Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 1 January 2003, vol. 80, no. 1, pp. 83-104(22)
Gay liberation after the death of Franco.
"This essay examines the novel’s representation of sexual dissidence as a form of ’anarchic’ revolution. By pointing out the limits of sexual dissidence to overturn psychic structures of desire, the novel engages in a compelling critique of the limitations of sexual revolutionary practices to overcome the ideological construction of homosexuality as a stigmatized desire. The essay concludes by arguing that Ferna`ndez’s novel questions the continued ambivalence around sexual identity as a strategy of liberation - which some critics have interpreted as a ’queer’ posture - an ambivalence that continues to influence the construction of gay and lesbian sexualities in contemporary Spain. "