Digging to Wonderland : memory pieces
(Book)

"David Trinidad's past is rich fodder for a collection of memory pieces that wind the reader through the underbelly of 1960s and '70s America-and Southern California, more specifically. In Trinidad's recollections, the proximity to Hollywood both glamorizes and condemns the bustling suburbs. Stains of the Manson murders and adoration for The Boys in the Band are documented with the same care as fascinations with Barbie dolls and twelve-cent comic books. The struggles of an awkward gay teenager meld into the weighty anecdotes of a young man who befriends famous writers, acts as a historian for familial legacies, and confronts the limitations of desire. The title piece, "Digging to Wonderland," presents a slice of childhood as a young David Trinidad, with his longtime friend Nancy Demario, tunnel into the ground of her backyard. Ultimately, we witness a childhood spent under the threat of annihilation: "So the 'twinkly lights' in the hills above Chatsworth were actually missiles armed with nuclear warheads. And without knowing it, I grew up under their spell.""--,Provided by publisher.