Blackouts

Throughout Blackouts, Juan makes repeated, lengthy allusions to various writers. Most of these interlocutors bear some connection to non-hegemonic culture, as many are queer figures from history. For example, French poet Arthur Rimbaud had a famously tumultuous relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, and Tennessee Williams’s openness about his sexuality made him a controversial figure in America. Figures like American writer Carl Van Vechten opposed heteronormativity, patriarchy, and white supremacy in other ways, with him promoting Black artists during the Harlem Renaissance. English Writer D. H. Lawrence’s works were frequently censored and banned for their nonjudgmental view of human sexuality, including intimacy between men. Juan’s interlocution with these countercultural writers and artists demonstrates the possibility of building a queer library, of retracing queer histories, even when these histories have been forcibly erased. The novel does not obscure the difficulty of this work: Juan admits it has taken him a lifetime to collect his documentation and mental bibliography of queer history—but is nevertheless optimistic that Nene will continue to do so in his stead.

Overall, Juan’s frequent use of references—both direct quotes and otherwise—makes Blackouts, as NPR reviewer Maureen Corrigan phrases it, “the kind of artfully duplicitous novel which makes a reader grateful for Wikipedia” (“

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