Oscar Mandinga, great-grandchild of the founders of a small hamlet of wooden sha
cks and red earth deep in the Cuban hinterland, is a sardonic teller of tales-so
me taller than others-of slavery, revolution, family secrets, love, and identity
, spanning four generations.But one day Oscar wakes to find himself utterly alon
e in the world. As the sole descendant of his family line, he is not sure what t
o do or where he should go, but in the midst of this uncertainty, he holds fast
to what his grandfather always told him: "No man knows who he is until he knows
his past, his history, the history of his country."As Oscar sets out to find his
ancestral village of Pata de Puerco and the meaning of the magical pig's-foot a
mulet he has inherited, the search for his country's hidden history becomes enta
ngled with his search for the truth about himself and his family.Ambitious in sc
ope yet intimate in tone, full of dark comedy, magical history, and startling re
velations, "Pig's Foot" is a dazzling evocation of Cuba's tumultuous history, an
d a spell-binding debut.
