One of the best things to happen to me since the novel came out was being contacted by a writer I adore, Edgardo Vega Yunque. His symphonic novel-in-four-movements, No Matter How Much You Promise to Cook or Pay the Rent You Blew It Cauze Bill Bailey Ain’t Never Coming Home Again (FSG, 2003) is among my favorites. I’m glad I read it after finishing a draft of Mexican High, as its storyline also involves a girl’s journey to find a father she never knew, and she, too, has an unusual name, Vidamia, Spanish for “my life.” (And there’s a minor character named Milagros, which I hadn’t known was actually used as a name.) I was simultaneously intimidated and inspired.

So the other day, when I got an e-mail from Edgardo Vega Yunque inviting me to read with him at The Medicine Show Theater I was again inspired and, yes, intimidated. I won’t say too much right now, but from what I’ve gathered, this is going to be very different from your average book event! Come check it out if you can.

Vega Yunque’s new book, a satirical novel called Rebecca Horowitz: Puerto Rican Sex Freak, comes out this month. A Park Slope Jewish girl converts to - yup - Puerto Rican. I can’t wait to read it.

Got another review, from the San Francisco Chronicle. Margot Kaminski, a freelance writer for the paper, offered her take on the novel. Not as good as some of the reviews I’ve gotten, but that’s the way it goes…

“Monroy essentially becomes our tour-guide through one of the largest cities in the world while aptly capturing the uncertainty and excitement of the teenage years with her incredible protagonist, Mila. Heart-wrenching and captivating, the novel is sure to be talked about this summer.”

Read Kris Liaugminas’ article in the Coral Gables Gazette

(Regretfully, I took no photos last night, so I had to steal, I mean, borrow, this image from Curbed).

I’m getting down to my last New York City events for the hardcover publication of MEXICAN HIGH…This week brought the National Arts Club, an incredible old-New York building on Gramercy Park, and last night, further uptown in a different park, the Word for Word series at Bryant. They have an outdoor reading room, a beautiful and inspiring space for books under a canopy of trees. Sue Shapiro, Alice Feiring, Dana Jennings, Karen Siplin, agent Elizabeth Kaplan and I talked about our books and offered our advice to aspiring authors.

This Tuesday, July 1st, tune in to hear me on The Leonard Lopate Show at 1pm, when I might actually observe mother’s advice of showing my more serious side. This wonderful (and, as I’ve found of late, addictive) conversation show is broadcast online, too.

Then, at seven that evening, I’m reading solo at Barnes & Noble on 82nd and Broadway. And that’s it for New York for now. Next I’m off to Boston and Florida! (Two Jack Kerouac-trod locales…and he spent time in Mexico City, too. I’ve always thought that my life eerily parallels his in terms of place. And his genius musical counterpart, David Amram even came to my book party!)

The highlight of last night was a penthouse party on the Bowery. A friend is moving out of her apartment, so it was a goodbye of sorts to an incredible, airy, luscious, unforgettable space. THIS is why I live in New York, I thought, whilst sipping rose and taking in 360-degree views of the City. I finally introduced myself to Malcolm Gladwell and also got to talk with Nathaniel Rich, author of THE MAYOR’S TONGUE, an inventive debut novel. On the elevator ride back down to street-level reality, I met a girl named Jen who happens to live on my very block in Brooklyn, so we shared a cab to Freddy’s, the local not-really-a-dive dive bar on Dean Street, which I love and hadn’t been to in months. I had to wake Ethan up around 3:30am to spill all the details of the night. And the WSJ says I’ve already done a lifetime of partying (if you click the link, scroll down to view 3rd entry) Ha! I still got it in me.

Happy weekend to all…

Twelve people were crushed to death during a stampede reportedly instigated by police at the Mexico City nightclub News Divine. The reason for the raid: checking for underage drinking and drug use. CNN’s report states that “About 150 nightclubs in Mexico City are believed to sell alcohol and drugs to minors, authorities said. One security specialist estimated there are many more.”

There’s no need for a “security specialist” to state this widely-known fact about Mexico City.

The legal drinking age in Mexico is 18, but it’s true that practically no club or bar pays attention to this, and, during my four years of high school there, it seemed to cause little to no problem among my peers at the time. In fact, it was one of the things that taught me responsibility. Not to mention that, since alcohol was so readily available, there was nothing special or “cool” about being drunk. We’d have a few drinks and take a taxi or metro ride home, or if a friend with a driver were there, the driver would make sure everyone got around safely. Underage drinking is more a “problem” in the U.S. than in Mexico.

No one at this News club (I’ve never been there) died from underage drinking or drug use that night. Instead, seven minors and three police officers were “fatally crushed or asphyxiated” in the raid that went wrong when police blocked the club’s exits and caused a stampede. Also, thirty women were asked to get naked to be photographed following the incident. What?!?! The proposed solution: “stricter laws and less corruption” in granting club permits. Maybe less police corruption?

This may be“Typical Mexico City” (see p. 297) in that it isn’t really — sadly — surprising or shocking. If I had a teenage kid, I’d rather he or she partake in underage drinking for a night than end up senselessly dead.

Since I noticed a videocam lurking during the reading, I decided to see if a webcast had been put up. (I think it will go up here.)

But the best news I found on BookCourt’s website: Mexican High as a BookCourt Best Seller, coming in at #5 on the hardcover fiction list!

Boston edition

Coming soon: a new blog, right here on the front page, covering literature, news, and all kinds of other yet-to-be-determined musings and things. I will still include book reviews, new clips, and the usual, but have decided to expand this website to for your reading pleasure. (I hope).

First post going up tomorrow.

“Monroy…marvelously captures modern Mexico City” –Elle magazine
Click here, then scroll down to read the review…I’m just after Salman Rushdie

James Frey calls Mexican High “really entertaining, incredibly well done, almost too good to have been written by someone her age”

The Villager profile by Erasmo Guerra also appears in Chelsea Now

“Liza Monroy, wise beyond her years, brilliantly portrays the highs and lows and loves of school life, the episodes we’ve all experienced and never forget. Spirited, harrowing, and utterly compelling, Monroy’s captivating voice will be with you long after you’ve finished reading.” –Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

“Monroy’s absorbing view of jet-setting Mexican teens raises the deepest questions about how young people piece together their cultural and personal identities and move with confidence into the adult world.” –Booklist

A “pungent characterization of Mexico City, where political assassinations and bribery are commonplace in a 12th grader’s life.” –Kirkus Reviews

“It’s really refreshing to find an author who speaks honestly to the reader, doesn’t judge, and is on your side. Liza Monroy, the author of Mexican High, is that rare type of writer.” –Liza Darwin, ELLEgirl
Read full review