Havana Noir
1st Edition
Published on 1. March 2019
324 pages
978-1-936070-23-7 (ISBN)
Description
"[A] superb collection... The 18 stories by current and former residents of Havana are gritty, heartbreaking and capture the city." -
Orlando Sentinel
To most outsiders, Havana is a tropical sin city. Habaneros know that this is neither new nor particularly true. In the real Havana-the lawless Havana that never appears in the postcards or tourist guides-the concept of sin has been banished by the urgency of need. And need-aching and hungry-inevitably turns the human heart darker, feral, and criminal. In this Havana, crime, though officially vanquished by revolutionary decree, is both wistfully quotidian and personally vicious.
In the stories of Havana Noir, current and former residents of the city-some international sensations such as Leonardo Padura, others exciting new voices like Yohamna Depestre-uncover crimes of violence and loveless sex, of mental cruelty and greed, of self-preservation and collective hysteria. Other authors include: Pablo Medina, Alex Abella, Arturo Arango, Lea Aschkenas, Moisés Asís, Arnaldo Correa, Mabel Cuesta, Michel Encinosa Fú, Mylene Fernández Pintado, Carolina García-Aguilera, Miguel Mejides, Achy Obejas, Oscar F. Ortíz, Ena Lucía Portela, Mariela Varona Roque, and Yoss.
"[A] remarkable collection... gritty tales of deprivation, depravity, heroic perseverance, revolution and longing in a city mythical and widely misunderstood." - The Miami Herald
To most outsiders, Havana is a tropical sin city. Habaneros know that this is neither new nor particularly true. In the real Havana-the lawless Havana that never appears in the postcards or tourist guides-the concept of sin has been banished by the urgency of need. And need-aching and hungry-inevitably turns the human heart darker, feral, and criminal. In this Havana, crime, though officially vanquished by revolutionary decree, is both wistfully quotidian and personally vicious.
In the stories of Havana Noir, current and former residents of the city-some international sensations such as Leonardo Padura, others exciting new voices like Yohamna Depestre-uncover crimes of violence and loveless sex, of mental cruelty and greed, of self-preservation and collective hysteria. Other authors include: Pablo Medina, Alex Abella, Arturo Arango, Lea Aschkenas, Moisés Asís, Arnaldo Correa, Mabel Cuesta, Michel Encinosa Fú, Mylene Fernández Pintado, Carolina García-Aguilera, Miguel Mejides, Achy Obejas, Oscar F. Ortíz, Ena Lucía Portela, Mariela Varona Roque, and Yoss.
"[A] remarkable collection... gritty tales of deprivation, depravity, heroic perseverance, revolution and longing in a city mythical and widely misunderstood." - The Miami Herald
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Person
Achy Obejas is the award-winning author of
Days of Awe,
Memory Mambo,
We Came all the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?, and editor of
Havana Noir. A long-time contributor to the
Chicago Tribune, she was part of the 2001 investigative team that earned a Pulitzer Prize for the series, Gateway to Gridlock.
Content
- Cover
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- PART I
- NOWHERE MAN
- THE LAST PASSENGER
- THE SCENE
- STARING AT THE SUN
- PART II
- THE DINNER
- JOHNNY VENTURA'S SEVENTH TRY
- SHANGHAI
- MURDER AT 503 LA ROSA
- MURDER, ACCORDING TOMY MOTHER-IN-LAW
- PART III
- THE ORCHID
- WHAT FOR, THIS BURDEN
- THE RED BRIDGE
- LA COCA-COLA DEL OLVIDO
- PART IV
- ZENZIZENZIC
- VIRGINS OF REGLA
- OLÚO
- SETTLING OF SCORES
- ABIKÚ
- ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
