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UID:Indybay-73153
SEQUENCE:73153
CREATED:20050810T043700Z
DESCRIPTION:  Gay Asian American Author Debuts New Novel  (San Francisco, CA) - 
 Building on his own experiences in the United States, Rafaelito V. Sy 
 writes about the journey of Filipinos to the US in his new novel Potato 
 Queen (ISBN: 1928662064) coming out in July 2005 from Palari Publishing.    
  Potato Queen starts off in Manila, Philippines, where a young Juancho Chu 
 is living vicariously through reruns of US television sitcoms and dreaming 
 of a life in the less oppressive land of America. As a young man, Juancho 
 makes his way to San Francisco to establish a life for himself in the 
 United States. While working at a travel agency ironically selling tours to 
 "exotic" locales like the Philippines, Juancho works toward his US 
 citizenship.     It's not long before he begins making friends and 
 discovering the gay nightlife that San Francisco has to offer. Along comes 
 Gerald, a white man who is attracted to Asian men - a "rice queen." Juancho 
 finds that he is usually attracted to white men, thus dubbed a "potato 
 queen." Juancho and Gerald seem to be perfect for each other, but 
 complications along the way include a variety of very willing Asian men and 
 a surprisingly down-to-earth white porn star.  Will Juancho and Gerald 
 remain "just friends?" Will Juancho secure the US citizenship he has always 
 dreamed of? Will he actually meet the porn star he used to watch on the big 
 screen in dark movie houses?   Rafaelito V. Sy was born and raised in 
 Manila, Philippines. He has also lived in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Boston, 
 and New York. He earned his B. A. in English from Tufts University and his 
 M. F. A. in Creative Writing from Cornell University, where he taught the 
 personal essay and creative writing.  He currently lives in San Francisco 
 where he does volunteer work for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.    With 
 his story, Mr. Sy hopes to shine a much-needed focus on the process of 
 becoming a US citizen and learning to accept your own truths. Sy says, "I 
 hope this book reaches out to others who feel alone in a new country."  
 Among his other writing projects is a yet unpublished novel set in the 
 Philippines tentatively entitled Daughter of a Nation.  This novel is about 
 the Spanish and American colonial influence on a young woman during the 
 last decade of the Marcos regime.   Rafaelito Sy will be conducting free 
 book signings and interviews on a national book tour.  His first tour will 
 begin in San Francisco at Books Inc, 2275 Market Street, Tues, August 9th 
 at 7:30pm and Barnes & Nobles Fisherman’s Wharf, 2550 Taylor Street, Sat, 
 August 13th at 1pm.  \n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/08/09/73153.php
SUMMARY:Author of "Potato Queen" does Book Signing & Reading
LOCATION:Barnes & Nobles   Fisherman's Wharf  2550 Taylor Street  San Francisco, CA 
 94113
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/08/09/73153.php
DTSTART:20050813T200000Z
DTEND:20050813T210000Z
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