Holly Dykstra on Sex as a Political Condition

Dykstra’s Book Review of Sex as a Political Condition, A Border Novel by Carlos Nicolas Flores

“When I first picked up the book, I was skeptical but curious. With a title like Sex as a Political Condition and a cover depicting a semi-automatic rifle—attached to which is a woman’s erotically extended leg adorned with a bright red stiletto—it’s difficult to avoid being intrigued by Carlos Nicolas Flores’ border novel. So, I opened Sex with the usual voracity with which I approach a new book. I made it through eighty pages before I closed the book, disgusted with the ubiquity of tits and ass and boners. That was three years ago. Two months ago, I finished my new favorite Mexican American novel.”

Dykstra’s MLA Conference Paper

“Flores’ 2015 novel transports readers to fictional Escandon, a representation of border-town Laredo, during 1980s Cold War America. The first chapter introduces us to both Honoré del Castillo, the story’s protagonist, and his attempts to negotiate the concept of manhood in a world prevalent with nihilism, socio-political upheaval, and—what we later discover—mockery. In the novel’s context, Honoré represents the remnants of man. The decline of the image of man as hero, the slaughter of millions of men in wars, the rise of feminism and attack on patriarchy, and the ever-present threat of impending nuclear attacks in Cold War America leaves men (and women) grasping for meaning and identity. For Honoré, this means answering two questions: 1. Quien es Honoré? and 2. Que significa honoré?”