“Butterflies, my lover calls it, the art he places on my back. He locks his lips on each shoulder blade and sucks the skin, leaving deep red, almost purple hickeys that he says resemble wings. One butterfly on the left side and one on the right, and then he works his way down to the middle of the spine: a trail of love bites. He perfects his craft over months, after that first accidental mark on a vodka and crystal meth night.”
-Rigoberto Gonzalez, Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mairposa
These last few words in the first paragraph of the American Book Award winning Butterfly Boy are the ones that draw me in. Vodka and crystal meth night? I suspected, correctly, that Gonzalez’ book must be real. A little more than a month ago, when I was waiting in line for Alison Bechdel to sign a copy of her graphic novel Fun Home at the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honors Society Convention, I received an email from Rigoberto. He wrote that he was accepting the invitation extended by our chapter—Nu Theta—to speak at a Literature for Life Week Event.
With the support of the Department of English, the Department of Latina/Latino Studies, the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, LGBTIQ Programs and Services, the Division of Diversity and Inclusion, Sigma Tau Delta was able to host Rigoberto Gonzalez on April 8, 2014 for a public reading. While on campus, Rigoberto visited a Latina/Latino Studies classroom and recorded a segment for New Letters on the Air. A book display promoting his visit appeared on the first floor of the Miller-Nichols Library.
— Joseph Salazar