Product Description

Echoing the raw vitality of Henry Miller, Tropical Animal brings the return of the already infamous Pedro Juan, the seductive protagonist at the heart of Dirty Havana Trilogy. Pursued by Gloria, a proud and sophisticated prostitute on a mission to curb his predatory instincts, Pedro Juan is holed up in his crumbling Havana apartment, painting, with a growing sense of melancholy as he observes the lives of the hustlers, hipsters, and hookers in the city below him. An invitation to Sweden, of all placescold, unwelcoming, the antithesis of Pedro's Cubagives him an official way out, and the phone manner of his potential hostess offers incentive enough for him to leave for the literary life in Europe. However, once there he finds himself haunted by memories of the passionate Gloria and increasingly uninspired by his new environment. Does Pedro Juan, legendary seducer and imbiber of hard liquor, finally have to admit that his game is overto be replaced by this more balanced, more secure, colder existence? In tight, tough prose Pedro Juan Gutirrez explores human animalism with a joyous fearlessness absent from much of our contemporary culture and sheds a brilliant new light into the depths and complexities of the soul.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2602267 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
"A lewd, impious and brilliant novel of contemporary Cuba."

Customer Reviews

The Real Cuba
I loved this book. It's not a wonderful as Dirty Havana Trilogy but it certainly is a far cry from a lot books on Cuba that mysticise the country.

It's an honestly written story that feels real and not just another story to read and put on your book shelves. If you want to know the real Cuba start reading books from real writers like Pedro Juan. This is a good starting place.

Hotter than a Cuban night
Pedro Juan, the anti-hero, is a straight talking, womanising, hard living, hard drinking, Cuban artist. He hangs out with the whores and low life in Cuba, soaking up the louche living, trying to be as free and easy as possible. Upon arriving in Sweden he finds himself set adrift from his usual life and trying to cope with the slow normalcy of the Scandinavian way of life. Living with Agneta he tries to introduce her to the pleasures of pleasure, while wishing he was back home with his Cuban girl, Gloria.

'Tropical Animal' is a must read if you enjoyed 'Dirty Havana Trilogy', or if you enjoy the writing of Bukowski or Henry Miller. The novel portrays the central character's sensual life to the full with short chapters and short sharp sentences. This is a life lived for the moment not for the future.

About as poor as it gets
I read Dirty Havan and persevered with it thru the sub-porn to see if there was a writer lurking there underneath the trashy sensationalism.
I subsequently read The Insatiable Spiderwoman (which is considerably better and does indeed contain some decent writing)
This is a return to the trashy Havana sensationalism of Dirty Havana and is without any saving grace. The same strands are continued with an excursion to Sweden w Pedro Juan as an etranger.
I really am not sure why Gutierrez keeps up this trite porn drivel - probably because fools will buy it for the sensationalist porn.
If you want to read Cuban writers then go elsewhere and I would recommend starting with Lezama Lima and Marti.
This has few redeeming features and I say this as a much travelled Cuban admirer. It gives a gross overall flavour of Havana Central - of SOME people from Central. It is not as such about Cuba.