In the Heights: Finding Home

Finding Home is a fabulous book for what it is: a celebratory look at the entire history of In the Heights for fans of the show. The text, which appears to have been written largely by Jeremy McCarter, traces Heights from its genesis as Lin-Manuel Miranda's college project all the way to the production of Jon M. Chu's film version. Interspersed are plenty of vivid, eye-catching photographs, essays by Quiara Alegría Hudes explaining some of her most important contributions, and complete song lyrics with annotations by Miranda. If you are looking for a feel-good retrospective on a show that is already close to your heart, look no further. If you are looking for a critical perspective on the work, look elsewhere. As much as I enjoyed this book, I am interested to continue reading more about Heights from a critical/academic framework.

I really like In The Heights, both the musical and the movie, but I was surprised at how emotional reading this made me. It's basically like [b:Hamilton: The Revolution 26200563 Hamilton The Revolution Lin-Manuel Miranda https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451400644l/26200563.SX50.jpg 46177490] but for In The Heights, so–an annotated libretto + photos and essays about the making of, in this case both the musical and the movie. It's so clear how passionate everyone involved was about this and what a meaningful experience it was–everyone quoted talks about how special it was to be with this show where they weren't “the only Latinx one” or the only POC, and to reflect their cultures without stereotype. A lot of marriages, children, and lifelong working partnerships/friendships came out of this show, and it was just really moving to read everyone talking with such huge affection for everyone else. That said: in the back of my head while reading this was the backlash about the lack of Afro-Latinx representation in the movie, which isn't addressed in the book at all (because, obviously, the book came out earlier this year and it clearly wasn't an issue that LMM or Jon Chu were thinking of). So for anyone expecting this to address colorism, it doesn't. But I think fans of the musical/movie will find a lot to like here. If you're not a fan, it's not gonna convert you.

There are times that the play-by-play of this play and film's creation are tedious but the beauty of the book itself, it's layouts and artwork by Laura Palese, make every moment the book is open worth it.