Havana Noir

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Authors: Achy Obejas

Tags: #Detective and mystery stories, #Noir fiction, #Anthologies (multiple authors), #Mystery & Detective, #Cuban fiction - 21st century, #Short stories; Cuban, #21st century, #General, #Havana (Cuba) - In literature, #Havana (Cuba), #Mystery fiction, #Cuban fiction, #American fiction, #Fiction, #Short Stories, #Cuban American authors, #American fiction - Cuban American authors

BOOK: Havana Noir
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This collection is comprised of works of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors’ imaginations. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published by Akashic Books

©2007 Akashic Books

Series concept by Tim McLoughlin and Johnny Temple

Havana map by Sohrab Habibion

Editorial assistance by Sarah Frank

ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-936070-23-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-933354-38-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007926097

All rights reserved

“Abikú” by Yohamna Depestre first appeared, in Spanish, in
D-21
(Pinos Nuevos/Letras Cubanas, Havana, Cuba, 2004); “Nowhere Man” by Miguel Mejides first appeared, in Spanish, in
Las Ciudades Imperiales
(Editorial Letras Cubanas, Havana, 2006); “The Last Passenger” by Ena Lucía Portela first appeared, in Spanish, in
Crítica
, No. 119, January–February 2007, the cultural magazine of the Universidad Autónoma in Puebla, Mexico; “Staring at the Sun” by Leonardo Padura first appeared, in Spanish, in
La Puerta de Alcalá y Otras Cacerías
(Ediciones Callejón, Olalla, Spain, 1997).

Akashic Books

PO Box 1456

New York, NY 10009

[email protected]

www.akashicbooks.com

A
LSO IN THE
A
KASHIC
N
OIR
S
ERIES
:

Baltimore Noir
, edited by Laura Lippman

Bronx Noir
, edited by S.J. Rozan

Brooklyn Noir
, edited by Tim McLoughlin

Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics
, edited by Tim McLoughlin

Chicago Noir
, edited by Neal Pollack

D.C. Noir
, edited by George Pelecanos

Detroit Noir
, edited by E.J. Olsen & John C. Hocking

Dublin Noir
(Ireland), edited by Ken Bruen

London Noir
(England), edited by Cathi Unsworth

Los Angeles Noir
, edited by Denise Hamilton

Manhattan Noir
, edited by Lawrence Block

Miami Noir
, edited by Les Standiford

New Orleans Noir
, edited by Julie Smith

San Francisco Noir
, edited by Peter Maravelis

Twin Cities Noir
, edited by Julie Schaper & Steven Horwitz

Wall Street Noir
, edited by Peter Spiegelman

F
ORTHCOMING
:

Brooklyn Noir 3
, edited by Tim McLoughlin & Thomas Adcock

D.C. Noir 2: The Classics
, edited by George Pelecanos

Delhi Noir
(India), edited by Hirsh Sawhney

Istanbul Noir
(Turkey), edited by Mustafa Ziyalan & Amy Spangler

Lagos Noir
(Nigeria), edited by Chris Abani

Las Vegas Noir
, edited by Jarret Keene & Todd James Pierce

Paris Noir
(France), edited by Aurélien Masson

Queens Noir
, edited by Robert Knightly

Rome Noir
(Italy), edited by Chiara Stangalino & Maxim Jakubowski

San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics
, edited by Peter Maravelis

Toronto Noir
(Canada), edited by Janine Armin & Nathaniel G. Moore

For Eva, for so much patience

Many thanks on this project to Arturo Arango, Haydeé Arango, Tania Bruguera, Kalisha Buckhanon, Norberto Codina, Arnaldo Correa, David Driscoll, Esther Figueroa, Ambrosio Fornet, Gisela González López, Casey Ishitani, Elise Johnson, Caridad López del Pozo, Bayo Ojikutu, Oscar Luis Rodríguez Ramos, Patrick Reichard, Juan Manuel Salvat, Lawrence Schimel, and the inimitable Yoss.

I am especially grateful to Sarah Frank, whose assistance was invaluable throughout the project, and to Johnny Temple, for the opportunity and the faith.

Yo no quito nada              I don’t take anything away

yo no pongo nada            I don’t add a thing

Yo no invento                  I don’t make stuff up

Solo cuento lo que veo   I just tell it like it is

E
L
C
URI
, “S
OLO
C
UENTO
L
O
Q
UE
V
EO

T
ABLE OF
C
ONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Page

Introduction

PART I: SLEEPLESS IN HAVANA

M
IGUEL
M
EJIDES
                           
Old Havana
Nowhere Man

E
NA
L
UCÍA
P
ORTELA
                     
Vedado
The Last Passenger

M
YLENE
F
ERNÁNDEZ
P
INTADO
    
Malecón
The Scene

L
EONARDO
P
ADURA
                       
Marianao
Staring at the Sun

PART II: ESCAPE TO NOWHERE

C
AROLINA
G
ARCÍA-AGUILERA
     
Flores
The Dinner

P
ABLO
M
EDINA
                              
Jaimanitas
Johnny Ventura’s Seventh Try

A
LEX
A
BELLA
                                
Siboney
Shanghai

M
OISÉS
A
SÍS
                                  
Ayestarán
Murder at 503 La Rosa

A
RTURO
A
RANGO
                         
El Cerro
Murder, According to My Mother-in-Law

PART III: SUDDEN RAGE

M
ARIELA
V
ARONA
R
OQUE
          
Santos Suárez
The Orchid

M
ICHEL
E
NCINOSA
F
Ú
                 
Vibora
What for, This Burden

YOSS
                                              
Lawton
The Red Bridge

L
EA
A
SCHKENAS
                           
Centro Habana
La Coca-Cola del Olvido

PART IV: DROWNING IN SILENCE

A
CHY
O
BEJAS
                               
Chinatown
Zenzizenzic

M
ABEL
C
UESTA
                            
Regla
Virgins of Regla

A
RNALDO
C
ORREA
                      
Casablanca
Olúo

O
SCAR
F. O
RTÍZ
                          
Cojímar
Settling of Scores

Y
OHAMNA
D
EPESTRE
                  
Alamar
Abikú

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