"How To Leave Hialeah" by Jennine Capó Crucet (***1/2)

October 5, 2009 11:47 a.m. EST

Miami, FL (CNS) - University of Iowa Press

169 Pages

Jennine Capó Crucet paints what's sure to be an awfully familiar portrait to South Florida residents in her book, "How To Leave Hialeah," and for others, its a true guide to the culture in Miami that Lonely Planet can't cover in their books. Instead, "How To Leave Hialeah" is a loosely connected group of chapters that chronicle the Cuban-American author's experiences in the Hispanic-filled neighborhoods of the city.

The author's stories, often funny, often poignant, recall the more traditional and non-traditional aspects of her life and also takes on the viewpoints of others. Within the book's 170 pages, she weaves a cast of characters that all bring to mind the very real characters we find day-in and out, especially if you're familiar with the author's stomping grounds.

Chapters like "Noche Buena" take readers to her Tia's house for Christmas where "two hundred pounds" of food and some eccentric characters fill the living room, and others like "Men Who Punched Me in the Face" are painstakingly honest and reacher into deeper archetypal emotions.

Grounded in realism and crafted with an at times immersive, culturally and emotionally rich narrative, Crucet abandons any narrative formulas for the only real recurring voice in the book, her unmistakable own and the title city, tie all the loose ends together.