Giannina Braschi - Empire of Dreams

Oh, the things that happen to men in New York! Oh, the things that happen to women in New York! Bravo! Bravo!

THE END of this scene.

And THE END of another daily episode that I live in New York.

Signed: The Narrator

Everyone says that truths are lies. Everyone says that lies are true. But I’m the only one who knows that I’m alone writing another cheap illusion. And with a tear in my eye, with a tear that gives me away, I laugh at the irony — writing The Intimate Diary of Solitude really takes its toll on me.

Her name was Anna Mayo. It took her a while to figure out how to become a part of The Intimate Diary of Solitude . But she seized the perfect opportunity. An ad appeared in The Intimate Diary of Solitude ’s newspaper. WANTED: journalist to write a column on the Queen of Beauty, Charm, and Coquetry. Anna Mayo immediately called Uriberto Eisensweig and told him that she’d apply for the position. Uriberto Eisensweig owned the newspaper and wanted his favorite girlfriend, Mariquita, to be crowned the Queen of Beauty, Charm, and Coquetry. I admit it’s true, but I wouldn’t put it in writing — says Uriberto. It must be painstakingly planned so that no one knows that she is our pick. Mariquita Samper had to lose 20 pounds. She developed a sweet tooth after having played Berta Singerman. The newspaper and magazine photos, as well as Anna Mayo’s chronicles detailing her incredible beauty and extraordinary grace, all pointed out that Mariquita was a bit chubby. To improve her looks, she dyed her hair red and had fake freckles surgically implanted on her cheeks. Mariquita definitely looks like a charm queen with that red hair and those wonderful freckles — wrote Anna Mayo over and over again. Burning the candle at both ends, Anna Mayo spent day and night publicizing Mariquita’s beauty, and day and night Mariquita radiated coquetry. She laughed all day and all night long. Men stopped to stare. But she kept her distance. In order to become the Queen of Beauty, Charm, and Coquetry, she had to be alone. That’s what the reign of beauty’s solitude was all about. It wasn’t hard to seduce the readers of The Intimate Diary of Solitude . Anna Mayo and Uriberto took care of that. Reviews appeared on Mariquita’s remarkable versatility. You have to overlook her little defects. After all, she can afford the few extra pounds. Besides, you can’t blame Mariquita’s beauty for the weight of Berta’s solitude. Suddenly, everyone bowed to her in reverence. She was proclaimed — Her Majesty, the Queen. Anna Mayo was also proclaimed — Journalist of the Year. The Intimate Diary of Solitude was the most widely read newspaper. And Uriberto, in his role as the owner, made millions. They met at the Narrator’s house to celebrate their triumph. It was sensational. Overnight, Berta Singerman and Uriberto Samper’s beauty and popularity flourished. But an enormous burden of solitude followed their fame. They were worried. They were accomplices. Backstage they reconsidered everything. They bounced it around. They didn’t like it. It looked too much like reality. There is no queen in this story. Mariquita stepped down from her throne. Uriberto confessed he wasn’t in love with her. Anna lost her job at the newspaper. Something is missing here — said the Narrator. You don’t know how to pretend. What’s wrong with Mariquita being proclaimed the Queen of Beauty, Charm, and Coquetry? Nothing’s wrong, Narrator, but I don’t want to be the Queen of Solitude. The Narrator dropped the curtain on this episode, stamped it cancelled , and scribbled out this fragment of The Intimate Diary of Solitude in black ink.

