by Achy Obejas
“[C]ompassionate 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.” —Library Journal
“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.
Ruins is available in paperback from our website and in bookstores everywhere. The e-book edition is available wherever e-books are sold.
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 Díaz, Rita Indiana, Wendy Guerra, and many others. In 2014, she was awarded a USA Ford Fellowship for her writing and translation. Photo by Megan Bayles
Acknowledgments
My gratitude always to María Eugenia Alegría, Kalisha Buckhannon, Adrián Castro, Natalie Catasús, David Driscoll, Sarah Frank, Elise Johnson, Michelle Kirchner, Kim McGowan, Bayo Ojikutu, Patrick Reichard, Jane Saks, Humberto Sánchez, and Jasmine Wade.
Carolina de Robertis, a very wonderful writer and friend, generously read and edited this collection for me. Everything has benefited from her fine touch.
Cecilia Vaisman read a number of these stories, but she also missed a few. I’m thankful for the many years of encouragement and praise, for the words every artist needs to hear that she so generously offered. I wish I could have seen her face, heard her reactions, to the new stories. I wish we were at her kitchen table, in Chicago or Havana, talking about so many things. I miss her all the time, every single day.
No one, of course, has been more important to this project, and to all of my projects, than Megan Bayles. I’d be so adrift without her. A nod, too, to Ilan Bayles Obejas, because he’s the reason for everything now.
I’m forever grateful to USA Artists for my 2014 Ford Foundation Fellowship, which made my life one hundred times easier and helped me complete this book.
Lastly, and always, I’m in awe of Akashic’s beautiful and soulful team: Johnny, Johanna, Ibrahim, Aaron, Susannah, and the rest.
“The Cola of Oblivion” was first published in The Butter, edited by Roxane Gay, which was part of The Toast, March 2015.
“Kimberle” appeared in ACM 50: The Chicago Issue, edited by Jacob Knabb, December 2010; and in Ambientes: New Queer Latino Writing, edited by Lázaro Lima and Felice Picano, June 2011; in the original Spanish, it was included in Aguas y Otros Cuentos, published by Letras Cubanas in Cuba, July 2009; and in Cuentos, Literal Publishing, 2017.
“The Maldives” was first published in Prairie Schooner, Vol. 90, No. 1, Spring 2016.
“The Tower of the Antilles” appeared in the Cincinnati Romance Review, Vol. 40, Spring 2016; and in Otium, Vol. 2, No. 4, January 2006.
“Waters” was first published in The Vintage Book of International Lesbian Fiction, edited by Naomi Holoch and Joan Nestle, June 1999.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher.
Published by Akashic Books
©2017 by Achy Obejas
ISBN: 978-1-61775-539-2
eISBN-13: 978-1-61775-553-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016953888
First printing
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