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Author’s Inspiration

Curated by Alex Temblador


About the Curator
Alex Temblador is the award-winning author of “Half Outlaw” and “Secrets of the Casa Rosada.” Her writing has appeared in two anthologies, literary magazines, and numerous journalistic publications.
Finding reading inspiration for my most recent novel, “Half Outlaw,” was no easy task. There weren’t many stories about Mixed women, much less one raised in a motorcycle club. Through fate or friend, I came across three books with memorable women protagonists of diverse voices, some who ride bikes and others who don’t, but all of whom go on a journey that teaches them more about themselves than they ever expected.

Book selections

Alex Temblador book recommendations - Fable

The Flamethrowers

Rachel Kushner
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The Flamethrowers

The Flamethrowers

By Rachel Kushner
My MFA professor suggested I read “The Flamethrowers” by Rachel Kushner. Set in the 1970s, the book follows Reno, a motorcycle-riding woman in her 20s, to New York City to become an artist. She begins an affair with an heir to an Italian tire and motorcycle empire, and later, travels with him to Italy where the relationship dissolves and she connects with radicals in the Movement of 1977. The Flamethrowers was the first literary novel that I could find that featured a woman who rides motorcycles. I was always struck by Reno’s coming-of-age story and how she eventually decides to take control of her life. I wanted the same for my main character, Raqi.

Alex Temblador

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