#NuevasPáginas: "a love letter to the Bay"
with Tomas Moniz author of 'All Friends Are Necessary': A Novel
Hey Book Franz,
You would think with Hispanic Heritage Month upon us that I would be in your inbox with author interviews every day. But around here, since we amplify and spotlight Latino/e/x and or Hispanic authors all year long — I gave myself a bit of a break to start a video-based challenge instead (because clearly I don’t understand the meaning of a ‘break’ 😫). On TikTok and Instagram I am posting a video every single day during Hispanic Heritage Month recommending a Latine book I’ve read before that I feel like you need to read too. I’m on day 12 and it has been so much fun.
Still, I couldn’t let the month pass without popping up here with an author spotlight/interview and to share with you that tomorrow, Saturday S,eptember 28th at 3 PM in the Adult Learning section (2nd floor) of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library, La Comunidad Reads will get to welcome Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, author of Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders, and Deborah Paredez, author of American Diva —who both explore the impact of culture through their books!
This in-person event is free and open to the public and thanks for the DC Public Library Foundation — there will be free copies of both books for folks that attend. It’s first come first serve so make sure to get there a little early. And registered is not required but it is encouraged I hope to see you tomorrow for what will be the final La Comunidad Reads event for 2024! And for folks who want to join us but can’t in person —this discussion will be available virtually via DCPL’s YouTube Channel.
In bookish love,
P.S. Before jump into our interview for today, the publisher for today’s special author feature sent me two free copies of the book to giveaway to two lucky winners here :) If you want to win a FREE copy of the book featured in today’s interview all you have to do is the following: comment that you are interested and would like to be entered below (one comment/entry per person).
It’s that simple :) however if you want to increase your chances of winning a copy - share this interview by either forwarding the email to a friend or on social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok - basically wherever you social media!) Once you’ve done that add a second comment below to let me know you’ve shared the interview as well. Good luck and happy reading <3
#NuevasPáginas is a space that aims to amplify and spotlight Hispanic/Latine/x authors with newly published books. The goal is to connect readers to their next favorite Hispanic/Latine/x authored book through a mini casual get-to-know-the-book-and-author interview. So please help me connect to more readers. So that together we can continue to build the love/support of Latine literature!
Our special guest author for today’s issue is…Tomas Moniz author of All Friends Are Necessary!
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
The very first scene I wrote was in Benders’s, this beautiful, grimey metal bar on South Van Ness in the Mission, and from there the ,characters move through the Bay Area, the cities and neighborhoods, the parks and corner stores. Right after the book was published, Bad Bunny showed up one night to play pool…maybe he read it! Anyway, I wanted to ground the setting in as much local specificity as I could, especially since recently there’s been such a negative narrative about The City and its “doom loop.” In fact, I call the book a love letter to the Bay. If you’re from here, you’ll appreciate it all. And if you aren’t familiar with the area, you’ll come to love it.
Tell me about your book without telling me about your book - share any literary inspirations behind your book! If there are none, the gap you wanted to fill in the literary canon with your book
Think biking at sunset with your homies through city streets. Think laying in the grass with a group of friends telling jokes or reassuring each other that things will be okay. Think little kids hitting piñatas and Mission burritos and skinny-dipping on the summer solstice. While writing this book, especially because it’s set in San Francisco's Mission District, I considered other Chicanx writers who also wrote about that area like The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo or The Mixquiahuala Letters by Ana Castillo. As the setting shifts to Oakland, I considered Tommy Orange’s There There. But the one book I had on my desk: Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon.
What are two central themes in your book that you connect with the most and why?
Joy and grief! In fact, I playfully described the book as a joyful novel about grief. I started writing it at the beginning of Trump‘s administration desperately looking for a way to move forward, to remain in community with others rather than retreating away to avoid everything. I wanted a creative project that reminded me that joy and pleasure and kindness are key factors in survival, in healing.
If a book was home, where would your home be?
