This is Erik Orrantia's second book, following the publication of Blue Tiles, and received the 2010 Lambda Literary Award in the Gay Romance category. I read it after reading The Equinox Convergence (also reviewed in this issue), so the delicacy of his perceptions, the aptness of his prose, were not a surprise.

What was a surprise was the stark dissimilarity between the two novels, as though they had been written by two different people. The publishing industry is going through a major transition period, shedding its old skin like a snake, and as it changes there has seemed to be a tendency to encourage writers to find a type of work that sells and then stay with it. While The Equinox Convergence carried story lines for four major and several minor characters, Normal Miguel follows only one, Miguel Hernández, through his first year as a recently graduated, novice teacher in a rural school.

The year is a time of growth not only for his confidence as a teacher, but also for his confidence as a man, and a gay one in a very conservative society. We see him dealing with unwanted advances, learning to navigate the social signals and the responsibilities of a very small village hours from anything he's ever known before, meeting and finally loving a man whose obligations nearly prevent any relationship between them. On the surface, this is a plain story; beneath the surface there is a world of intersecting associations that enrich the novel immeasurably. The subsidiary characters are vividly drawn, deftly individualized, while the main characters spring to life with compelling immediacy.

Through the entire telling, Mr. Orrantia's choice of words here is as finely attuned to the circumstances of his characters as it was in Equinox Convergence. The reader never feels manipulated; the language is so simply, deeply felt that it seems inevitable, like the voice of a great composer – it flows through the book with the limpid naturalness of water in a mountain stream.

One very small unhappiness I have with the book is the final chapter, which jumps forward with no warning to a point many years after the setting of the rest of the novel. I would like to have had a bit more explanation of the hero's circumstances in the intervening period, although the final scene is beautifully written.

I understand that Mr. Orrantia is working on his next novel. I am impatient for its appearance. Meanwhile, I have Normal Miguel on my electronic shelf, and I recommend it for our readers' shelves, as well.

Normal Miguel, by Erik Orrantia, 2010,
Bristlecone Pine Press, e-book, ISBN: 978-1-60722-019-0  ($6.99)
Cheyenne Publishing, print, ISBN: 978-0-9797773-9-4  ($13.99)

 

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Through the entire telling, Mr. Orrantia's choice of words here is as finely attuned to the circumstances of his characters as it was in Equinox Convergence. The reader never feels manipulated; the language is so simply, deeply felt that it seems inevitable, like the voice of a great composer – it flows through the book with the limpid naturalness of water in a mountain stream.