Critics praise novel about Cuba in '50s

Book reviewers are kind to Rachel Kushner, whose first novel, Telex From Cuba, was published this weekend by Scribner. The plot is set in Oriente province during the six years prior to the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista and deals with the lives of Americans who worked for the United Fruit Company and the Nicaro nickel mines. Sample comments:

• The New York Times describes the novel as "multilayered and absorbing," a book whose "real draws are its complex relationships and well-researched cultural context." Kushner's "intimate knowledge of her novel’s world and characters" contributes to make Telex "a dreamy, sweet-tart meditation on a vanished way of life and a failed attempt to make the world over in America’s image."

• Kushner's "compelling debut novel" recreates "the crisp world of Anglo privilege [Castro's revolution] overturned," says the Los Angeles Times in a review that includes a long interview with the author. Kushner's account of her research in Cuba makes for instructive reading.
• According to Publishers Weekly, "Kushner's colorful, character-driven debut succinctly captures the essence of life for a gilded circle of American expats in pre-Castro Cuba, chronicling a mélange of philandering spouses, privileged carousers and their rebellious children."
• Telex "is a work of great care and research [...] recreating a place that history has erased from the map," says Book Forum. "Kushner is adept at profound description and real suspense."

To read other reviews, do a Google search on RACHEL KUSHNER and TELEX.
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.