comment on style

Nearly all of the characters in The Tower of the Antilles are Cuban, or of Cuban descent, and so many of them speak both Spanish and English. This does not figure into the way most of the characters speak or narrate their stories; most of the stories are entirely in English, and some have been translated from their original Spanish into English. In stories that take place in Cuba, such as "Superman" or sections of "North/South," there are snatches of Spanish, usually from a radio program, music, or in "Superman," the announcer at the Shanghai. These moments are small and do not affect the narrative, but they ground the story in Cuba, and create a Cuban atmosphere. They also give the reader a glimpse of what the language used by the characters really would be, and operate as a window from the English language into the Spanish language.