Telex from Cuba is the 2008 debut novel by writer Rachel Kushner . The novel follows a group of anglo-expatriates living in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution and was loosely based on Kushner 's mother's experience growing up in Cuba on territory occupied by the United Fruit Company .
19-480: Rachel Kushner (born October 7, 1968) is an American writer, known for her novels Telex from Cuba (2008), The Flamethrowers (2013), The Mars Room (2018), and Creation Lake (2024). Kushner was born in Eugene, Oregon , the daughter of two scientists she has called "deeply unconventional people from the beatnik generation." Her mother is part of a family of St. Louis Unitarians from Cuba while her father
38-487: A starred review , Kirkus Reviews called the novel "Soundly researched and gorgeously written, the creative story also serves as a history lesson. An imaginative work that brings Cuban-American history to life." Paramount Television and Anonymous Content are producing a series based on the novel. The adaptation is by Phyllis Nagy and she will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Rosalie Swedlin and Adam Shulman of Anonymous Content are also executive producing
57-471: A "multi-layered and absorbing" novel whose "sharp observations about human nature and colonialist bias provide a deep understanding of the revolution's causes." Telex from Cuba was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award. Kushner's editor is Nan Graham. Kushner's second novel, The Flamethrowers , was published by Scribner in April 2013. Vanity Fair hailed it for its "blazing prose," which "ignites
76-796: A project by the " Breaking the Silence " organization, to write an article for a book on the Israeli occupation , to mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War . Edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman , the book was published as Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation in June 2017. During the Gaza War, she announced that she supports a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, including publishers and literary festivals. She
95-400: Is of Jewish ancestry. Her mother arranged after-school work for her straightening and alphabetizing books at a feminist bookstore when she was five years old, and Kushner says "it was instilled in me that I was going to be a writer of some kind from a young age." Kushner moved with her family to San Francisco in 1979. When she was 16, she began her bachelor's degree in political economy at
114-554: Is rumoured to have killed a man back in America. The Carringtons are a couple who lived in Latin America for most of their lives and have a bitter acerbic marriage. Tip Carrington regularly cheats on his wife, and Mrs. Carrington has turned to alcohol in order to help. In 1958, the rebel forces begin to grow stronger and gain sympathy from several of the children of the white expatriates. K.C's older brother Del runs off to join
133-517: Is the American novelist Don DeLillo . Kushner's first novel, Telex from Cuba , was published by Scribner in July 2008. She got the idea for her novel after completing her MFA in 2000, and she made three long trips to Cuba over the six years it took her to write the book. Telex from Cuba was the cover review of the July 6, 2008 issue of The New York Times Book Review , where it was described as
152-691: The United Fruit Company . Several Americans who, back home, would have been of different classes and never mixed, become close while living in Cuba . K.C. Stites, the son of the CEO, with the encouragement of his mother, grows close with Everly Lederer, the daughter of a man who was considered weak and ineffectual back home. His best friend is from the Allain family whom the Stites consider hillbillys and who
171-648: The University of California, Berkeley , with an emphasis on United States foreign policy in Latin America. Kushner lived as an exchange student in Italy when she was 18; upon completing her Bachelor of Arts , she lived in San Francisco , working at nightclubs. At 26, she enrolled in the fiction program at Columbia University and earned a MFA degree in creative writing in 2000. One of her influences
190-447: The 70s New York art scene and Italian underground." In The New Yorker , critic James Wood praised the book as "scintillatingly alive. It ripples with stories, anecdotes, set-piece monologues, crafty egotistical tall tales, and hapless adventures: Kushner is never not telling a story... It succeeds because it is so full of vibrantly different stories and histories, all of them particular, all of them brilliantly alive." The Flamethrowers
209-411: The book built on themes from Kushner's previous novels, singling out "failures of self-liberation" as a key theme in her work. Slate and The New Republic were similarly positive, with the former noting that the novel explored "universal" ideas and the latter praising the novel's plot. The Wall Street Journal was more negative, criticizing the book's pacing and what the reviewer described as
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#1732793332261228-540: The book, along with time spent with performance artists in the 1980s. The novel was published in the United States by Scribner on September 3, 2024. It was published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape . According to review aggregator Book Marks, Creation Lake received a generally positive response from critics. Kirkus Reviews positively described the book as being a "deft, brainy take on
247-428: The espionage novel." Publishers Weekly praised the novel's themes and Kushner's integration of philosophical discussion into the narrative. NPR noted that Kushner's writing used clear language and did not lean into realism, with Kushner instead crafting a disturbing, threatening world, while The Guardian ' s Anthony Cummings described the book as being "hugely enjoyable," praising the characters and worldview of
266-526: The novel. M. John Harrison , also writing in The Guardian , praised Kushner's characterization of Sadie, describing the character as "complex and fascinating." Dwight Garner , writing in The New York Times , described the novel as an improvement over Kushner's previous works and noted the integration of philosophy and historical flashbacks into the story. The Atlantic noted that
285-477: The rebels and helps to organize attacks against his father. After a bomb goes off in the United Fruit Company 's prestigious club, the white Americans are forced to evacuate by their government. The novel received positive reviews upon its release. A review for The New York Times called the style of the novel "sure and sharp, studded with illuminating images." The Guardian dubbed it "an epic and enjoyable look at wealth tainted by loss in expatriate Cuba." In
304-550: The series. Creation Lake Creation Lake is a 2024 novel by Rachel Kushner . It was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize . "Sadie Smith," a pseudonymous freelance spy, works to undermine environmental activists. After being hired to disrupt a farming cooperative in France, she begins to suspect that her mission risks undermining her own humanity. Creation Lake is Kushner's fourth novel. She has cited Jean-Patrick Manchette and John le Carré as inspirations for
323-547: Was a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award , and it was named a top book of 2013 by New York , Time , The New Yorker , O, The Oprah Magazine , The New York Times Book Review , Los Angeles Times , San Francisco Chronicle , Vogue , The Wall Street Journal , Salon.com , Slate , The Daily Beast , Flavorwire , The Millions , The Jewish Daily Forward , and Austin American-Statesman . Kushner's third novel, The Mars Room ,
342-516: Was an original signatory of the manifesto "Refusing Complicity in Israel's Literary Institutions". Kushner lives in Los Angeles , California , with her husband Jason Smith and their son Remy. Telex from Cuba Set in Cuba during Fulgencio Batista 's reign as dictator, the novel follows the intersecting lives of several families of white American expatriates, the men of which work for
361-920: Was published by Scribner in May 2018. In September 2018 it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize . Her 2024 novel Creation Lake was longlisted for the Booker Prize , and then shortlisted by September 2024. It was also longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction . After completing her MFA, Kushner lived in New York City for eight years, where she was an editor at Grand Street and BOMB . She has written widely on contemporary art, including numerous features in Artforum . In 2016, Kushner visited Israel , as part of
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