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We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?: Stories
Achy Obejas writes stories about uprooted people. Some, like herself, are Latino immigrants and lesbians; others are men (gay and straight), people with AIDS, addicts, people living marginally, just surviving. As omniscient narrator to her characters' lives, Obejas generously delves into her own memories of exile and alienation to tell stories about women and men who struggle for wholeness and love.
134 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 1994
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About the author
Achy Obejas
46 books151 followersAchy Obejas is the award-winning author of Days of Awe, Memory Mambo and We Came all the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? Her poems, stories and essays have appeared in dozens of anthologies, including Akashic's Chicago Noir. A long time contributor to the Chicago Tribune, she was part of the 2001 investigative team that earned a Pulitzer Prize for the series, “Gateway to Gridlock.” Her articles have appeared in Vanity Fair, Village Voice, The Nation, Playboy, and MS, among others. Currently, she is a music contributor to the Washington Post and the Sor Juana Writer in Residence at DePaul University in Chicago. She was born in Havana
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
February 25, 2022
This collection of short stories is brilliant. It is hilarious, insightful, and very relatable. I had the best time reading this, and I'm surprised people don't know about this book. I think this is one of those books every queer person should read, especially if you're Latinx. It's the first time I laugh out loud multiple times reading something. The characters are so real, and their lives are so odd but in a good way. They are not perfect, but I still rooted for them.
Many of the stories are related to the AIDS epidemic, told from different perspectives, which made me almost cry at some points. It deals with grief, death, and safe sex in an inclusive way. It's the first time I've seen someone bring up HIV and safe sex in lesbian relationships, and how they were also at risk of getting the virus in the 80s. Most of the main characters are Latinx, so there's also a discussion about the intersection between ethnicity, race, and queerness. I especially liked reading about how machismo affects both (queer) men and women.
Some of my favorite quotes:
" 'Look at nature: It's always the males who are glorious, massive and colorful', he says, closing his eyes... And I'm thinking, yeah, but it's the girl lions who kill, and it's the girl birds who lay the eggs. So why do I feel so useless?"(38-39)
"Very few people understand that when we, who are gay and a minority, enter the gay community we are really exchanging one series of expectations for another, one set of stereotypes for another. The worst part is that the gay community doesn't really accept us if we're a minority, but because we want so much to prove to everybody that we made the right decision, we don't always tell the truth". (109)
"One day, as I contemplated buying materials for a hex to cause California to fall off the earth and thus eliminate all chances of happiness for Sandra and her new babe, Lourdes came up with what then seemed like an epiphany". (20)
It was fantastic, and I highly recommend it. Although it's a story about Latinx characters, I feel like different people would gain a lot by reading it.
Many of the stories are related to the AIDS epidemic, told from different perspectives, which made me almost cry at some points. It deals with grief, death, and safe sex in an inclusive way. It's the first time I've seen someone bring up HIV and safe sex in lesbian relationships, and how they were also at risk of getting the virus in the 80s. Most of the main characters are Latinx, so there's also a discussion about the intersection between ethnicity, race, and queerness. I especially liked reading about how machismo affects both (queer) men and women.
Some of my favorite quotes:
" 'Look at nature: It's always the males who are glorious, massive and colorful', he says, closing his eyes... And I'm thinking, yeah, but it's the girl lions who kill, and it's the girl birds who lay the eggs. So why do I feel so useless?"(38-39)
"Very few people understand that when we, who are gay and a minority, enter the gay community we are really exchanging one series of expectations for another, one set of stereotypes for another. The worst part is that the gay community doesn't really accept us if we're a minority, but because we want so much to prove to everybody that we made the right decision, we don't always tell the truth". (109)
"One day, as I contemplated buying materials for a hex to cause California to fall off the earth and thus eliminate all chances of happiness for Sandra and her new babe, Lourdes came up with what then seemed like an epiphany". (20)
It was fantastic, and I highly recommend it. Although it's a story about Latinx characters, I feel like different people would gain a lot by reading it.
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December 14, 2021(solo he leído la historia del título)
me ha parecido muy facilillo de leer, entretenido y muy interesante leer sobre la experiencia migratoria desde Cuba y todo lo q conlleva siendo una mujer queer :) me gustaría leer más de ella
me ha parecido muy facilillo de leer, entretenido y muy interesante leer sobre la experiencia migratoria desde Cuba y todo lo q conlleva siendo una mujer queer :) me gustaría leer más de ella
August 7, 2023
90s queer literature (bonus points if it’s also Caribbean) is now all I look for because of this collection. Undoubtedly one of my most treasured reads.
