Cuban American writers bear the burden of a cultural stereotype: that the Cuban American community is mostly centered in Florida and, more specifically, in Miami; that this a typically politically-conservative population that has assimilated into middle class American society more successfully than any other Latino group; and that many still hold on to the dream of returning to Cuba--to reclaim their properties after the long-anticipated death of Castro, the man who exiled many of his own citizens. And though there are people who fit this narrow checklist, there are many more examples of complex lives and experiences to be found in U.S. Latino literature.

In the collection by Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés, the Cuban American story fans out into fourteen distinct and powerful portraits that share as origin the conflicted Caribbean island, but that proceed to illuminate various aspects of Cuban and Cuban American history and identity. Indeed, a number of the characters the reader will encounter are very recent arrivals: either Marielitos--the 125,000 people who arrived on the Mariel Boatlift in 1980--or balseros, those who make the dangerous 90-mile journey via the crudely-constructed rafts. As a new “category” of Cuban immigrants, these people were no less exiles than those who fled during the Cuban Revolution of 1959, yet encounters between members of the two groups did not result in a sense of kinship. The book works hard to explore and understand those tensions, fears, and sometimes hostile exchanges.

Besides shattering the myth that the Cuban American is a monolithic identity, Marielitos, Balseros and Other Exiles also claims an expansive landscape. The marielitos establish roots in New Jersey and New York, they are imprisoned in Atlanta, and enlist in the military and head to Europe. And though the majority of the stories are still set in Miami, the view is that of the working-class citizen struggling to fit in and make a living.

This is a book with an exceptional vision of Cuban life in the U.S. that fills in a void in Cuban American letters with unforgettable characters who bring with them unique insights and knowledge of Castro’s Cuba. Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés has breathed substance into an already compelling community that any reader will want to visit through the pages of this engaging collection of stories.

Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés

Marielitos, Balseros and Other Exiles

Ig Publishing

For further reading:

Jennine Capó Crucet, How to Leave Hialeah (University of Iowa, 2009)

Carlos Eire, Waiting for Snow in Havana (Free Press, 2004)

Achy Obejas, Ruins (Akashic Books, 2009)

Eduardo Santiago, Tomorrow They Will Kiss (Back Bay Books, 2006)

About our My Latino Book Review "Latino Literati" Rigoberto Gonzalez:

Rigoberto González (www.rigobertogonzalez.com) is an award-winning author, book critic and associate professor with the Rutgers-Newark Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.