Say Hello to My Little Friend

In this captivating narrative, author Jennine Capó Crucet immerses readers in the life of Ismael Reyes, a young man trying to come to terms with his Cuban heritage and the truth about his mother while navigating both the glamour and the danger of Miami.

This is one way to describe this novel, and it’s not wrong. But neither is it quite right. What this summary leaves out is that Reyes needs to find another job, since lawyers have informed him that impersonating the rapper Pitbull at parties is not a viable career choice, and that, confronted by this impasse, he has decided to model his life on Tony Montana, as portrayed by Al Pacino.

While savvy readers may have guessed the Scarface connection from the title, it seems safe to assume that few will anticipate the role that Lolita — an orca imprisoned in a tiny tank in the Miami Seaquarium — plays in Reyes’ life.

Indeed, to call this a novel about Reyes at all is maybe to miss the point. Is Lolita a supporting player in Reyes’ story, or is he a supporting character in hers? One thing that should be clear by now is that Crucet isn’t interested in presenting a straightforward narrative, one with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

For both Lolita and Reyes, the beginning never ends. Lolita spends many lonely decades remembering what it was like to be part of a community. Reyes’ need to know how he got from Cuba to the United States when he was 7 overrides his instinct for self-preservation.

Crucet fills a whole chapter listing Miami cliches that a novel such as hers should maybe contain more of — cigars, thongs, music, food smells, color — while also asking if we’re looking for Pitbull Miami or Miami Vice Miami, because they are not the same, and neither one is the real Miami. None of this is to say that Crucet sacrifices story for postmodern flourishes. Both Reyes and the whale are singularly compelling characters, and both will break your heart.

Crucet was born to Cuban parents and raised in Miami, Florida. Her debut novel is “Make Your Home Among Strangers” (2015).