Spanning two continents and several cities, Jessica Hagedorn’s coming-of-age novel The Gangster of Love begins on the day Jimi Hendrix dies. That’s when Raquel “Rocky” Rivera; her mother, Milagros; and her brother, Voltaire—a devoted Hendrix fan—arrive in San Francisco from the Philippines.
Initially, the siblings live with their mother, an aging beauty and talented cook who milks men with lonely hearts and large appetites, including her landlord. Amid struggles with his mental health, Voltaire drifts around San Francisco, bringing odd friends home. That’s how Rocky meets her future bestie, Keiko, and Elvis Chang, her first love. When Rocky and Elvis form a band, they commit fully to the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, eventually leaving California for the harsher landscape of New York City.
Toggling points of view as if spotlighting solos, the narrative is complemented by a chorus of motherly dissent, laments, rock ’n’ roll screams, and poetic dream sequences—sometimes featuring Hendrix’s ghost. A cocktail that captures the spirit of the novel—a “booktail,” if you will—is the perfect way to enhance the reading experience, or your enjoyment of the California Book Club event.
The Gangster of Love booktail is smooth, with hints of caramel and a fruity, floral finish. Tequila reposado is the base ingredient to represent the copious amount of tequila consumed throughout the novel, sometimes in celebration or consolation, other times as the preamble to a poor performance. The pineapple in the drink alludes to the bolts of piña cloth that Rocky finds in her mother’s apartment among hoards of disintegrating junk. Unique to the Philippines, piña fabric is made from the woven fibers of pineapple leaves.
The coffee flavor conjures Rocky’s good times with Keiko, who introduces her to espresso with a twist of lemon and serves her “coffee sweetened with Magnolia brand condensed milk. Coffee thick and sweet as caramel.” In tougher times, Elvis and Rocky subsist on PB&Js, black coffee, and Indonesian cigarettes. Toward the end of the novel, Rocky finds herself contemplating news about her mother while staring into a cup of Bustelo.
Finally, cream evokes the mouthfeel of Rocky’s favorite dessert, leche flan with lemon peel, which Milagros serves her with love and anger. •
