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Ruins, March 2009
Paperback
Akashic Books
March 2009
On Sale: March 1, 2009
250 pages
ISBN: 1933354690
EAN: 9781933354699
Paperback
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Non-Fiction
A true believer is faced with a choice between love for his
family and the Cuban Revolution.
"Daring, tough, and deeply compassionate, Achy Obejas's
Ruins is a breathtaker. Obejas writes like an angel, which
is to say: gloriously . . . one of the Cuba's most
important writers."
--Junot Diaz, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
"In the Havana of Ruins, scarcity can only be fought with
ingenuity, and the characters work very hard at the
exquisite art of getting by. The plot rests on the schemes
of its weary, obsessive, dreamy hero--a character so
brilliantly drawn that he can't be dismissed or forgotten.
A tender and wildly accurate portrait, in a gem of a novel."
--Joan Silber, author of The Size of the World
"Obejas evinces a new, focused lyricism as she penetrates
to the very heart of the Cuban paradox in a story as pared
down and intense as its narrator's life."
--Booklist (*starred review*)
"Compassionate and intriguing . . . Obejas plays out [the
book's] conflicts in measured, simple prose, allowing her
descriptions of the mundane--houses, food, dominoes--to
illuminate a setting filled with heartbreak, confusion and
decay . . . At her best, Obejas controls the mixture of
humor and pathos that suffuse this poor community."
--Los Angeles Times
"Ruins is a beautifully written novel, a moving testament
to the human spirit of an unlikely hero who remains
unbroken even as the world collapses around him . . . A
fine literary achievement, it's Achy Obejas at her very
best."
--El Paso Times
"[A] superb novel . . . Highly recommended."
--Library Journal
"[An] honest and superbly written book."
--Miami Herald
"With the deft and evocative detail of a poet's, Obejas's
prose is as illuminating and honest as her struggling
protagonist."
--Publishers Weekly
Usnavy has always been a true believer. When the Cuban
Revolution triumphed in 1959, he was just a young man and
eagerly signed on for all of its promises. But as the years
have passed, the sacrifices have outweighed the glories and
he's become increasingly isolated in his revolutionary
zeal. His friends openly mock him, his wife dreams of
owning a car totally outside their reach, and his beloved
fourteen-year-old daughter haunts the coast of Havana,
staring north.
In the summer of 1994, a few years after the collapse of
the Soviet Union, the government allows Cubans to leave at
will and on whatever will float. More than 100,000 flee--
including Usnavy's best friend. Things seem to brighten
when he stumbles across what may or may not be a priceless
Tiffany lamp that reveals a lost family secret and fuels
his long repressed feelings . . . But now Usnavy is faced
with a choice between love for his family and the
Revolution that has shaped his entire life.
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