![]() And putting her in the book - she was a real surprise, but she was sort of the key to unlocking the whole thing. It was a place I visited as a child, a place that I think is deeply connected to a sense of Miami childhood for a lot of people. You know, the water is coming through the city, and anywhere that water can go, the story can go. PFEIFFER: There's a climate change element to this. ![]() When I started writing this novel in 2013, it was Izzy's story, and it definitely was coming from a place of, like, satire, sarcasm, a sense of, like, you know, if this - if the publishing industry wants "Scarface" lite, why don't I just give it to them? And it wasn't until I realized that so much of the way the novel was going to be told was through the voice of Miami but specifically Miami's water. What did you want to do by making a whale a central character?ĬAPO CRUCET: I don't know what I wanted to do.ĬAPO CRUCET: I think she sort of emerged. We also learn what she's thinking as she swims around, and basically, she's trying not to lose her mind. She's been living for decades, tragically, in a cramped tank at a Miami aquarium. ![]() And the novel, you know, actually begins with her and her capture from her home. And really, I couldn't figure out Izzy until I figured out Lolita, the captive orca who sort of his story gets filtered through. There seemed to be bigger temptations, bigger risks. And that was sort of your way through or a way out. And I think that's a real - that's a quality or a characteristic of growing up in Miami, I think for - and I can only speak for myself, but it's my experience that as a young woman, the answer was sort of education and pushing yourself really hard and going to school and going to college and really excelling in that world. I think I was interested in seeing the ways that people sort of think they've got to become something, but they don't exactly know what that something is. Why? What does that tell us about your view of Miami and what it does to men?ĬAPO CRUCET: Oh, man. The book kind of portrays a lot of them as ridiculous. So he's - instead, he's trying to become a real-life Tony Montana, Al Pacino's character in "Scarface." There is this running theme in your book of young men in Miami who have lost their way or who can't find their way. PFEIFFER: The main character, Izzy, has been trying to make a living by impersonating the Miami singer Pitbull, but for legal reasons, that comes to an end. And then when people take the movie seriously, I'm always really confused by that because, like, Al Pacino's accent, for instance, doesn't sound even remotely Spanish or Cuban to our ears, right? So I - that's part of what the book takes up is sort of pointing out all the places where the movie is very silly and playfully engage with the film that way. PFEIFFER: Troubling because it felt like unfair stereotypes of Miami.ĬAPO CRUCET: And then on top of that, it's - I mean, for me, "Scarface" is a comedy just 'cause it's so ridiculous. But I went off to college and found out that "Scarface" was kind of a touchstone for folks about what Miami was and who Cuban Americans were, and I found that deeply troubling. I think my goal with this book was in part, if anyone's never seen "Scarface," they can read this book and then never have to actually watch it 'cause they got everything they needed to know. My relationship with the movie is very much love-hate, probably more towards hate. Very gory, very heavy-duty movie.ĬAPO CRUCET: Yeah. I think I might have seen it for the first time at age - far too young, maybe age 9 or 10, which is not the age you should be watching a movie like that. The movie came out around the time I was born. What is your relationship with the movie "Scarface," and why make it such a big part of your novel?ĬAPO CRUCET: I just feel like "Scarface" has always existed. Your book is not a violent crime drama like "Scarface," but the movie is a major theme of the book, and it factors into how your main character sees the world. JENNINE CAPO CRUCET: Thank you so much for having me, Sacha. The novel tells the story of a young Cuban exile named Izzy who's trying to make a life for himself while also trying to figure out a mystery from his past. And in both her book and the movie, the city of Miami is a central character. That same line is now the title of a new book by Jennine Capo Crucet. ![]() He says.ĪL PACINO: (As Tony Montana) Say hello to my new friend. If you've seen the 1983 movie "Scarface," you may remember an iconic line by Al Pacino.
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