Jess’s Reviews > Anita de Monte Laughs Last > Status Update

Does Xochitl Gonzalez realise she's implicitly made the art establishment's erasure of Ana/Anita less about the art establishment and its emphasis on 'western tradition' and all the racism/classism/sexism that encompasses and more about the consequences of ANITA'S OWN ACTIONS because fucking hell

omfg this author WILL NOT STOP crowing about how fat the villain (the Carl-Andre-in-all-but-name character) is. Just keeps hammering it in as a signifier for him being pathetic and self-indulgent and past his prime, and it's far from the biggest issue with this novel, but what the FUCK lady?

I really want to push through to the end of this book, but ugh. Knowing now that the 'Anita' storyline is purely a dramatisation of Ana Mendieta's death with the names changed, it's hard to feel anything but disgust. And while there are good elements to the Raquel storyline, it's also fundamentally a paint-by-numbers Very Special Episode, I already know all the beats; I know how it's going to end. It's boring.

woof, this one has me feeling conflicted! Really compelling read, audiobook performances are excellent, has a lot to say about the art world and racism and misogyny and classism... but I can fully understand why Ana Mendieta's family is upset by this book. Because it's not 'inspired by' Ana, it's Ana fanfiction - borrows her entire biography and career without so much as naming her in the acknowledgements.