In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd is a collection of eleven short stories. The collection features a mix of fiction, meta-fiction and allegory. They explore a number of themes such as truth and memory, nostalgia, and dislocation. Largely set in Miami each story revolves around the experiences of Cuban immigrants and their American-born offspring and relate to personal relationships and immigration.

The first and last stories, “In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd” and “Her Mother’s House,” look at the experiences of first- and second-generation Cuban Americans.

In the first story, Máximo, emigrates to America along with his wife where they reinvent themselves as restaurateurs, however the sense of dislocation remains. After work, they and their staff of fellow Cuban immigrants exchange stories about Cuba that begin hopefully but end in despair as they realise their nostalgia for the past and the reality are two very different beasts.

In “Her Mother’s House”, Lisette, a reporter who grew up in Miami, travels to Cuba in the expectation that she will find the truth about her identity. Instead, she experiences the same cocktail of hope and despair felt by older immigrants.

Seven of the other stories work on a meta-fictional level: questioning the reliability of memory and charting the emotional toll of losing one’s home, whether that be a physical one (Cuba) or an emotional one (a relationship). The remaining four stories use allegory for much the same purpose.

Now I should point out at this juncture that I'm not usually a fan of short story collections as I generally find that some work whilst others don't for me. These are no different. I enjoyed some, 'The Perfect Fruit' and 'Story of a Parrot', whilst others less so, in particular 'Confusing the Saints' which felt out of step with the other stories. However, I did admire Ana Menendez's writing style and found the tales generally interesting and thought provoking. ( )

This book was a decent read. Being Cuban, it certainly brought back memories of growing up in a Cuban household. I would be interested in getting the opinion of a Cuban female about this book,as many of the stories told were from the female perspective. Is this what Cuban females really think? I am curious.

This was a collection of short stories showing different aspects of Cuban culture. My favorites of these short stories was, of course, the title story "In Cuba I was a German Shepherd". An interesting perspective into the life of an aging Cuban refugee turned professional domino player. I also enjoyed "Miami Relatives". Believe it or not, some of the lunacy in this story is not far from the truth in Cuban culture.

I did not really enjoy Ana Menedez's style of writing. I felt her to be using too many metaphors and leaving the reader to in essence, "read between the lines". When reading these stories, the implications the author left the reader with could be taken in any number of different directions. Non Hispanics will have a tough time with this book as some of the character responses are in Spanish and they are more symbolic responses rather than literal.

Otherwise, this was a good collection of stories. I recommend it for any Cuban American because it will bring that sense of nostalgia to your world. You end up laughing at some of the characters and keep thinking to yourself,"What, does every Cuban family have an uncle like that?"

A few months ago, I posted in one book community or another, asking for recommendations of Cuban authors. At last count I've read more than 30 non-fiction books involving Cuban history and/or politics, but hadn't read much fiction. This was one of the first books recommended to me and I was really excited to read it.

While I liked it overall, I had a few problems with it. First of all, it was a collection of short stories. I am not typically a fan of short stories. Though the few collections that really hit me are worth the majority that I hate. However, this series was pretty much the epitome of what I dislike about short stories. Instead of really being a collection of unrelated stories, it was a series of related stories that should have really had a more cohesive narrative and just been a novel. When this happens, when a collection of short stories has every story with the same narrator (like jerkwad David Sedaris, for example), it just makes me think the writer was too lazy to put in the time making it a novel.

Second of all, the stories were really of a 2nd generation Cuban-American living in Miami. A few of the stories were of her homeland, but for the most part it was a book about being the child of an immigrant and growing up in a community that's made largely of immigrants. While that's an interesting enough topic, I've had enough friends in similar situations that I don't really need to read a series of short stories about it.

The writing was fine, but nothing particularly special. If it had been the right subject matter, I think I would have liked the writing more. It was very simple and the point was obviously to tell a story, rather than to fill the pages with flowery prose.

In summation : If someone ever asks me for a recommendation of a book of short stories about being raised in the U.S. as the child of Cuban immigrants, and wants the book in question to be easy to read, I'll know what to recommend. ( )

Ana Menedez's stories, all concerned with the exiled Cuban community in Miami, are beautifully written, wry, and melancholy. The title of the book refers to a joke about Juanito, a mangy dog from Cuba who lands in Miami and is spurned by an impeccably groomed French poodle. He protests: "Pardon me, your highness,,,, here in America, I may be a short, insignificant mutt, but in Cuba I was a German shepherd."

Menendez paints her members of the Cuban community (almost all from the wealthy first-wave of exiles) as suffering from a variety of displacement disorders. As the years go by, and their hopes of returning to Cuba fade, their children grow up, some marry outside the Cuban community (usually unhappily), they regain prosperity in a variety of commercial ventures, but there is little sense of assimilation into a broader American society. These stories are soaked in nostalgia and longing. I will be very interested to see if in her new book, Menendez moves on into the younger generations to explore that assimilation process. ( )

Such sensitivity... WOW! I'm awed! Folks, this is the best book I've read in 2005. I don't hand out such credits easily. Totally worth your time if emotions are part of your life! ( )