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United States of Banana Audiobook
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(4.05) - 21 listener ratings
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Giannina Braschi explores the cultural and political journey of nearly 50 million Hispanic Americans living in the United States in this explosive new work of fiction, her first written in originally in English. United States of Banana takes place at the Statue of Liberty in post-9/11 New York City, where Hamlet, Zarathustra, and Giannina are on a quest to free the Puerto Rican prisoner Segismundo. Segismundo has been imprisoned for more than one hundred years, hidden away by his father, the king of the United States of Banana, for the crime of having been born. But when the king remarries, he frees his son, and for the sake of reconciliation, makes Puerto Rico the fifty-first state and grants American passports to all Latin American citizens. This staggering show of benevolence rocks the global community, causing an unexpected power shift with far-reaching implications. In a world struggling to realign itself in favor of liberty, United States of Banana is a force to be reckoned with in literature, art, and politics.
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"Great Read! It was even cooler to meet her in person & hear her read portions of it."
— Mercedes (5 out of 5 stars)
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“The ire and irony make for an explosive combination and a very exciting read.”
— Evergreen Review -
“Revolutionary in subject and form, United States of Banana is a beautifully written declaration of personal independence. Giannina Braschi’s take on U.S. relations with our southern neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean, most especially Puerto Rico, is an eye-opener. The ire and irony make for an explosive combination and a very exciting read.
— Barney Rosset, The Evergreen Review -
The best work of art on the subject of September 11th that I have ever experienced.
— Mircea Cărtărescu, author of Nostalgia -
Good poets write great poems. Great poets create a new language. Giannina Braschi is a brilliant artist who has invented a syntax that reveals how we think, suffer, and take delight in the twenty-first century. Though the tone can be playful, her work has deep roots in the subversive side of classical literature. The scale is epic.
— D.Nurkse, author of The Fall and The Border Kingdom
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About Giannina Braschi
Giannina Braschi is a native of Puerto Rico and an influential and versatile writer of poetry, fiction, and essays. She was a tennis champion and fashion model during her youth in San Juan, before moving to Madrid to study with the Spanish poets Carlos Busoño and Claudio Rodriguez. She lived in Paris, Rome, and London before settling in New York, where she has taught at Rutgers University, City University, and Colgate University. She holds a PhD in Golden Age Spanish literature and has written on Cervantes, Garcilaso, Lorca, Machado, Vallejo, and Bécquer. Her cutting-edge work in Spanish, Spanglish, and English has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, el diario, PEN American Center, Ford Foundation, Danforth Scholarship, InterAmericas, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, and Reed Foundation. She currently serves as a literary judge for the PEN Book Awards.
About Adriana Sananes
Adriana Sananes is an award-winning actress and an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. She narrated the documentary Children of Fate, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and nominated for an Academy Award, and has recorded over eighty bestsellers including Loving Che, The Dark Bride, My Sister Frida, The Dirty Girls Social Club, the Grammy-nominated Brown Bear Series by Eric Carle, and the Audie-nominated How the García Girls Lost Their Accent by Julia Álvarez.