POST

by Leo Herrera

Leo Herrera's debut book POST is a collection of poems, lectures, prayers and grudges. In 2020, amidst the uncertainty of COVID-19, Herrera's voice emerged as a source of comfort, clarity, and difficult truths. Originally presented as “meme essays” on social media, Herrera’s densely-written posts covered politics, race, immigration, class, religion and public health. The book presents Herrera's prose chronologically from 2020 to the end of 2023, from a small following to millions of eyes, from celebrity reposts to IRL protest signs. Beyond the viral hits and accolades, "Post" sets the stage for a dance of authenticity under the pressures of the digital spotlight. Delivered with a touch of humor and fury, “Post” skewers white privilege, virtue signaling, and late-stage capitalism in Herrera’s signature decolonized and spiritual tone rare to social media space.

Leo Herrera is a Mexican artist and activist whose work centers around the image, best known for his painting, photography and filmmaking. His social media writings were a complete pivot for fans. In Herrera’s foreword essay for “Post”, he shares how his posts were an act of defiance. Their resurfacing as printed matter is a bold act of preservation against tech giants who threaten queer narratives with a click. This is Herrera reclaiming his digital archive.

Genres: Queer

202 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2024

Reviews

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review of this book could just be:
Look how many times I posted pictures of pages to Instagram after being bowled over by a thought or connection or sentence.
I didn't want to actually mark up the book, but I had the urge to double underline something on nearly every page.
The majority of the posts collected here relate to Covid (and later MPox), and how the experience of pandemic hits different for queer people. Herrera uses his study of our (mis) handling of HIV to shed light on how minority communities (queer, BIPOC, immigrant, poor) are left behind in governmental response to crisis.
But there's much, much more to this book---many more thought provoking and sometimes outrageously humorous ideas and connections that left me stunned, laughing, cheering....and most of all, thinking.
I wish that I had encountered these posts in real time to help me put those incredibly bizarre years into some kind of context as they were happening.
But having it all collected here to pour over and ruminate on is remarkable too. Plus---gorgeous lavender cover!
Thank you so much to Leo Herrera for putting these thoughts down and sharing them with the world.

[Andrea Vazquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of thoughts and posts from social media that provide social commentary, reflections, education and questions. Beautifully written.

[spoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

moments that jumped out (good). what I wanted was longer essays -- working out some of the flashes in the pan beyond a slogan or attempted rallying cry. i think the book def gets it more than the average person, but then also doesn't get it other ways -- usually a structural miss for me, a bit simplistic, investing people with a power they don't possess.

does manage to capture something of what was happening in 2020-2023, which is one reason it's not 1 star. "he's good at capturing a moment." odd how this feels so accurate to what was happening at the time, when I was not chronically online in the way these posts are; something about internet social media realities informing, shaping, melding into the real ones...

the book is pretty! the colors for this series are v nice. I like the font.

[December · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read on my iPad/Kindle, and I had to highlight so much of what Leo would say. I'll add this as one of my all-time favs, as well as perhaps the TOP read of 2025 as far as April goes. We'll see how I feel by the end of this year...

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal, retrospective collection of posts from one of my favorite queer voices.

[Nikolaj Tange Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Along with Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's The Freezer Door, this is probably the book I read with most passages I want to underline, post pictures of, and spray paint on the sides of skyscrapers.

It's about the isolation of Covid lockdown, the alienation of communication reduced to polarizing one-liners, and trying to overcome by filling the digital space with raw, unhinged honesty - with reflections on queer history, community, class, race, and disease.

This feels like writing born out of a need to connect, and that's why it feels so wonderfully connecting to read. Sometimes I wanna yell AMEN! other times I'm thinking, calm down Mary, but in the end, that's what makes this book of online text so profoundly human.