A review by djinnmartini
How to Leave Hialeah by Jennine Capó Crucet

4.0

I came upon Jennine Capó Crucet quite by accident, through an excerpt from her forthcoming novel in Guernica (highly recommended). These stories deal primarily with the Cuban-American community in and around Miami, and while there are one or two stories that utilize Cuba as a backdrop I think Crucet's strength is in depicting the curious hybridity of Cuban Miami. She obviously has a great and complicated affection for Miami and for Florida and I am really hoping that in her future works she does more with the landscape of the city. My favorite facet of this work is (surprise) how she explores masculinity and how she uses it as a device, especially in my personal favorite of the short stories, "Men Who Punched Me in the Face." I am really looking forward to seeing more work from Crucet.