Eleven short stories of the Cuban immigrant experience as characters adjust to life in the United Sates, from an award-winning author.

From the prize–winning title story—a masterpiece of humor and heartbreak—unfolds a collection of tales that illuminate the landscape of an exiled community rich in heritage, memory, and longing for the past. In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd is at once "tender and sharp-fanged" as Ana Menéndez evocatively charts the territory from Havana to Coral Gables, Florida, and explores whether any of us are capable, or even truly desirous, of outrunning our origins (LA Weekly).

"With the grace of Margaret Atwood and the sensuality of Laura Esquivel," Menéndez makes an unforgettable debut "rich in metaphor, wisdom, and delicious subtlety" (St. Petersburg Times).