City of God consists of fictional short stories and poems. The title of the book derives from Saint Augustine's City of God, published in 426 AD.[3][8] The book is thematically broken into three groups of three.[8] Each group depicts different ages and phases of a single life lived by different characters.[8] The first three stories "Indulgences", "Reynaldo", and "Chilvalry" talk about issues of origin. That is, how childhood experiences shape "sexual and gender identification".[8] Furthermore, these first three stories depict the Chicano family and growing up queer in Los Angeles.[6] The next group, "My Aztlan: White Place", "Unprotected", and "Holy" speak about the difficulties that arise when homosexuality intersects with the Chicano self such as familial opposition.[8] The last three stories "Baptism", "Letting Go", and "Sight" discusses the transformation the Chicano body undergoes as it faces the effects of a ravaging disease.[8] The book, Rafael Pérez-Torres states, that the stories trace the "development and transformation of a new mestizo subject, one forced to accommodate an ethnic identity and experience with an alienating but crucial sexual identity".[8] Overall, City of God (1994) provides its readers a better understand of the historical background of AIDS in the United States during the 1980-1990s.[7] Beyond that, City of God (1994) presents its readers a unique perspective of gay history through the Chicano Movement.[7]
AIDS and Los Angeles
The book not only depicts the characters' experiences shaped by their surroundings but also readers see that characters "merge with the city."[8] For Cuadros (fictional character), the city is his Aztlán, or Mecca.[3] Although Aztlán refers to the mythical Aztec homeland that the Chicano Movement in the 1960-1970s to ascribed to as a place of communal belonging, Cuadros paints Aztlán, or Los Angeles, as a dystopia.[3] In the story, any representations of Los Angeles are analogous to that of the character's AIDS-infected body.[3] For example, "I look like the city, / only bare bones of what I used to be."[3][4] Los Angeles is also portrayed through Saint Augustine's "earthly city of eternal misery."[3] The queer community in Los Angeles is also depicted to reflect the dominant culture of the white middle class.[3][7][8]
