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Devil's Kitchen Reading Awards in Poetry and Prose winner

The Binghamton University John Gardner Fiction Book Award winner

United in their fierce sense of place and infused with the fading echoes of a lost homeland, the stories in Jennine Cap贸 Crucet鈥檚 striking debut collection do for Miami what Edward P. Jones does for Washington, D.C., and what James Joyce did for Dublin: they expand our ideas and our expectations of the city by exposing its tough but vulnerable underbelly.

Crucet鈥檚 writing has been shaped by the people and landscapes of South Florida and by the stories of Cuba told by her parents and abuelos. Her own stories are informed by her experiences as a Cuban American woman living within and without her community, ready to leave and ready to return, 鈥渞eady to mourn everything.鈥

Coming to us from the predominantly Hispanic working-class neighborhoods of Hialeah, the voices of this steamy section of Miami shout out to us from rowdy all-night funerals and kitchens full of pl谩tanos and croquetas and lech贸n ribs, from domino tables and cigar factories, glitter-purple Buicks and handed-down Mom Rides, private homes of santeras and fights on front lawns. Calling to us from crowded expressways and canals underneath abandoned overpasses shading a city鈥檚 secrets, these voices are the heart of Miami, and in this award-winning collection Jennine Cap贸 Crucet makes them sing.

鈥淲hat a joy it is to read the work of a writer who has a powerful voice, a sense of humor, and a feeling for local histories. Jennine Cap贸 Crucet鈥檚 stories start with Cuban American neighborhoods and cultures and then sail off into the direction of the great themes: love, familial bonds, aging, and death. And resurrection. This is a wonderful collection.鈥濃擟harles Baxter
鈥淭his is definitely a young writer to watch for, sassy, smart, with an unerring ear for a community鈥檚 voices, its losses, its over-the-top telenovela extravagances, and its poignant struggles to understand itself in a new land. I was glad not to have to leave Hialeah right away, but to stay long enough to hear its many stories as told by a gifted writer like Jennine Cap贸 Crucet.鈥濃擩ulia Alvarez, author, How the Garc铆a Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Return to Sender
鈥淛ennine Cap贸 Crucet is an electrifying new talent鈥攕he鈥檚 funny, she鈥檚 smart, and she knows how to tell great stories. I fell in love with this terrific collection from the first paragraph, and I was still smitten on the last page.鈥濃擟urtis Sittenfeld, author, American Wife
鈥淛ennine Cap贸 Crucet is an astonishing talent. This book鈥攁bout Miami and Cuba and characters who live within those worlds as well as beyond them鈥攊s written with such electrifying verve and fearlessness that I wanted to squeeze the paper it was written on, jump for joy, and run around recommending it to everyone I know.鈥濃擟ristina Henr铆quez, author, The World in Half
鈥淛ennine Cap贸 Crucet is a very gifted writer. Her stories are at once uproarious, troubling, and even eerie. Hers is a bold new voice in Latina/o letters, and this debut is auspicious.鈥濃擫uis Alberto Urrea, author, The Hummingbird鈥檚 Daughter

2009 海角乱伦社区Short Fiction Award
Named a 2009 Best Book of the Year by both the Miami Herald and the Miami New Times
2010 John Gardner Award
2010 Devil's Kitchen Reading Award in Prose.

Paperback

ISBN-13
9781587298165
Retail price
$16.00
Sale end date

eBook, 120 day

ISBN-13
9781587298790
Retail price
$10.00

eBook, Perpetual

ISBN-13
9781587298790
Retail price
$16.00

Publication Details

Publication Details

Publication Date
04/25/2009
Pages, art, trim size
194 pages, 5 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches
Edition
1st