Literally speaking, my book would be a home in the vibrant neighborhoods of East Oakland with its fruit vendors on various street corners, paleta carts ringing their bells as they stroll sidewalks, cars driving a bit too fast, people shouting their hellos across streets; metaphorically, the book is like the house next door to you, a place you can stop by anytime for some coffee and chisme.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be?
In many ways the book is an ode to music from early new wave to 80’s metal to 90’s alt-rock. There’s a Korn concert and a sweaty pit; a Hole concert at the Fillmore brings the two main characters together. Here’s a playlist and essay I created for a Largehearted Boy and I had such a good time writing it.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
One of my favorite scenes in the book is this slightly racy scene involving spaghetti with lots of marinara sauce and a glass of red wine, but a cheesy quesadilla and a Tecate with lime and Tajin by any body of water would suffice.
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
This is such a fraught question for me. So I read almost no Latinx Lit until I enrolled in a feminist studies class my freshman year of college and discovered Gloria Anzaldúa specifically, as well as the book This Bridge Called My Back. As a mixed race child growing up in Hawaii, Anzaldúa’s advocacy for self-acceptance, for embracing all the parts of her identity, all her “voices,” even the contradictory ones, changed my life. However, when I eagerly began to take Chicano Studies classes, I encountered a different kind of attitude that espoused a more rigid, static sense of identity, as if being Latine meant one thing only (one of the reasons I use all the terms: Chicano/Latinx/e). Eventually, I discovered through the help of friends and fellow artists, writers like Michael Nava, Ron Arias, Erica Lopez, thinkers like José Esteban Muñoz, artists like Félix González-Torres and Yoland Lopez.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
I’ve scaled back my presence on social media since the book launch but I’m still active on Instagram: tomas_should_be_writing; however, my favorite form of correspondence is writing letters. PO Box 3555, Berkeley California, 94703. Write me, I promise I’ll write back.
Thank you to Tomas Moniz for taking the time to chat with me about his book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) #SupportLatinxLit!
Tomas Moniz is a Latinx writer living in Oakland, CA. His debut novel, Big Familia, was a finalist for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway, the LAMBDA, and the Foreward Indies Awards. He edited the popular Rad Dad and Rad Families anthologies. He is the recipient of the prestigious SF Literary Arts Foundation's 2016 Award and the 2020 Artist Affiliate for Headlands Center for Arts. He currently teaches at Berkeley City College and the Antioch MFA program.
Synopsis for All Friends Are Necessary:
In this "tender and open-hearted novel," (Nina LaCour, author of Yerba Buena) Tomas Moniz--a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway and Lambda Literary awards--delivers a commanding new story about the power of friendship, community, and the families we create for ourselves.
Efren "Chino" Flores has just moved back to the Bay Area from Seattle, jumping from sublet to sublet. In Washington, he was an adored middle school biology teacher with a loving wife, and a child on the way--that is, until a stunning loss upended his life. Now he's working temp jobs, terrified of commitment, and struggling to put himself back out into the world.
But there to nurture Chino is a coterie of new and old friends and lovers who form a protective web around him. Closest to him are Metal Matt, a red-haired metalhead with a soft spot for Courtney Love and a rangy dog named Sabbath, and Mike and Kay, a couple whose literary edge is matched only by the success of their secret OnlyFans account. As Chino begins to date more men and women--and to open himself up again to love--his bonds with those around him grow both rich and profound. Like a fern blooming in the wake of a forest fire, new life comes after even the most devastating upheaval.
With gorgeous, heartrending detail and a seemingly infinite catalogue of tender, unexpected interactions, Tomas Moniz has created a striking mosaic of desire and belonging. An anthem to both queer and platonic love, All Friends Are Necessary evinces the wonder of friendship and the joy of giving yourself up to the essential force of community.
Hi Lupita! I'm interested in winning a copy of this book.
Who are you on TikTok? Can't find you!