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Cuban Currency: The Dollar and "Special Period" Fiction. By Esther Whitfield. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. Pp. 217. Afterword. Acknowledgments. Notes. Works Cited. Index. $22.40 paper.
The 1990s is regarded as a pivotal decade in Cuban history. After losing the Soviet Union's economic support through trade and subsidies, Cuba entered what is widely referred to as "The Special Period in Times of Peace." It is a time marked by material deprivation, accentuated social angst and targeted government efforts to combat the crisis, including the legalization of the dollar and the implementation of measures aimed at increasing foreign investments through the expansion of tourism. The subsequent and sudden rush of capitalist elements operating within and alongside socialist frameworks would profoundly affect Cuba's socio-economic fabric and ultimately impact its cultural production. Centering on this dynamic and on the literary output of the special period, Whitfield's relevant and well-written book closely examines how certain Cuban writers incorporated the period's economic markers, especially the U.S. dollar and the links between writing and money, into...