The Cigar Roller Lib/E

Medina, Pablo

ISBN 10: 0786178442 ISBN 13: 9780786178445

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

Amadeo Terra, former cigar-factory worker, is confined in a Florida hospital after a stroke has left him paralyzed. His body no longer works, but his mind is very much alive, as is his ruthless and audacious wit. His only human contact is with the callous nurse who constantly scolds him, the orderly who barely acknowledges him, and the nun who prays for Amadeo's salvation while he fantasizes about what's beneath her habit.

One day Nurse feeds him mango from a baby-food jar, a departure from the usual bland mush, and the taste of it on his tongue brings memories flooding back of his life in Havana. Once a master cigar roller in Cuba and an imperious patriarch of enormous appetites, Amadeo now confronts the long-buried facts of his previously unexamined life.

The Cigar Roller is a hypnotic portrayal of a man compelled to relive his worst failures in order to conjure his fairest memories.

About this title

About the Author:

Pablo Medina came to the United States from Cuba in 1960 at the age of twelve. He is the author of three novels, a memoir, and several volumes of poetry. He chairs the writing concentration at Eugene Lang College of New School University in New York. He lives in New York City.

From AudioFile:

In a beautiful baritone, Stefan Rudniki narrates the life of Amadeo Terra, who lies in a hospital bed unable to move or speak although his thinking process works continually. At the taste of mango from a baby food jar, he begins to recall his former life, at which point we rely on the narrator to change rhythms from the now to then. But there is no change of beat. And why does the narrator read with an accent? As he recalls his early years in Cuba, the colors of his past are enriched with the flavors of Spanish, but the story as read is stuck between the present and the past. J.P. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0786178442
• ISBN 13: 9780786178445
• Binding: Audio CD