Tropics of History

ALAN WEST is Professor of Spanish at Babson College. A Cuban-born writer, he is author of Being America, Roberto Clemente: A Baseball Legend, and Jose Marti: Man of Poetry, Soldier of Freedom. His most recent book of poems is the bilingual Dar nombres a la lluvia/Finding Voices in the Rain. West has translated the works of Elena Poniatowska, Luis Rafael Sanchez, Rosario Ferre, and Nancy Morejon.

• A Suggestion for the Reader Introduction: Tropics of History: Cuba Imagined The Stone and Its Images: The Poetry of Nancy Morejon History as Stepping Razor: Tragedy and Revolution in Alejo Carpentier's Explosion in a Cathedral History and Its Doubles: The Master-Slave Dialectic, or What Happens When Hegel Meets the Keystone Cops (Virgilio Pinera) Dulce Maria Loynaz: The House Where the Nation Dreams Dragons and Theurgy: Jose Lezama Lima's Images of History Cross Dressing as Transculturation in Three Novels by Severo Sarduy Paradigms Lost: The Manigua of Meaning Living Tropes, Living Hopes Appendix: Cuban History: An Overview Bibliography Index