2.5
The Tower of the Antilles
ByPublisher Description
Longlisted for The Story Prize
One of
's Best Short Story Collections of the Year
In "Superman," 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 and the eventual disintegration of blood ties. "The Cola of Oblivion" follows a young woman who returns to Cuba and inadvertently uncorks a history of accommodation and betrayal among the family members who stayed behind during the revolution. And in the title story, an interrogation reveals a series of fantasies about escape and a history of futility.
The Cubans in Achy Obejas' 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.
"[A] memorable short fiction collection." —
"By turns searing and subtly magical . . . 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." —
"Obejas writes with gentleness, without flashy wording or gimmicks, about people trying to figure out where they belong." —Los Angeles Review of Books
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Tower of the Antilles Reviews
2.5
“This slim volume of stories is one that I've read and re-read over the course of the last six months. Achy Obejas achieves the amazing feat of writing that is lovely and dream-like while tackling some of the harshest aspects of reality: the limitations of and breaking down of the human body, trusts betrayed and suspicions raised in both romantic relationships and family relationships, the challenges of being an immigrant in the U.S. My favorite stories in the collection are currently
"The Maldives," "The Sound Catalog," and "The Cola of Oblivion."”
“2.5/5: rounded up for goodreads. since this is a collection of short stories there were some i liked (the maldives and kimberle) and some i didn’t like that much. there was also some that just left me wanting more which was a bit frustrating”
About Achy Obejas
is the author of the critically acclaimed novels
,
, and three other books of fiction. She edited and translated (into English) the anthology
, 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.
Other books by Achy Obejas
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