Dan Durán is clueless, and Silvia, his cunning bride, knows it all too well. As a seasoned, trained linguist, he is artful in the interpretation of meaning; as a woman, she outwits him at every turn, keeping him in a state of permanent perplexity. The one thing they have in common is a completely different thing in each one’s mind: a common means to different ends. An endless succession of mind games ensues as Daniel and Silvia pursue divergent goals that neither one of them fully understands. Charged with erotic tension and sardonic wit, the story unfolds in sunny Caribbean beaches and shady dance halls up and down the Americas, to the driving rhythm and taut, dynamic prose that make Mr. Potes’s novella of dysfunctional romance a relentlessly surprising read. A thoroughly bicultural, offbeat tale of star-crossed lovers, Guantánamo is also a unique portrait of its time, with thought-provoking insight into the mystery that is America.
