Reinaldo Arenas, aunque anochezca. Textos y documentos

Reinaldo Arenas nació en Holguín, Oriente, Cuba en 1943. El 7 de diciembre de 1990

puso fin a su vida, responsabilizando a Fidel Castro de su decisión, en carta testamento

que escribió. Es considerado uno de los mejores escritores cubanos del siglo XX.

Las páginas de este libro constituyen el homenaje de un grupo de creadores a Reinaldo

Arenas, el escritor más original, versátil, desenfadado e iracundo de su generación. Con escritos

sobre Reinaldo Arenas, su vida y su obra, de Luis de la PazJoaquín Gálvez, William Navarrete, José

Abreu, Pío Serrano, Lourdes Arencibia, Julio Hernández Miyares, Carlos Victoria, Rodolfo Martínez

Sotomayor, Armando de Armas, Nicolás Abreu, Héctor Santiago, Nedda F. De Anhalt, Antonio

Conte y Esteban Luis Cárdenas.

Un libro imprescindible para adentrarse en el alucinante mundo de Reinaldo Arenas, aunque

anochezca.

***

Reinaldo Arenas was born in Holguín, Oriente, Cuba in 1943. On December 7, 1990, he ended his

life and in a letter he left behind, he held Fidel Castro responsible for this final decision. He is

considered one of the best Cuban writers of the twentieth century.

The pages of this book constitute the tribute of a group of creators to Reinaldo Arenas, the

most original, versatile, carefree and angry writer of his generation. With writings about Reinaldo

Arenas, his life and his work by Luis de la Paz, Joaquín Gálvez, William Navarrete, José Abreu, Pío

Serrano, Lourdes Arencibia, Julio Hernández Miyares, Carlos Victoria, Rodolfo Martínez Sotomayor,

Armando de Armas, Nicolás Abreu, Héctor Santiago, Nedda F. De Anhalt, Antonio Conte y

Esteban Luis Cárdenas.

An essential book to enter the amazing world of Reinaldo Arenas, even if it gets dark.

A novelist, intellectual, and political commentator, Reinaldo Arenas (1942-90) has an international reputation for opposing Fidel Castro's regime. Challenging revolutionary cultural regulations, he illegally published his earliest novels in France and Mexico. Later, in his autobiography, Antes de que anochezca (Before Night Falls, Tusquets, 2001), he denounced the unjust persecution and harassment that he suffered for his political views and sexuality. A Cuban exile himself, De la Paz has put together a collection of critical and personal essays by 20 writers. Their divergent points of view present Arenas as a multifaceted intellectual, or, as writer Hector Santiago puts it, as many "Reinaldos Arenas." The collection includes poetry and short stories inspired by the contributors' relationships with Arenas, and short biographical accounts of his life in Cuba and in the United States that are scarcely explored in his autobiography. Overall, the selection focuses on Arenas's resistance to Cuba's publishing regulations, his literary production in the United States, and his constant rewriting of previously smuggled works. Another important theme is Arenas's American-inspired works as a representative of "Marielito" (referring to the 1980s Mariel boat lift) literature. This fascinating approach to this multifaceted writer includes rich and personal biographical data that will interest specialists in Arenas, revolutionary Cuban literature, and in the Latino-informed "Marielito" production. Recommended for public and academic libraries and bookstores. Rafael Ocasio, Agnes Scott Coll., Decatur, GA
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