The Strange Case of Rachel K

by Rachel Kushner

Overview

Three early stories of myth, regime, and harlotry by the acclaimed author of The Flamethrowers.

An explorer’s whereabouts keeps a queen in waiting; a faith healer’s illegal radio broadcasts give hope to an oppressed people; a president’s offer of ice cream surprises a prostitute expecting to cooperate fully — the three short fictions gathered in The Great Exception build into a vision of Cuba that is black-humored, brutal, and beautiful. Written prior to the publication of Rachel Kushner’s first acclaimed novel Telex From Cuba, these stories, like Roberto Bolaño’s Antwerp, burst forth with the genesis of her fictional universe as though fired from a cannon. From the mythical title story, to the ominous “Debouchment” — originally published in her too short-lived journal Soft Targets — to the sexy and noirish “Strange Case of Rachel K,” this is Kushner saddling up for a journey into the wilds of the modern novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811224215
Publisher:	New Directions Publishing Corporation
Publication date:	03/24/2015
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	4.70(w) x 7.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Rachel Kushner is the bestselling author of The Flamethrowers, Telex from Cuba, and The Mars Room.

Editorial Reviews

02/09/2015
Kushner (The Flamethrowers) imagines Cuban history in this small collection of strong prose. In “The Great Exception," a Portuguese admiral reminiscent of Christopher Columbus in 1492 discovers Cuba. Hundreds of years later, a woman named Aloha moves from Colorado to Havana where she discovers a new life with Ferdinand K, a Frenchman who sells fake war footage of naval battles between American and Spanish fleets. In “Debouchment," a conversation among patrons at a nightclub, and an illegal radio broadcast by a man known as “the faith healer" delve into violent political conflicts that shaped Cuba in the 20th century. And, in the title story, Christian de la Mazière, the fictionalized French Nazi from Kushner's novel, Telex from Cuba, shares an intimate talk with cabaret dancer Rachel K about her origins and her relationships with both President Carlos Prío Socarrás and the dictator Fulgencio Batista. These narratives are bridged by characters, place, and resurfacing imagery. Kushner's writing is fluid and clear and possesses a rhythm as determined as an ocean current. She navigates the limits of language, seeking new or uncommon words like “batiking" and “flumed" to fit the descriptions of the world she maps. In this slim book, readers will encounter three stories of terrific depth. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

2014-11-29
Three offbeat tales that border on the surreal yet are curiously (and paradoxically) anchored in a version of historical reality.In the first story, "The Great Exception," an unnamed admiral tells a queen he believes the Earth is pear-shaped rather than round and requests money to allow him to fulfill his vision of exploration. This she grants him, though his voyage concludes with the natives of "Kuba" cooking and eating him. (First, however, they sever his toes so he can't "tromp inland and subjugate the island.") While awaiting word of the disposition of the admiral's voyage, the queen pines for him with an intensity bordering on the sexual. In "Debouchment," despite a woman's disclaimer that life on an island (also reminiscent of Cuba) is not especially violent, a faith healer provides hope to the people in his illegal radio broadcasts—all this in a landscape where there are "humans hanging in the trees beyond the security fence." The final story is the most complex and subtle, and it gives the collection its title. The action unfolds explicitly in Havana in 1952 against a backdrop of Batista's rise to power; it focuses on the mysterious Rachel K, a "zazou" dancer from Paris who entertains (in all senses) her male audience and particularly gets the attention of Christian de la Mazière, a French Nazi now living on the island after having been sentenced to five years in a rather cushy prison. A short, quirky and sometimes-compelling book from the author of The Flamethrowers (2013).

Kirkus Reviews

"Her prose has a poise and wariness and moral graininess that puts you in the mind of weary-souled visionaries like Robert Stone and Joan Didion."

The New York Times Book Review - Dwight Garner

"Full of vibrantly different stories and histories, all of them particular, all of them brilliantly alive."

The New Yorker - James Wood

"Kushner is the champion of something strange, wonderful and real."

Rivka Galchen