It was all a fraud — declared other newspapers, as they slung the mud at Mariquita and Uriberto. Everybody knows how rumors get around. You don’t have to search the world over to know that it’s all cheap talk, but it really takes its toll — said Anna Mayo in one of her chronicles. Mariquita had to pay a steep price to become a beauty queen. Let’s not talk about Berta Singerman’s forfeiting her American citizenship. Not to mention the truth about The Things That Happen to Men in New York ! What a scandal it was to find out that Uriberto was Mariquita! Even poor Berta Singerman, who had loved him so much, though that she gave him too much love and too much passion only for him to become Mariquita. True, Mariquita won the prize for beauty, charm, and coquetry. But it cost her a fortune. She had to pay in freckles, and now she can’t dye her hair black. That was just another piece of gossip that rained on Mariquita’s glory. Even now, a while later, people still talk of Uriberto and Berta’s daughter. They wonder if she is anything like Mariquita Samper. That’s another story in The Intimate Diary of Solitude . That’s another theatrical scene. Now they’re saying that Mariquita is the love child of Uriberto and Berta’s scandalous affair. She had to lose her innocence. She dresses like a goody-goody. She dresses like a sweet-sixteen. But a playboy seduces her. And Mariquita, lily of the valley, has lost her virginity — again! It was Uriberto, Uriberto the playboy — wrote Anna Mayo in one of her gossip columns. In no time, gossip was rolling like a snowball. Uriberto first took Berta as his lover, and then he took his own daughter, who is also named Mariquita Samper! But I thought Uriberto was Mariquita. But it turns out Uriberto is Mariquita’s father and that Mariquita is not Mariquita. It’s just another piece of gossip running around New York. Even history repeats itself. Berta had a daughter named Mariquita. And Mariquita had a son named Uriberto, who was a professor before he became Mariquita. Then Mariquita became Berta Singerman. Then she forfeited her American citizenship and went to live in Russia. Then two Mariquitas and two Uribertos fell in love. There were generations and generations of gossip. Other fragments of The Intimate Diary of Solitude were written. Other articles were written too. But gossip became fantasy. But gossip became reality. The gossip about Uriberto and Mariquita bore Mariquita Singerman and Mariquita Eisensweig. As well as Uriberto Samper and Uriberto Singerman. The race of gossip reproduced, and Anna Mayo was born. Generations of gossip reproduced, and solitude was born. I used to think that gossip made up the race of solitude — wrote the Narrator in Anna Mayo’s intimate diary. I also thought that Mariquita’s solitude is just gossip. Even Uriberto’s solitude is gossip. And so is Anna Mayo. The newspaper, The Intimate Diary of Solitude, is gossip too. After all, it went bankrupt because Anna Mayo ran out of gossip to tell. Even though my gossiping hand writes alone, I’ll never run out of solitude’s gossip, even if I’m stripped of meaning. I mean life. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Dear Narrator:

I’ve got a really big problem. No one takes me seriously. They all love Mariquita, and when I tell them that I’m Mariquita, they just laugh. Everyone thinks that I made up the race of beauty, charm, and coquetry just because I made up the race of gossip and the race of solitude. No one wants to see Portrait of Giannina Braschi . My friends call me up and say, “Mariquita, Mariquita, what’s the gossip of the day? What’s going on in The Intimate Diary of Solitude today?” But they don’t know that I am an autobiography. They don’t know that I am Portrait of Giannina Braschi . My friends have told me I owe my existence to their gossip and their lives. And they’re right. I’m only called Giannina when Mariquita dresses up as Berta Singerman. I’m only called Giannina when Mariquita falls in love with Uriberto — Berta Singerman once said through Mariquita Samper’s mouth. You know something — and I say this only to the reader — these friends of mine do exist — although I’d never tell them that. They’re not figments of my imagination. I see them every day, or at least once a week when we get together at Mariquita’s to laugh at The Intimate Diary of Solitude . My friends are Uriberto, Mariquita, Berta, the Narrator, the race of gossip, and The Intimate Diary of Solitude . Little by little, you’ll meet my other friends who widen the circle of my solitude even more — said the Narrator. You already know Anna Mayo, the journalist famous for writing the race of gossip and the race of the Mariquitas and the Uribertos. But you still haven’t met Honorata Pagan, the fortune-teller who predicted that Berta Singerman would forfeit her Russian citizenship. This fortune-teller, named Honorata Pagan, was also the one who told me I had no right to complain if they confused me with Mariquita. “Giannina, you’re a celebrity. But your friends believe more in your lies than in your autobiography. You chose to be the author of this work. You chose your profession. So it’s your own fault if they don’t take you seriously. And so what if your friends love Mariquita more than you? Frankly, you already know that she is more beautiful, more charming, and more coquettish. She has a new love to talk about every day. And what do you have? Just a pen and paper to write your Intimate Diary of Solitude .” Honorata Pagan’s fame skyrocketed even before her predictions came through. Whenever I went, she went with me. Uriberto consulted her on some of his love affairs. Honorata had told him, “Uriberto, you will deflower Berta Singerman’s daughter — your own daughter, Mariquita. You will be an incestuous father.” What Honorata never got to tell him is that it would happen on stage. What she never got to tell him was that her prophecies were also fiction. Enough of your lies, Mariquita. I’m going to do Giannina’s portrait. I’m going to turn Mariquita into Giannina Samper. But don’t whine and complain when you’re the punch-line, Giannina. Don’t complain when you’re Mariquita, Giannina. That’s when the portrait of my intimate solitude became part of the diary. The painter was Vita Giorgi. I met Vita at a Soho gallery where Berta was giving Uriberto a show. On exhibit there were all of the portraits of Mariquita from the time she lost her virginity at 15 until the time she became the first Puerto Rican to forfeit her American citizenship and live in Moscow. And a new character was introduced there. An impudent, devilish clown by the name of Giannina Braschi — said the Narrator. With a furrowed brow and a hoarse throat, she burst out laughing like thunder or a steep cliff, and Mariquita Samper leaped out of the Portrait of Giannina . Even though I was by myself, I imagined that Mariquita and Uriberto, Berta Singerman, Honorata Pagan, and Anna Mayo, Vita Giorgi, and the Narrator, the race of gossip, and The Intimate Diary of Solitude were all around.