Cuban government 'not shocked by latest Gutierrez novel'
18th February 2010
Pedro Juan Gutierrez's latest account of Cuban society is unlikely to shock the country's government with its iconoclasm, one reviewer has argued.
Writing in the Guardian, John Keenan claimed Our GG in Havana, the English translation of which is released today, contains little that a staunch defender of the Cuban communist revolution would take issue with.
'The portrayal of pre-revolutionary Havana as a degenerate cesspool fits perfectly with the communists' version of Cuba's history,' the commentator explained.
Keenan added that Our GG in Havana is one of the handful of Gutierrez books which have been published in his native country, as it avoids criticising the Cuban regime as directly as his Dirty Havana Trilogy did.
He also pointed out that the writer has retained his trademark cocksure and downbeat style in the new novel, which has won him comparisons with Raymond Carver and Charles Bukowski.
In addition, fans of Gutierrez will be heartened to discover the protagonist of the new work, a celebrated author called GG, retains the tastes of his typical heroes, such as hard drinking and an interest in Havana's seedy nightlife.
Other English translated works by the writer include Tropical Animal and The Insatiable Spiderman.