Hidden behind a cloak of exotic mystery, Cuba is virtually unknown to American citizens. G. Cabrera Infante -- in Infante's Inferno and several of his other novels -- allows readers to peek behind the curtain surrounding this island and see the vibrant life that existed there before Fidel Castro's regime. Detailing the sexual education and adventures of the author, Infante's Inferno is a lush, erotic, funny book that provides readers with insight into what it was like to grow up in pre-revolutionary Havana. Viewing every girl as a potential lover, and the movies as a place both for entertainment and potential sexual escapades, Cabrera Infante captures the adolescent male mindset with a great deal of fun and self-consciousness. With his hallmark of puns and wordplay -- excellently translated by Suzanne Jill Levine -- Cabrera Infante has hilariously updated the Don Juan myth in a tropical setting.

Mea Cuba is the passionate but often hilarious political autobiography of one of the greatest Cuban writers of the century. Sharply opinionated and brutally honest, it explores the nature of the Cuban revolution and the lives of those it has involved or affected, from political leaders such as Fulgencio Batista, Che Guevara, and Fidel Castro to writers like Alejo Carpentier, Reinaldo Arenas, and Heberto Padilla. Mea Cuba overflows with Cabrera Infante's brilliant wit and ingenious wordplay. But it is also a deeply moving analysis of the tragedies - and political farces - of our time. Profound, incisive, enlightening, and entertaining, Mea Cuba is at once a revealing memoir and a fascinating exploration of life, politics, and literature in Cuba today.