Description
Dive into Hollywood ‘without the frills’ with Gigi Bella’s exploration of the rising TV and film industry in her home state of New Mexico.
Bella invites the reader into her world as a chicana woman and emerging actress. With an earnest and urgent voice, Bella dissects the experiences and treatment of Hispanic people societally and in TV and film–juxtaposed with the eagerness with which the industry moves in on Hispanic communities in New Mexico. without the frills is a beautiful and poignant look at the real people who make entertainment possible–the sorrows, joys, and messy complexities of real lives. So grab your popcorn and prepare to laugh, cry, and rage with Gigi Bella’s dynamic, moving collection.
Praise for Gigi Bella
Without the Frills is Hollywood with no make-up on. It is an unflinching critique of the gray area between identity and performance. Reminding us that our joy is not a liability, Gigi Bella is making a scene… and you’re invited.
– Hakim Bellamy, Inaugural Poet Laureate of Albuquerque
Without the Frills brought tears to my eyes and landed right en mi corazón. Being inside Gigi’s brain feels like when Dorothy’s life suddenly shifts to color. You want more – and you really don’t want to go back to just black and white.
– Jennifer Sánchez, Broadway Actress in Real Women Have Curves, West Side Story
Anchored by a lineage of Chicana women who died being fully themselves or perhaps not themselves at all, Without the Frills asks, What is the line between the roles we’re assigned and the roles we play?
– Noel Quiñones, author of Orange
Gigi Bella writes poems that mis primos would love. These poems are sometimes biting, sometimes hilarious, and always alive with an energy that makes me want to reread them again and again. I am thankful for Without the Frills.
-José Olivarez, author of PROMISES OF GOLD
About Gigi Bella
gigi bella has been ranked the tenth best woman poet in the world (WOWPS 2017), the two time Project X Bronx Poetry Champion and a National Poetry Slam Champion. She currently has 100,000+ views on YouTube with mega… MORE