 First edition cover | |
| Author | Xochitl Gonzalez |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Flatiron Books |
Publication date | January 4, 2022 |
| ISBN | 1-250-78617-7 |
Olga Dies Dreaming is the debut novel of American writer Xochitl Gonzalez. It was published by Flatiron Books in January 2022.
The idea for the novel occurred to Gonzalez on the Q train in New York City while reading the book The Battle for Paradise by Canadian author Naomi Klein and listening to the song "Rican Beach" by Hurray for the Riff Raff. [1] After leaving the train, Gonzalez went to a Starbucks location, where she wrote the basic concept of the plot on a napkin. [1] The book's title alludes to the Pedro Pietri poem "Puerto Rican Obituary". [2]
While writing, Gonzalez eschewed explaining aspects of Puerto Rican culture for a broader audience, drawing inspiration from the "[...] inside baseball" jokes in Paul Beatty's novel The Sellout . [3]
According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received mostly "Positive" and "Rave" reviews. [4] In a review in The Washington Post, Ron Charles wrote, "rarely does a novel, particularly a debut novel, contend so powerfully and so delightfully with such a vast web of personal, cultural, political and even international imperatives." [5] Kirkus Reviews called the book "atmospheric, intelligent, and well informed: an impressive debut." [6]
Hulu ordered a pilot for a show based on the novel in early 2021. [7] Gonzalez and Alfonso Gómez-Rejón are producing the pilot which will star Aubrey Plaza as Olga and Ramon Rodriguez as her brother, Prieto. [8] [9]
Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistic purity". One of Jiménez's most important contributions to modern poetry was his advocacy of the concept of "pure poetry".
El Grito de Lares, also referred to as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, the Lares rebellion, or the Lares revolution, was the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. The revolt was planned by Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis. It began on September 23, 1868 in the town of Lares, for which it is named. It spread rapidly to various revolutionary cells throughout the island.
Lola Rodríguez de Tió,, was the first Puerto Rican-born woman poet to establish herself a reputation as a great poet throughout all of Latin America. A believer in women's rights, she was also committed to the abolition of slavery and the independence of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Luis Rafael Sánchez, a.k.a. "Wico" Sánchez is a Puerto Rican essayist, novelist, and short-story author who is widely considered one of the island's most outstanding contemporary playwrights. Possibly his best known play is La Pasión según Antígona Pérez, a tragedy based on the life of Olga Viscal Garriga.
José Rivera is a playwright and the first Puerto Rican screenwriter to be nominated for an Academy Award for the movie, The Motorcycle Diaries.
Puerto Rican literature is the body of literature produced by writers of Puerto Rican descent. It evolved from the art of oral storytelling. Written works by the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico were originally prohibited and repressed by the Spanish colonial government.
Two of the least-known roles played by Puerto Rican women and women of Puerto Rican descent have been that of soldier and that of revolutionary. This is a brief account of some the Puerto Rican women who have participated in military actions as members of either a political revolutionary movement or of the Armed Forces of the United States.
Giannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include Empire of Dreams (1988), Yo-Yo Boing! (1998) and United States of Banana (2011).
Edgardo Vega Yunqué was a Puerto Rican novelist and short story writer, who also used the Americanized pen name Ed Vega.
Aubrey Christina Plaza is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), played Julie Powers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023), and featured as the Shadow King and Lenny Busker in the FX drama series Legion (2017–2019). In 2022, she starred in the second season of the HBO anthology series The White Lotus, for which she received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is an American film and television director. He made his directorial film debut with the slasher film The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014). He has since directed the coming of age film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), and the historical drama The Current War (2017).
Yo-Yo Boing! (1998) is a postmodern novel in English, Spanish, and Spanglish by Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi. The cross-genre work is a structural hybrid of poetry, political philosophy, musical, manifesto, treatise, memoir, and drama. The work addresses tensions between Anglo-American and Hispanic-American cultures in the United States.
María Libertad Gómez Garriga was a Puerto Rican educator, community leader, and politician. She is one of the twelve women honored with a plaque in "La Plaza en Honor a la Mujer Puertorriqueña", in San Juan.
Xochitl Gomez is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, she began acting at age five, performing in local musical theater productions and student films. Gomez made her professional debut in 2018 in Raven's Home. She went on to star in Shadow Wolves (2019), for which she won a Young Artist Award, and Netflix's critically acclaimed The Baby-Sitters Club (2020). In 2022, she garnered further recognition and critical praise for her portrayal of America Chavez in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Xochitl Gonzalez is an American writer, screenwriter, and producer. In 2022, she published her debut novel Olga Dies Dreaming which became a New York Times Best Seller on January 30, 2022.