The Tower of the Antilles bookcover

The Tower of the Antilles

4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
Bookshop.org has the highest-rated customer service of any bookstore in the world

Description

--Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

"Obejas writes like an angel, which is to say: gloriously . . . one of Cuba's most important writers." --Junot Díaz

"Floating somewhere between magic realism and brutal reality, Obejas's restless characters are deniers, escapists, adventurers." --The Booklist Reader

The Cubans in Achy Obejas's story collection are haunted by islands: the island they fled, the island they've created, the island they were taken to or forced from, the island they long for, the island they return to, and the island that can never be home again.

In "Supermán," several possible story lines emerge about a 1950s Havana sex-show superstar who disappeared as soon as the Revolution triumphed. "North/South" portrays a migrant family trying to cope with separation, lives on different hemispheres, and the eventual disintegration of blood ties. "The Cola of Oblivion" follows the path of a young woman who returns to Cuba, and who inadvertently uncorks a history of accommodation and betrayal among the family members who stayed behind during the revolution. In the title story, "The Tower of the Antilles," an interrogation reveals a series of fantasies about escape and a history of futility.

With language that is both generous and sensual, Obejas writes about existences beset by events beyond individual control, and poignantly captures how history and fate intrude on even the most ordinary of lives.

Product Details

PublisherAkashic Books, Ltd.
Publish DateJuly 04, 2017
Pages150
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconHardback
EAN/UPC9781617755392
Dimensions7.1 X 5.2 X 0.7 inches | 0.5 pounds

About the Author

Achy Obejas is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Ruins, Days of Awe, and three other books of fiction. She edited and translated (into English) the anthology Havana Noir, and has since translated Junot Diaz, Rita Indiana, Wendy Guerra, and many others. In 2014, she was awarded a USA Ford Fellowship for her writing and translation. The Tower of the Antilles, a short story collection, is her latest work.

Reviews

By turns searing and subtly magical, the stories in Obejas' vividly imagined collection are propelled by her characters' contradictory feelings about and unnerving experiences in Cuba . . . For all the human tumult and deftly sketched and reverberating historical and cultural contexts that Obejas incisively creates in these poignant, alarming tales, she also offers lyrical musings on the mysteries of the sea and the vulnerability of islands and the body. Obejas' plots are ambushing, her characters startling, her metaphors fresh, her humor caustic, and her compassion potent in these intricate and haunting stories of displacement, loss, stoicism, and realization.-- "Booklist"
Captivating . . . These conflicts of identity, selfhood, and belonging are braided with lush phrasing and a penchant for details and observations.-- "Atticus Review"
Obejas writes with gentleness, without flashy wording or gimmicks, about people trying to figure out where they belong . . . The language we use and the stories we tell impact the futures we can imagine, but they are also restricted by what has come before. Obejas's Cuban characters, like most Americans, have limited access to the resources they need. One gets the sense that Obejas, like the Maldivian president, thinks it is time that the world takes these systemic problems on.-- "Los Angeles Review of Books"
Questions of personal and national identity percolate through the stories in Obejas's memorable short fiction collection, most of which is set in Cuba, the author's birthplace . . . These 10 stories show Obejas's talent, illuminating Cuban culture and the innermost lives of her characters.-- "Publishers Weekly"
The rich thematic and symbolic texture of much of the collection rewards repeated reading and promises continued insight. How Cuba's distinctive history and culture shape the unique negotiations with identity, memory and the idea of home that complicate the lives of the residents, exiles, and expatriates who populate this volume is a worthy subject indeed.-- "Lambda Literary"

Earn by promoting books

Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.sign up to affiliate program link
Become an affiliate