{"product_id":"toxic-masculinity-the-misadventures-of-a-barrio-boy-paperback","title":"Toxic Masculinity: The Misadventures of a Barrio Boy - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eFernando Albert Salinas\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eAlexis Salinas\u003c\/b\u003e (Cover Design by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book is a requiem. The original title of this book was \u003cem\u003eThe World Is a Barrio\u003c\/em\u003e. The idea was to pay homage to the band, WAR. The song, \"The World Is a Ghetto\" inspired me to see the world differently. It encouraged me to see the world beyond the one I lived in. And, the world I was raised in was one of gangs, sex, drugs, violence, poverty, systemic\/structural racism, education inequity, health disparity, food insecurity, patriotism, and death. A ghetto. A barrio. For whatever reason, so many in the world want to forget this world existed and still does. Some cancel-culture cancels culture. I used the title for my second novel instead.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen, I wanted to title the book, \u003cem\u003eThe Pinche Piñata\u003c\/em\u003e. This title was a metaphor-a play on the expression, \"Mi vida loca.\" It was the original title of my second novel. I shopped the manuscript back in 2011. No one was ready to publish a book that examined transgender identity development and gender dysphoria. No one wanted to watch a boy grow up in the barrio and survive his machismo family. Or, maybe it was because less than 10 percent of the fiction-authors published are people of color.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe meaning of the title, \u003cem\u003eThe Pinche Piñata\u003c\/em\u003e, was intended to describe how my life felt. I have been a piñata. Life was the stick. That stick beat me again and again until I finally broke. And, that was when all the good stuff came pouring out-everyone ran up to take a piece. However, I felt uncomfortable cursing every time I told someone the title. It is not something I do very often. So, I called my daughter. She says, \"Dad, your work is about the damage of being nurtured in an environment of toxic masculinity.\" She says, \"How about, Toxic Masculinity?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnother proud-dad moment. Of course . . . It was not life I survived, you survived, he survived, she survived, they survived, we survived. It was toxic masculinity.\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eThis book is a collection of poems based upon the lives of those that I have grieved, loved, feared, respected, and survived.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 128\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.32 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 15, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42098242846855,"sku":"9781953447821","price":17.28,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/5f409b45b1cdcffe69ece39771134175.webp?v=1732360885","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/toxic-masculinity-the-misadventures-of-a-barrio-boy-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}