March 6, 2019
"My body's like Africa at the beginning of time," he says in a barely audible whisper. "The cradleland, I'm housing a most impressive roster of protozoa fungi bacteria single-celled parasites, all kinds of free-living organisms, I'm the Nile, I'm Cleopatra herself."
October 19, 2022
Really good short story collection. Most of the protagonists are Cuban immigrant men and women who are LGBT, others are their lovers. Set largely in the latter half of the 20th century. Nothing spellbinding but overall well-written with no real weaknesses or strengths -- it's very consistent.
December 3, 2025
Yeah so I love this book. This was probably my third or fourth time reading it but I love it all the same. It's easy to read but at the same time completely engaging to the part of me that needs stories. Love love love rereading I love to own this book I love my bookmark that is Rosario's name tag from an event they did the same semester they borrowed this book for LACS 120 how do you say queer in spanish. I know this book is good because certain sentences will come to me suddenly at completely unrelating times. This book is great Achy Obejas writes so confidently into the grey confusion area of crossover in the gay+trans community she really Gets It. but most of all her stories are about BELONGING, or not.
2025: OMG ACCIDENTAL ANNIVERSARY RE-READ OMG OMG OMG!!! Hiiiiiii bookmark from Rosario kisses lysm
2025: OMG ACCIDENTAL ANNIVERSARY RE-READ OMG OMG OMG!!! Hiiiiiii bookmark from Rosario kisses lysm
July 6, 2023
I was looking for a book like this one and I'm so glad to have found it.
February 13, 2024
Devastating. Hilarious. Phenomenal. Gay & lesbian life in the early 90s AIDS crisis feels like a foreign country now, but these stories reel you right into the stress and the fear and the grief and the defiance and above all, the mundane. Real representation is about the little details of being human and entangled in messy relationships.
Couldn't choose a favorite, they're all great differently and splendid as a whole. Pace yourself, read with breaks. Content note for an explicit rape fantasy and plenty of medical trauma.
Couldn't choose a favorite, they're all great differently and splendid as a whole. Pace yourself, read with breaks. Content note for an explicit rape fantasy and plenty of medical trauma.
May 23, 2021
the rating is for "above all a family man" and "forever"
January 31, 2018
I only liked a few stories in here: "The Spouse," "Forever," and "We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?" Reason being, I felt that the other stories didn't really belong in this collection because it didn't seem to talk about Latinx identity and a lesbian identity together. These three stories did.
"The Spouse" spoke about the difficulties a woman experienced with having to marry a guy even though she was a lesbian. She's also said to have been trying to run away from her Latinx identity, presumably as a Mexican. So it makes some sense here. She wanted to be with a woman, and she was becoming more Americanized. However, her family (married and blood-related) remind her that she's Latinx, regardless.
"Forever" is about a woman who's lesbian and Puerto Rican (like me!!), and she writes a column in a newspaper about the difficulties of being gay and a minority. Again, goes with the book's purpose. Other things occur, of course, but this makes sense.
Now "We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?" focused more on Latinx identity than the rest, in my opinion, but it still showed her difficulties. I can kinda get where her parents and herself were coming from honestly. She's Cuban (like me!!), and her family had to escape Cuba with her. Now, I didn't have to escape it. My family did. But I could see where both sides were coming from. Fidel Castro was absolutely awful, despite how Americans tend to glorify him as amazing and wonderful (it's like, then why the migration to the United States and other places if he was so amazing??). Despite how his "revolution" might have seemed like, he was known to abuse human rights, including those of my own family. HOWEVER, I could see where the main character of the story was coming from, because honestly? There was still a lot of racism and less human rights before Fidel Castro came up. Granted, Castro didn't really take away the problem, and only added fuel to the fire. But that there needed to be a revolution? Hell, yes. So, yeah, that's just a long way for me to say that I could understand both sides of the story here.
The rest of the stories didn't belong in this book, in my opinion. I didn't see the purpose of them. These three were the best fit for this book, but the rest... sorry, it didn't really fit.
2.5 stars overall
For the stories I liked?: 3.5 stars overall
"The Spouse" spoke about the difficulties a woman experienced with having to marry a guy even though she was a lesbian. She's also said to have been trying to run away from her Latinx identity, presumably as a Mexican. So it makes some sense here. She wanted to be with a woman, and she was becoming more Americanized. However, her family (married and blood-related) remind her that she's Latinx, regardless.
