school-age crush he left behind in El Salvador. Gonzalez’s bare and straightforward style is impressive. The sort of feeling you get after having a real soulful conversation with a stranger after they open up about something tender in their childhood. Also, this book belongs in the canon of hip-hop poetics. A solid chunk of it is devoted to Gonzalez’s adventures in graffiti art. I want to teach a Latino film studies course where all we do is read this book and watch all the films in it. Someone should do that someday. 4/5