Hachette India

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Jennine Capó Crucet

Scarface meets Moby Dick in this groundbreaking, darkly comic novel about 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-turned-efficiency, 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.

Wildly narrated and expertly rendered, Say Hello to My Little Friend is Jennine CapÃ³ Crucet's most daring, heart-breaking, and fearless book yet.

Praise for Jennine CapÃ³ Crucet

'This is definitely a young writer to watch for-sassy, smart, with an unerring ear for a community's voices, its losses, its over-the-top extravagances, and its poignant struggles to understand itself in a new land' JULIA ALVAREZ

'Jennine CapÃ³ Crucet is a wonderful writer... wise and honest... furious and funny' LAUREN GROFF

'Jennine CapÃ³ Crucet is an electrifying new talent-she's funny, she's smart, and she knows how to tell great stories' CURTIS SITTENFELD

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 named a New York Times Editors' Choice book, and the multiple award-winning story collection How to Leave Hialeah. Her essay collection My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfi nished Education, based on her columns in the New York Times, was longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award. She is a PEN/O. Henry Prize winner, and her writing has appeared on PBS NewsHour, NPR, and in The Atlantic, among other publications. Born and raised in Miami to Cuban parents, she now lives in North Carolina with her family.