Book Talk: Michael Nava presents "The City of Palaces: A Novel"

Michael Nava, a third-generation Californian of Mexican descent, is the author of an acclaimed series of crime novels featuring Henry Rios, a gay Latino criminal defense lawyer. The Rios novels, which combat stereotypes about Latinos/as and LGBT people, were reviewed everywhere from the New York Times to People magazine and are taught in colleges and universities around the county.  In 2001, Nava received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement in gay and lesbian literature.

Since the 1990s, Nava has been researching a series of novels loosely inspired by the life and times of Ramon Novarro (1899-1969): Mexican immigrant, movie star, and gay man.  Novarro fled his homeland as a teenager during the Mexican Revolution and became one of the great stars of the silent film era, known most memorably for his role in the original Ben Hur. University of Wisconsin Press has just published the first novel in Nava’s series, The City of Palaces. It’s set in Mexico City just before and at the beginning of the Revolution of 1910. Novelist Christopher Bram says of the novel:  “City of Palaces begins as the love story of two good people, a Catholic and an atheist, who find each other in the corrupt world of belle epoch Mexico City. It grows into a magnificent epic about family, politics, art, revolution, and hope.”

A book signing and light reception will follow the discussion.

This event is sponsored by the UCLA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Program and co-sponsored by the CSRC.

This event is FREE.

Watch the video of this event here.