Lupita Aquino invites you to join her new book club\, La Comunidad Reads\, an author-inclusive club that aims to bui ld a space where Latine-authored books are magnified for all readers!
\ nFor this meeting of the La Comunidad Reads Book Club\, Lupita sits down with short st ory author Alejandro Varela to talk about his newest collection of short s tories The People Who Report More Stress. The interconnected stories \;use humor to addres s the impact of microaggressions\, racism and social stress factors on peo ple of color. This chronic stress can take a toll on your physical and men tal health and the best antidote is community and solidarity.
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A
lejandro Varela (he/him) is a writer based in New York. His debut novel\,
The Town of Babylon (2022)\, was published by Astra House and was a finali
st for the National Book Award. His work has appeared in The Point Magazin
e\, Georgia Review\, Boston Review\, Harper&rsquo\;s\, and The Offing\, am
ong others outlets. Varela is an editor-at-large of Apogee Journal. He has
a Master&rsquo\;s Degree in Public Health.
The People Who Report More Stress is a collection of interconnected stories brimming with the anxieties of people who retreat into themselves while living in the margins\, acutely a ware of the stresses that modern life takes upon the body and the body pol itic.
\nIn "Midtown-West Side Story\," lvaro\, a restaurant worker s truggling to support his family\, begins selling high-end designer clothes to his co-workers\, friends\, neighbors\, and the restaurant's regulars i n preparation for a move to the suburbs.
\n"The Man in 512" tracks M anny\, the childcare worker for a Swedish family\, as he observes the comi ngs and goings of an affluent co-op building\, all the while teaching the children Spanish through Selena's music catalog.
\n"Comrades" follow s a queer man with radical politics who just ended a long-term relationshi p and is now on the hunt for a life partner. With little tolerance for pol itical moderates\, his series of speed dates devolve into awkward confront ations that leave him wondering if his approach is the correct one.
\n< p>A collection of humorous\, sexy\, and highly neurotic tales about parent ing\, long-term relationships\, systemic and interpersonal racism\, and cl ass conflict from the author of The Town of Babylon \, The People Who Repo rt More Stress deftly and poignantly expresses the frustration of knowing the problems and solutions to our society's inequities but being unable to do anything about them.\n
La Comunidad Reads with Lupita Aquino is gene
rously supported by the DC Public Library Foundation.