Cristina Garcia

Born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in New York City, Cristina Garcia uses her writing to examine critical questions close to the hearts of millions of Americans: What does it mean for someone with Hispanic roots to achieve comfort, familiarity and success within mainstream American culture? What are the benefits of this duality--and what are the drawbacks and penalties?

Garcia's debut novel, the bestselling Dreaming in Cuban , was nominated for the National Book Award. The New York Times called it "remarkable," and pegged her as "a magical new writer. . .blessed with a poet's ear for language, a historian's fascination with the past and a musician's intuitive understanding of the ebb and flow of emotion." She has since written three equally acclaimed novels, The Aguero Sisters , Monkey Hunting and A Handbook to Luck , all of which further showcase her gift for vividly capturing the intersection where the personal and the political collide in bicultural experience.