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Pablo Medina Books In Order

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Publication Order of Standalone Novels

The Marks of Birth (1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Return of Felix Nogara (2000)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Cigar Roller (2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
Cubop City Blues (2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Cuban Comedy (2019)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Collections

Arching Into the Afterlife (1991)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Floating Island (1999)Description / Buy at Amazon
Points of Balance (2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Man Who Wrote on Water (2011)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Island Kingdom (2015)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Exiled Memories (1990)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Anthologies

110 Stories(2004)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Literary Review: Scenester(2013)Description / Buy at Amazon

Pablo Medina
Author Pablo Medina was born in Cuba in the year 1948 and came to America in the year 1960 when he was twelve years old. Pablo got an MA degree from Georgetown University. He is a chair of the writing concentration at Eugene Lang College of New School University.

Pablo has taught undergraduate poetry and fiction writing and a graduate literature called “Literature and Democracy” at the New School in Manhattan.

Before writing stories or novels, he first wrote poetry, something he still does. In his novels, he blends prose with poetry, something he likes a lot.

He finds that everywhere he has lived, he has been an island. Writing, too, has also induced that feeling for him. After he has spent a few hours at his desk, he finds that language surrounds him on all sides.

He has been awarded grants from the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Pablo has also been given an award from the CINTAS Foundation.

Pablo’s debut novel, called “The Marks of Birth” was released in the year 1994. He writes poetry, essays, general and literary fiction as well as some non-fiction. His non-fiction focuses on his time in Cuba as a child, and his arrival in New York City.

“The Marks of Birth” is the first stand alone novel, which was released in the year 1994. The novel is set on Barata, an imaginary Cuba, and shows a family that is caught in the middle of some political events. When Nicolas Campion’s revolutionary forces seize power, Anton Garcia-Turner has to flee the island by boat. Anton’s arrival in Key West, and later arrival in New York City, marks the start of the horrors and marvels he is going to encounter in el Norte and his realization that his personal destiny will only be fulfilled in blood.

Pablo weaves beautiful imagery seamlessly into his prose, which gives further proof of his lyrical abilities. He does a fantastic job of portraying this part of the world before the revolution.

“The Return of Felix Nogara” is the second stand alone novel, which was released in the year 2000. Felix Nogara, who is sent from his native Barata to America when he is twelve years old. He is unable to assimilate as he moves from place to place. He stays attached to his homeland through the legacy of poetry, history, and politics he inherited from his family. Felix goes back after the dictator that ruled the island nation for two generations dies.

A taxi driver helps guide him through the upside down world of Barata. Felix goes off to locate his mom and reclaim the history and culture he feels is his. During his travels, he comes across the past through the ruins of his city, as well as the present in the whirlwind of the politics that shakes this country after the dictator’s death. Even the future when he falls for and marries the woman of his waking, not his dreams.

Once again, Medina’s prose is beautiful and will make you easily fall in love with it. He also has a strong grasp of the Cuban idiosyncrasy, the human soul, and how well he effectively describes experiences like the quest for roots, first love, exile, and loss, etc.

“The Cigar Roller” is the third stand alone novel, which was released in the year 2005. Amadeo Terra, who works in a Cuban cigar factory, is confined to a hospital room in Florida after a stroke leaves him paralyzed. Despite the fact that his body no longer works, his mind is still very much alive, just like his audacious and ruthless wit. The only human contact he has is the callous nurse that constantly scolds him, the orderly who will barely acknowledge him, and the nun that prays for his salvation as he fantasizes about what might be under her habit.

Nurse feeds him mango from a baby-food jar, which is a departure from the usual bland mush he is given. The taste on his tongue brings back memories of his life in Havana. Amadeo was once a master cigar roller back in Cuba as well as an imperious patriarch of large appetites. He now confronts some of the long-buried facts of his formerly unexamined life.

This guy lived an interesting life and it is enjoyable to read all about his life. There is some luscious language, and the flashbacks move from past to present clearly enough. The main guy is able to recall in amazing detail all of his despicable deeds, and the anger and the desperation he felt daily comes through very strongly.

“Cubop City Blues” is the fourth stand alone novel, which was released in the year 2012. Our guide through Cubop City, town shaped by jazz masters, storytellers, and refugees, is The Storyteller. He was born nearly blind and shrouded in the guilt his mom felt. He is home schooled within his parents’ breaking down apartment with a European housekeeper. His education comes from The Bible, Arabian Nights, and Encylopedia Britannica. Both of his parents are diagnosed with cancer when he is twenty-five, and only The Storyteller is left to care for both of them. He does this by telling them both with stories made up

Through his stories (filled of things like sorrow, magic, love, and longing) Cubop City comes to life. Moving from different points of view, The Storyteller imagines a world that is populated by both invented characters (most notable of all is a mustached man that is stabbed by somebody and goes off on a search for who attacked him) and well-known figures (such as Jelly Roll Morton and Chano Pozo).

Pablo’s prose is rhapsodic and lush here, and is able to show what is possible when a poet sets out to write a novel. His magical gift of language was what had readers finishing this one in a day or less. Each of the emotions is heartfelt, and for this alone, readers loved this novel. There are deep references to culture that are sure to impact you in some way.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Pablo Medina

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