Havana Is a Really Big City: and Other Short Stories

Fiction. Latino/Latina Studies. Women's Studies. Translated from the Spanish by Sara E. Cooper with Victoria L. McCard, Lizabeth Paravizini-Gebert, Claudette Williams, and Leslie Bary. Catherine Davies notes that "Yáñez writes about everyday life in Havana; her chatty, colloquial style full of light-hearted humour, whatever the theme, makes her fiction a delight to read." Yáñez brings a critical and analytical gaze to rest on the culture and society that surrounds her. Her fictional world is complex, her characters are in conflict with themselves and the human condition. However much an ideology or code of ethics might inform her work, Yáñez has always—subtly, yet insistently—questioned and undercut the myth that any official discourse is infallible. Themes of class, race, gender, and sexuality are artfully interwoven in humorous and poignant narratives that make the reader pause to rethink her/his views or assumptions about Cuba and about life.