Drawing on a wide range of material from art, theater, music, and literature, Contreras argues that historical memory is embedded in these forms of art and can perhaps take us "somewhere better than this place." The critical energies in the book come from Chicana/o and queer studies. Contreras views unrequited love as a utopian space of possibility and transformation. The discussion includes The Boys in the Band, Arturo Islas, Paris is Burning, Judy Garland, and Kiss of the Spider Woman.