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A Novel
by Jennine Capó Crucet
Book Reviewed by:Scarface meets Moby Dick in this groundbreaking, darkly comic novel about a young man's attempt to capitalize on his mother's murky legacy—a story steeped in Miami's marvelous and sinister magic.
Failed Pitbull impersonator Ismael Reyes—you can call him Izzy—might not be the Scarface type, but why should that keep him from trying? Growing up in Miami has shaped him into someone who dreams of being the King of the 305, with the money, power, and respect he assumes comes with it. After finding himself at the mercy of a cease-and-desist letter from Pitbull's legal team and living in his aunt's garage-turned-efficiency, Izzy embarks on an absurd quest to turn himself into a modern-day Tony Montana.
When Izzy's efforts lead him to the tank that houses Lolita, a captive orca at the Miami Seaquarium, she proves just how powerful she and the water surrounding her really are—permeating everything from Miami's sinking streets to Izzy's memories to the very heart of the novel itself. What begins as Izzy's story turns into a super-saturated fever dream as sprawling and surreal as the Magic City, one as sharp as an iguana's claws, and as menacing as a killer whale's teeth. As the truth surrounding Izzy's boyhood escape from Cuba surfaces, the novel reckons with the forces of nature, with the limits and absence of love, and with the dangers of pursuing a tragic inheritance.
Wildly narrated and expertly rendered, Say Hello to My Little Friend is Jennine Capó Crucet's most daring, heart-breaking, and fearless book yet.
In search of a new ambition, Izzy decides to model his future on Tony Montana, the protagonist of the film Scarface. He is squeamish about involving himself in the drug trade, so instead he (along with his friend Rudy, who he has chosen to be his sidekick) pursues a career smuggling migrants into the United States. Jennine Capó Crucet resists the easy narratives of migrant tragedy, personal growth, strength and perseverance in the face of generational trauma. We're told early on that we won't be getting this kind of story. But it's still something of a (wonderful and transgressive) shock when the rugs of these narratives are pulled out from under us one by one, particularly when the author veers into the self-referential, imagining a reader that goads her into adding more Cuban elements: cigars! Buena Vista Social Club! Santeria! "ancestor stuff"!..continued
Full Review
(895 words)
(Reviewed by Lisa Butts).
Dan Chaon, author of Sleepwalk
Jennine Capó Crucet is one of America's most distinctive writers, and Say Hello to My Little Friend is her best yet—smart, inventive, hilarious, and brimming with heart. Daniel Alarcón, author of The King Is Always Above the People
Capó Crucet's new novel is a madcap, beautiful romp through a version of Miami I've been waiting to see in literature for years: a place of newness and impermanence, where the fluidity of language and culture and history is as central to its identity as the ocean and the tides. I loved this brilliant, hilarious novel, read it compulsively, and loved most of all its protagonist: Izzy, a young man hellbent on achieving the American dream of reinvention, and at the same time in danger of discovering more about himself and his roots than he ever hoped to know. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, National Book Award Finalist of Chain Gang All Stars
Say Hello to My Little Friend is a masterclass in pace and precision. Crucet can make you cry before you've even realized you've become invested and make you laugh even through the hurt. Brilliant.
In Say Hello to My Little Friend, main character Izzy Reyes traveled by raft from Cuba to the United States in 2003 at age seven with his mother, who drowned during the trip. It is mentioned in the novel that his Tia Teresa exploits the sympathy of teachers who note the similarity of the circumstances between Izzy's journey and that of Elián González, a Cuban child who traveled to the US with his mother and her boyfriend in November of 1999.
At the time of the journey González was five years old. He and his caretakers, along with several others, navigated through the Florida Straits on what would be a 90-mile trip. Their raft capsized, killing everyone aboard except for Elián, who was discovered floating on an ...
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