"Forever" is about a woman who's lesbian and Puerto Rican (like me!!), and she writes a column in a newspaper about the difficulties of being gay and a minority. Again, goes with the book's purpose. Other things occur, of course, but this makes sense.
Now "We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?" focused more on Latinx identity than the rest, in my opinion, but it still showed her difficulties. I can kinda get where her parents and herself were coming from honestly. She's Cuban (like me!!), and her family had to escape Cuba with her. Now, I didn't have to escape it. My family did. But I could see where both sides were coming from. Fidel Castro was absolutely awful, despite how Americans tend to glorify him as amazing and wonderful (it's like, then why the migration to the United States and other places if he was so amazing??). Despite how his "revolution" might have seemed like, he was known to abuse human rights, including those of my own family. HOWEVER, I could see where the main character of the story was coming from, because honestly? There was still a lot of racism and less human rights before Fidel Castro came up. Granted, Castro didn't really take away the problem, and only added fuel to the fire. But that there needed to be a revolution? Hell, yes. So, yeah, that's just a long way for me to say that I could understand both sides of the story here.
The rest of the stories didn't belong in this book, in my opinion. I didn't see the purpose of them. These three were the best fit for this book, but the rest... sorry, it didn't really fit.
2.5 stars overall
For the stories I liked?: 3.5 stars overall
May 29, 2017
One of those books that I respect for its craftsmanship and high-caliber storytelling, but which leaves me with no desire to ever return to it. Mostly because it's so depressing.
There are seven short stories included in this slim volume, and every single one of them is packed with the most morose view of relationships you can imagine. Some of this may be due to the fact that it was published in 1994, a year in which AIDS was the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. Yet even when disease isn't a part of the story, every romance is doomed. "There is no right person," Obejas writes. "We will all love the wrong people, and over and over and over." And, indeed, that's all she writes.
It's written well. It's gritty and realistic. And it's rather unpleasant.
I don't think that every story needs to have a happy ending - many in real life don't, of course - but it's hard to keep reading when you know that the light at the end of the tunnel is simply another train barreling down the tracks to crush you for your idiotic decision to linger, clinging to that one last shred of hope. It's not just that the endings are unhappy. It's that the entire process of every relationship is miserable, from start to finish. I find real life depressing enough; I prefer to spend my time with books that make the world seem a little less bleak.
There are seven short stories included in this slim volume, and every single one of them is packed with the most morose view of relationships you can imagine. Some of this may be due to the fact that it was published in 1994, a year in which AIDS was the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. Yet even when disease isn't a part of the story, every romance is doomed. "There is no right person," Obejas writes. "We will all love the wrong people, and over and over and over." And, indeed, that's all she writes.
It's written well. It's gritty and realistic. And it's rather unpleasant.
I don't think that every story needs to have a happy ending - many in real life don't, of course - but it's hard to keep reading when you know that the light at the end of the tunnel is simply another train barreling down the tracks to crush you for your idiotic decision to linger, clinging to that one last shred of hope. It's not just that the endings are unhappy. It's that the entire process of every relationship is miserable, from start to finish. I find real life depressing enough; I prefer to spend my time with books that make the world seem a little less bleak.
December 9, 2020
This is another collection of culture-centered short stories, like Edwidge Danticat's, that I wanted to really LOVE - and have to confess I didn't. The first few seemed to just ... stop short. Like, how does this one end? Another had a beginning, middle and end, but was so unconvincing I wasn't sure why I was reading it. Obejas, who had a fine hand at dialogue, suddenly had characters yelling at each other in the street in an extended exchange of what sounded about as real as computer-generated talk. I didn't get it.
On the other hand, there were two stories in this collection, one about a man with AIDS back in the mid-90's when this collection was published and another from the point of view of a heroin addict who wakes up from a drug-induced stupor to find the world has gone quite awry, that were really, really good. I will save those and recommend them and enjoy them over and over again, and as I did with Danticat, try some of Obejas' later work in case it resonates with me better.
On the other hand, there were two stories in this collection, one about a man with AIDS back in the mid-90's when this collection was published and another from the point of view of a heroin addict who wakes up from a drug-induced stupor to find the world has gone quite awry, that were really, really good. I will save those and recommend them and enjoy them over and over again, and as I did with Danticat, try some of Obejas' later work in case it resonates with me better.
