We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?: Stories [Hardcover]

Achy Obejas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

Drawing on her own memories of alienation and exile, a Cuban lesbian writer tells stories of men and women searching for love and fulfillment--Latino immigrants, lesbians, gay and straight men, people with AIDS, addicts, and many others. Simultaneous. Tour. IP.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Obejas' title, with its jokey promise of comic cross-cultural coming-of-age mishaps, misleads. Her collection contains seven pieces--personal memoirs and essays as well as short fiction--all exploring the outsider's pain and existential angst, all shot through with irrepressible wit and dark humor, but all ultimately sadly tragic, seeing little hope of redemption or insightful change either for the specific protagonists portrayed or for men and women generally. With its population of refugees and exiles of all ilks--Cuban boat people, junkies, gays (some dying of AIDS, some not) and lesbians--the book's strongest pieces are its vignettes concerned with parts of Obejas' own life as a Latina lesbian refugee. Whether she chronicles the obsessions of a broken-hearted, jilted lover trying unsuccessfully not to circle the block of her ex-girlfriend's apartment, or the humiliation of being offered donated, unwashed clothing as part of the alternately boring and anxious "processing" into the U.S. as a political refugee from Castro's Cuba, Obejas' prose moves us. These writings of the disenfranchised are for any spiritual immigrant, huddled and yearning to be free. Whitney Scott --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

The down-to-earth stories in this debut collection from a Chicago Tribune columnist are pleasing, although they occasionally fail to connect to larger themes. Several of Obejas's narrators are lesbians trying to understand how relationships ought to work. In ``Wrecks'' the narrator explains that she regularly gets into car accidents when romance fades, and since her girlfriend has just left her she is preparing for a crash. The narrator of ``The Cradleland'' confides her fantasy of being ravished in a public bathroom and worries about safe sex even between lesbians since her (male) roommate and best friend is dying of AIDS. In ``Forever'' a lesbian activist trying to sort our her past (she says of her ex-lover, ``We're good lesbians: we've been painfully breaking up for two years'') subjects her current lover to ``the porch test,'' which means trying to imagine the two of them old together, sitting in a rocking chair on a porch. These are very accessible, sweet stories that, while appealing, do not have the lasting effect of the darker work here. The title story, the history of an immigrant Cuban family from the daughter's point of view, is more successful as well as more complex. Fragmented memories contain telling details, such as the summer the narrator's father finally buys a television set after insisting for years that it would be too difficult to transport one back to Cuba, and therefore symbolically accepts that they will remain in the US. ``Above All, a Family Man'' follows a dying man and his married lover as they drive from Chicago to Santa Fe. It both traces their relationship back to its origins and covers the married Rogelio's insistence that he cannot be at risk for AIDS because he is not gay. In ``Man Oh Man'' a heroin addict tells of the last time shooting up with a man named Ice who is now dead. Brings the marginalized front and center. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 133 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Pr (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939416921
• ISBN-13: 978-0939416929
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,222,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Strong, May 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?: Stories (Paperback)

The title story is just devastatingly beautiful. I've read and heard many stories about coming to the United States from Cuba, but this one so vividly conveys the emotions of discovery and loss that a part of being an exile, I wept. I teach a course on US Latino Literature, and I will now ask my students to read this. And anyone else I can convince.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something for Everyone, March 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?: Stories (Paperback)

This is a marvelous collection of stories joined together by a common thread. That thread is the feeling that life is happening TO us rather than life being what WE make of it. The characters, all trying their best to make it with the life they've been given, seem to rely heavily on those around them to make the pieces fit. I would be hard pressed to select my favorite among the tales that Obejas writes in this book. She did an excellent job of touching on what it means to be an immigrant, and what it means to look for a place to belong. This book runs the gamut; featuring both male and female characters, those obsessed with love or love lost, to those wondering if they were responsible for the death of one they loved. Writing with a realistic style, Obejas allows the reader to connect with the characters, understand their situations and in some cases even identify with how they are handling their current situation. If you're looking for a quick read that isn't the usual lesbian fiction, seek out this book. It's a tough one to find!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great mix of fun stories, March 15, 2000

By 

Jonathan (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?: Stories (Paperback)

I loved this work from Obejas. It was such a fast read that I read it again. If you look beyond the surface, you see a world that many will relate to in their own lives...maybe not in whole, but at least partially.