ABSTRACT
Maria’s Secret Sister) (1989), a hermaphrodite models her singing career along the star image of the popular 1960s singer-actress referenced in the novel’s title. His short autobiography De cuerpo entero (Full Body) (1990) focuses on the formative role Mexican cinema played in shaping his identity during his adolescence. In En jirones (In Shreds) (1985) the diary genre is a strategic vehicle for exploring how the act of writing parallels the frustrated, obsessive romance between a gay man and his sexually confused partner. Zapata also translated into Spanish Adolfo Caminha’s nine teenth century Brazilian novel, Bom-Crioulo (1987).