August 19, 2017
Wasn't exactly what I expected, but was glad I stayed with it. The title story was along the lines of what I was looking for, while the other stories were more about lesbian/gay life and the ravages of the HIV epidemic. She is a good writer, and I liked most of the stories, even the ones that made me a little uncomfortable. Her description of one character's response to her failed relationships was probably my favorite. Almost anyone can relate.
December 27, 2018
More like a 3.5 I really liked The Spouse; Above All, a Family Man; and You Came All The away From Cuba so you Could Dress Like This? There were some stories I just didn’t care about but were still ok. I like the writing style and it was interesting to read about people living with AIDS because I don’t think I’ve ever read about something like that.
April 17, 2019
I had to read this short story for my American class at uni and I loved it. It can be heavy sometimes (cancer, abuse, death...) but the flow of the narration makes it lighter. It goes back and forth between her present after they arrived from Cuba and their future
I was really happy to see that it also talks about f/f relationships
I was really happy to see that it also talks about f/f relationships
May 13, 2021
Uneven collection of stories; some I loved, some I didn't care for (they felt a bit like MFA workshop stories). There was only one story about Cuba in the collection, which was disappointing. But I appreciated the frank and unvarnished look at queerness in many of these stories. Faves: title story; Forever; Above All, A Family Man.
November 22, 2025
This collection moved me deeply. The author writes with honesty and emotional clarity, drawing from her own experiences of exile and belonging. Each story feels real from immigrants searching for home to queer characters fighting for love and visibility. Her characters stay with you long after reading, and the writing is powerful, intimate, and unforgettable. A truly remarkable book.
February 18, 2022
sencillamente impresionante la manera en la que autora habla del presente usando el pasado, y del futuro mientras usa el presente. Increíble la generational gap exsitente entre una generacion y otra.
April 8, 2022
Excellent collection of short stories detailing life as a Latino member of the LGBTQ community. Hard hitting narration shows the devastation AIDS had in the 1980’s. Looking forward to reading more by this author
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August 21, 2022"It’s true that I didn’t ever really know where we were going, but we were going, and it was steady, and it mattered. The trip itself was always as vital, as sunny, and as difficult as wherever we might end up"
I'm going to refrain from rating this book but it was refreshing to read
I'm going to refrain from rating this book but it was refreshing to read
June 6, 2017
I saw this at the library, knew nothing about the author but loved the title.
I didn't really like her style and found most of the stories depressing.
I didn't really like her style and found most of the stories depressing.
January 16, 2018
Read this for my Caribbean Women's Writers class at NYU a while back. Compelling stories.
March 25, 2018
I really truly loved it, though any one of these stories could be a full novel and I would READ THE HECK out of that too!
July 18, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. Was iffy on the first one but gladly made it through.
May 26, 2021
4 estrelas pelos contos “Above all, a family man” e “We came all the way from Cuba so you could dress like this”. Menção especial a “Forever”.
February 8, 2023
has unfortunate fatphobic writing in most of the stories but otherwise is an interesting look into latinx and queer identity in the 90s and decades earlier
October 15, 2023
Another one of my favorite short story collections that I have read in recent memory, all thanks to a wonderful professor at UWSP who I had for ethnic lit of the US. From the very first sentence I read by Obejas in Wrecks, I was hooked. I don't even know how to summarize it, other than reckless Latina lesbian woman goes through a series of break-ups, gets in a car wreck shortly after each one, and has a potential reckoning towards the end. It's absolutely riotous but also totally relatable, and so many of the other stories are unapologetic snapshots of queer life and love in America, with the added twist of Obejas' queer first-gen Cuban-American perspective. There are also stories in this collection that will break your heart into a million pieces (I'm not kidding) but will also mend your heart with stories of queer self-determination, and again, her uniquely unapologetic portrayal of queer lives and loves. It took some searching to find a copy of this one, but I promise you if you do, it will be absolutely worth your time.
October 13, 2015
Title: We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?
Author: Achy Obejas
Genre: Short story collection
Setting: Various parts of the United States.
Reason for Reading: 50 book project, book 30! Definitely over the hump!
Relevance to the Project: This is my first re-read for the project. I realized about halfway through that I had read this in college. (This is back when I had access to an electronic catalogue for book ordering for the very first time and I was just ordering everything under the "bisexual women" subject heading. For reals! There just weren't that many back then.)
Finished In: Days, maybe two. It's quick and engaging.
