A Taste for Brown Bodies

“Perezs highly sophisticated study gives nuance not only to queer studies but also to critical race theory and American studies. Surely,A Taste for Brown Bodieswill transform our reading methods to redefine future scholarship in our field.” (Men and Masculinities) “Perez offers a provocative study that identifies connections between modern gay identity, sexual desire, US imperialism, and national identity.” (Choice) “Tracing the homoerotic archetypes of sailor, cowboy, and soldier, he offers close readings ofBilly BuddandBrokeback Mountainand uses James BaldwinsGoing to Meet the Manto parse images from Abu Ghraib, prodding readers toward a deeper, sometimes uncomfortable understanding of cultural context, colonialism, and complicity.” (Chronogram Magazine) “Pérez argues that despite queer studies’ avowed dedication to liberation politics, it remains “susceptible to …a racial unconscious shaped by nation, empire, and the dispositions of global capitalism”… Pérez’s important book offers an unexpected perspective on queer studies, critiquing it for its unexamined imperialist investments rather than simply celebrating it based on an intuitive assumption about queer theory’s radical potential. Readers should not, however, take Pérez’s critique as an attack on queer theory. Baldwin once said that it was out of his love for America that he insisted on the right to critique; Pérez’s book seems to be written in a similar spirit of critique and love. He writes in the service of “contemporary antiracist queer politics,” and as he argues, without a thorough examination of queer theory’s racial unconscious, the field “remains imperiled” (17).” - American Literature “A compelling contribution to the pivotal turn in queer studies toward a critique of still-emergent forms of homo-normativities. With dazzling close readings of diverse texts, such as James Baldwins ‘Going to Meet the Man,’ alongside an equally bracing collection of visual texts, Hiram Pérezs book is an impressive critical and analytical performance. Absorbingly written, it never loses sight of the urgency of its core claims and the work that a critically committed queer studies must continue to do.” - Ricardo L. Ortiz,author of Cultural Erotics in Cuban America “A Taste for Brown Bodiesis a crucial and groundbreaking study that throws new light on the interplay of cosmopolitanism and homosexuality. Its stunning historical depth and engagement with the promises and limitations of queer theory make it essential reading for scholars of critical ethnic and queer studies. With gorgeous prose and unflinching arguments, this book is sure to incite intense debate, ruffle the right feathers, and move us beyond the impasse that equates race politics with knee-jerk identity politics.” - Richard T. Rodriguez,author of Next of Kin: The Family in Chicano/a Cultural Politics

Hiram Pérez is an Assistant Professor of English at Vassar College.