Ana Menendez has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 6 narrators. The most-rated is Selected Shorts.
Loving Che
Summary
In her brilliant debut novel, Ana Menendez uses her gift for storytelling to paint a sweet but sad, hopeful but despairing, serene and sometimes terror-filled portrait of Cuba in the time of revolution, and Cubans in exile then and now. The memories of an elderly woman provide a glimpse into the private life of a beloved public figure, the world's most charismatic rebel, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.The story begins quietly, in the narrative voice of a young Cuban woman who lives in contemporary Miami. Raised by her grandfather, a Cuban exile, she knows only that he fled turbulent times in Havana in the 1960s, bringing her to Miami when she was hardly more than a baby. These bare facts plus a few lines from a poem by Pablo Neruda are her only key to her mother, her father, her history, and the history of her country. When a package arrives one day, addressed to her, the crumbling letters and fragile photos it contains allow her to piece together the story of her mother, a youthful affair, and the child she bore by a handsome rebel.Loving Che is a brilliant recapturing of revolutionary Cuba, the changing social mores, the hopes and disappointments, the excitement and terror of the times. It is also an erotic fantasy, a glimpse into the private life of a mythic public figure, and an exquisitely crafted meditation on memory, history, and storytelling. Finally, Loving Che is a triumphant unveiling of how the stories we tell about others ultimately become the story of ourselves.
©2003 Ana Menendez (P)2003 HighBridge Company
In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd
Summary
Pushcart Prize winner Ana Menendez landed firmly in the literary landscape last year with the hardcover publication of In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd. Reviewers overwhelmingly agree that she is an important new voice in American fiction: hers is "a bright debut that points to even brighter accomplishments to come" (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times), a tour de force that is "poignant and varied, emotionally vivid and hauntingly melancholy" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "a Cuban odyssey that conjures up Eugene O'Neill-like drama" (Kirkus Reviews). In these linked tales about the Cuban-American experience and the immigrant experience in general, Ana Menendez has instantly established herself as a natural storyteller who "probes with steady humor and astute political insight the dreams versus the realities of her characters" (Elle). From the prizewinning title story - a masterpiece of humor and heartbreak - unfolds a series of family snapshots that illuminate the landscape of an exiled community rich in heritage, memory, and longing for the past. In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd is at once "tender and sharp-fanged" (L.A. Weekly) as Ana Menendez charts the territory from Havana to Coral Gables with unforgettable passion and explores whether any of us are capable, or even truly desirous, of outrunning our origins.
©2001 Ana Menéndez. "In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd" originally appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story. "Amor de Loca Juventud" by Rafael Ortiz. Copyright 1997 by Peer International Corporation. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Selected Shorts
Summary
The cast of characters in this compilation is a menagerie of animals: cats, dogs, birds, even a dragon - and their owners. These stories look at the myriad of experiences, and adventures, that pet ownership can bring. Join a medieval scholar who discovers that not all mythical creatures are extinct, stalk the night with the Cat of Frankenstein, kick that caffeine habit with a class of kindergartners, dance along with a divorcée and her dog, and more!
©2007 Symphony Space, Inc. (P)2007 Symphony Space, Inc.