Say Hello to My Little Friend, Jennine Capo Crucet
Say Hello to My Little Friend, Jennine Capo Crucet
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Say Hello to My Little Friend

Author: Jennine Capó Crucet

Narrator: Krizia Bajos

Unabridged: 8 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/05/2024


Synopsis

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize | Winner of the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize | Finalist for the Kirkus Prize

“A blistering, hilarious, tragic novel that is simultaneously absurd and painfully real.” —The Miami Herald

Scarface meets Moby Dick in Say Hello to My Little Friend following a young man’s attempt to capitalize on his mother’s murky legacy—a story steeped in Miami’s marvelous and sinister magic.

Failed Pitbull impersonator Ismael Reyes—you can call him Izzy—might not be the Scarface type, but why should that keep him from trying? Growing up in Miami has shaped him into someone who dreams of being the King of the 305, with the money, power, and respect he assumes comes with it. After finding himself at the mercy of a cease-and-desist letter from Pitbull’s legal team and living in his aunt’s garage, Izzy embarks on an absurd quest to turn himself into a modern-day Tony Montana.

When Izzy’s efforts lead him to the tank that houses Lolita, a captive orca at the Miami Seaquarium, she proves just how powerful she and the water surrounding her really are—permeating everything from Miami’s sinking streets to Izzy’s memories to the very heart of the novel itself. What begins as Izzy’s story turns into a super-saturated fever dream as sprawling and surreal as the Magic City, one as sharp as an iguana’s claws, and as menacing as a killer whale’s teeth. As the truth surrounding Izzy’s boyhood escape from Cuba surfaces, the novel reckons with the forces of nature, with the limits and absence of love, and with the dangers of pursuing a tragic inheritance. “Blistering, hilarious, [and] tragic” (The Miami Herald), Say Hello to My Little Friend is Jennine Capó Crucet’s most daring, heartbreaking, and fearless book yet.

About Jennine Capó Crucet

Jennine Capó Crucet is the author of four books, including the novel Make Your Home Among Strangers, which won the International Latino Book Award and was cited as a best book of the year by NBC Latino, The GuardianThe Miami Herald, and others; the story collection How to Leave Hialeah, which won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize and the John Gardner Book Award; and the essay collection My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education, which was long-listed for the PEN/Open Book Award. A former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, she’s a recipient of a PEN/O. Henry Prize and the Hillsdale Award for the Short Story, awarded by the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Her writing has appeared on PBS NewsHourNPR, and in publications such as The AtlanticCondé Nast Traveler, and others. She’s worked as a professor of ethnic studies and of creative writing, as a college access counselor for the One Voice Scholars Program, and as a sketch comedienne (though not all at the same time). Born and raised in Miami to Cuban parents, she lives in North Carolina with her family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa of Troy on March 02, 2024

This isn’t a book that I would ordinarily read but 1) my favorite publisher is Simon & Schuster and 2) this book was on several Most Anticipated Books of 2024 lists. Is the hype real on this one? Ismael Reyes (“Izzy”) is a young man living with his aunt in Miami. He works as a Pitbull impersonator unt......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on February 11, 2024

If you think you've read it all before, this book is happy to surprise you with something you definitely have not read before. It took me a little while to get into a groove with this book, luckily Crucet's previous novel was one of my favorites in recent years, so I was motivated to stick with it.......more

Goodreads review by Yahaira on April 17, 2024

That was a ride --------- Thanks to simon books for the arc and now this beautiful finished copy! It’s a wonderfully strange and surreal experience reading a book that captures everything you know about a city so well. This book unlocked memories - including going to the Seaquarium to see Lolita. I rem......more

Goodreads review by Ellen Gail on April 23, 2025

Wow….what can I say about this book? Say Hello to My Little Friend is a unique experience. Good unique? Bad unique? I don’t really know to be honest. Quick plot tidbits: Izzy, short for Ismael, is a Pitbull impersonator. Not the dog, the Miami rapper. Yes, the same Pitbull who was once voted to visit......more

Goodreads review by Siobhan on December 25, 2023

Say Hello To My Little Friend is a novel about a twenty-year old Cuban man in Miami who decides to try and become Tony Montana, but who comes up against his own past, the city, and an orca. Izzy has just had a cease and desist stopping his burgeoning career as a Pitbull impersonator, so he pivots hi......more