Ray Pride

The Cuban-born author—who spends her time crafting within these city limits—has two novels under her belt, "Days of Awe" and "Memory Mambo," a short-story collection sweetly titled "We Came All the Way From Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?" and she was the editor of "Havana Noir," an addition to Akashic’s series of love letters to shadows, smoke and dimly lit alleyways (oh, she’s also an accomplished journalist). Her first book of poetry, called "This Is What Happened in Our Other Life," is predictably lovely, if far too brief. From "Sleeping Apart": "The nightmare itself/the somnambulist, time-zone/zombie unaware/bumping the furniture, telephone/eating its own tail." From "Sunday": "It was love that gave them careers/new wares, made them/dark-haired girls sifting rice/checking magazines for quick tests titled:/"Do you know your lover?"/"Is your marriage happy?"/ Everyday the air of nitrous oxide." That’s just a sample of the simple, serene sensibility Obejas can surface.

Achy Obejas reads her work January 9 at Women and Children First Bookstore, 5233 North Clark, (773)769-9299, at 7pm. Free.

(2007-12-31)

Also by Ray Pride

Eagle-Eyed
This slacker avant-le-lettre Austin fable was obscure then and would remain obscure now if not for the discovery of a mint print of the shot-on-16mm black-and-white, and the digital restoration of its gamy glories
(2007-12-26)

Tip of the Week
Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage," debuting on the same date as "presenter" Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" opened last year, is yet one more example of the thriving Spanish film industry, which still finds room for latter-day cosmopolitan melodramas after the style of Almodovar while encouraging other talents with a fondness for the otherworldly
(2007-12-26)

Holiday Movie Preview
Dour and dismal and downbeat and dark are a few of my favorite things… but this holiday season's movies are ridiculously melancholy, not only the ones released during Christmas week, but the holdovers that still have drawing power
(2007-12-18)

Savage Grace
Note-perfect, Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages" puts all too much American moviemaking to shame. I've written about her second feature a lot since its Sundance debut in January, but it's solid: life is undeniably funny, even in its most uncomfortable moments, and Jenkins' screenplay and direction offer a stellar showcase for the substantial Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney and Philip Bosco
(2007-12-18)

Tip of the Week
(2007-12-18)

$128 Million Later
(2007-12-11)

Tip of the Week
(2007-12-11)

Stiff Upper Brit
(2007-12-04)

Tip of the Week
(2007-12-04)

Everything is Wide-Eyed
(2007-11-27)

Tip of the Week
(2007-11-27)

Blurred
(2007-11-19)

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