In the manner of fabled storytellers, Ponte creates a vivid picture of contemporary Cuba -- its real and imagined place in the world -- through stories told by a foreign exchange physics student, urban planners who discover an underground metropolis in their own neighborhood, a traveler stranded in an airport restroom, a suspicious stranger listening to stories spun in a barbershop, and a Chinese butcher in love with a beautiful daughter of Ochun. This inventive brew of fantasy, popular religion, science and science fiction, travel adventure, and tall tales celebrates the Cuban spirit at home and abroad.