Pages: 160
Copyright Date: 1994
Cover: Carribbean art.
First line: "I have to be sure I have the right insurance -- that is, collision as well as liability."
Favorite quote: Probably should not be reproduced on an all-ages website, but it's from the title story towards the end.
Themes and Triggers: LGBT issues, HIV/AIDS, immigration, relationships.
Best part: It was really cool to see what new things I could find in the book at age 37 that I didn't remember from my first reading almost 20 years ago.
Worst part: There's really not a lot to dislike here. It's short and snappy with a lot of hard hitting stories.
Favorite stories: "Wrecks," "Man Oh Man," "Forever."
Imaginary Theme Song: Something from the Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack.
Grade: A
Recommended for: Lovers of short fiction or those who appreciate LGBT writing.
Related Reads: Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurence Gidney. This Strange Way of Dying by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. (Note: both of the mentioned books here have sf/f elements. I don't read that much short "regular" fiction!)
Author: Achy Obejas
Genre: Short story collection
Setting: Various parts of the United States.
Reason for Reading: 50 book project, book 30! Definitely over the hump!
Relevance to the Project: This is my first re-read for the project. I realized about halfway through that I had read this in college. (This is back when I had access to an electronic catalogue for book ordering for the very first time and I was just ordering everything under the "bisexual women" subject heading. For reals! There just weren't that many back then.)
Finished In: Days, maybe two. It's quick and engaging.
Pages: 160
Copyright Date: 1994
Cover: Carribbean art.
First line: "I have to be sure I have the right insurance -- that is, collision as well as liability."
Favorite quote: Probably should not be reproduced on an all-ages website, but it's from the title story towards the end.
Themes and Triggers: LGBT issues, HIV/AIDS, immigration, relationships.
Best part: It was really cool to see what new things I could find in the book at age 37 that I didn't remember from my first reading almost 20 years ago.
Worst part: There's really not a lot to dislike here. It's short and snappy with a lot of hard hitting stories.
Favorite stories: "Wrecks," "Man Oh Man," "Forever."
Imaginary Theme Song: Something from the Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack.
Grade: A
Recommended for: Lovers of short fiction or those who appreciate LGBT writing.
Related Reads: Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurence Gidney. This Strange Way of Dying by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. (Note: both of the mentioned books here have sf/f elements. I don't read that much short "regular" fiction!)
September 2, 2008
The title story is stunning and a wonderful study for my own writing. But my favorite is the first piece, 'Wrecks,' altogether hilarious, sad, exhilirating and anxious. (How'd she do that?)
The stories in this collection are engaging and really challenged me as I read. I kept thinking, "Why does everyone have to be gay, just because she's gay," at once testing why heterosexuals always write about straight people. This is the first time I've read 'Lesbian/Gay Studies' work, and something in me feels it's wrong for it to be labeled and held out that way...as different...but that's a debate for another place and time (smile).
The only story I didn't connect with was 'The Spouse.' I thought it was too contrived with very little commentary, and so didn't match the other pieces. I thought that Achy could have done more with the subjects and the scene(s) and the story left me feeling that she just had to throw it in for some other reason.
But, overall, I loved this collection and I'm very, very happy this author's work was recommended to me. I'll be reading more from her very soon.
The stories in this collection are engaging and really challenged me as I read. I kept thinking, "Why does everyone have to be gay, just because she's gay," at once testing why heterosexuals always write about straight people. This is the first time I've read 'Lesbian/Gay Studies' work, and something in me feels it's wrong for it to be labeled and held out that way...as different...but that's a debate for another place and time (smile).
The only story I didn't connect with was 'The Spouse.' I thought it was too contrived with very little commentary, and so didn't match the other pieces. I thought that Achy could have done more with the subjects and the scene(s) and the story left me feeling that she just had to throw it in for some other reason.
But, overall, I loved this collection and I'm very, very happy this author's work was recommended to me. I'll be reading more from her very soon.
April 25, 2009
the last two stories really touched me. i love reading about identity and how people struggle to understand themselves in the context in which they are situated. achy's is particularly interesting because her family came to the U.S. as political exiles from Cuba so she's got the assimilation factor going on and she's a lesbian. her stories are glimpses into her reality as a political activist and feminist in the U.S. (Chicago, no less!) and her struggle to find love and companionship. I love glimpses of other people's realities because i feel like i can always find something--however small--that i can relate to and which resonates with my experience. at the end of the day we're all just human after all.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews