These stories cover a wide array of experiences, locations, and characters, all in Provincetown, Massachusetts. One story about the Feast of Saint Bonaventure follows multiple, different characters throughout the evening, showing readers what the Feast means to each of them. Some characters have supernatural aspects; Luna, the “Queen of Land’s End,” is a trans woman who’s lived in Provincetown since the late 1800s who acts as kind of a guardian angel for locals, but also for the town itself. Without her, who would keep the tides in sync? Throughout, the various players are funny and vibrant, but sometimes they really do feel like fictional constructs than real people. They serve as representatives of a vibrant mix of communities, but the stories sometimes read more like parables than complex portraits. Provincetown is the real focus, and the tales are strongest when they talk directly about the locale; readers get to know its festivals, its summer routines, its struggles during the offseason, and they learn something about its past and how climate change encroaches on its future. López takes a great care to represent Provincetown in all its diversity; the majority of his attention is focused on cis gay men, but there are stories here about lesbians, trans and nonbinary people, and straight people, too; their cultural backgrounds are also varied, with special focus on the Latine community. In “Scenes From Commercial Street,” the narration discusses how white Provincetown still is: “Mexicans and Jamaicans haul garbage, mow lawns, and sand floors, but there is not a single person of color running an arts institution or major businesses.…Despite these realities, people of color are part of Ptown, and they find Commercial Street as intoxicating as everyone else.” This collection portrays that intoxication, and these realities, with passion and care.
