El Monte

“In her groundbreaking ethnography El Monte, Lydia Cabrera brings the reader seamlessly into Afro-Cuban cosmologies by virtue of her deep knowledge and virtuosic uses of ethnography, history, and traditional medicines. The greatest contribution of her career, El Monte remains the most trusted source for documentation and insight into the worldviews, practices, and languages of mid-twentieth century followers of Afro-Cuban traditions.” - David F. Garcia, author of Listening for Africa: Freedom, Modernity, and the Logic of Black Music’s African Origins

“David Font-Navarrete’s translation of Lydia Cabrera’s classic study, El Monte, fills a major gap in works about Afro-Cuban religions available in English. Readers will enjoy the erudite additions of John F. Szwed and Robert F. Thompson’s foreword and Isabel Castellanos’s introduction to this long-awaited volume. Cabrera’s unique voice shines through, offering the knowledge and wit of Afro-Cuban religious practitioners to a new generation. The volume is a testament to the complexity and richness of Cuban folklore.” - Solimar Otero, author of Archives of Conjure: Stories of the Dead in Afrolatinx Cultures

"A monumental compendium. . . . includes a priceless, botanical encyclopaedia that will be an essential resource for herbalists everywhere." - Gavin O'Toole, Latin American Review of Books

"That Lydia Cabrera’s magnum opus El Monte is finally available in an English translation is a reason to celebrate. . . . Font-Navarrete must be complimented for his remarkable sensitivity in navigating Cabrera’s often highly idiosyncratic prose, his careful footnotes, and not the least his excellent 'Translator’s Notes,' tellingly subtitled 'Reading El Monte in the Twenty-First Century.'" - Stephan Palmié, Journal of Religion

"Approached as a compendium of religious knowledge, a work of literature, a historical source or an experimental, outsider ethnography, this marvelous translation makes El Monte more accessible to English-language readers." - Kristina Wirtz, Latin American Research Review

"The first English translation of an ethnographic masterwork on the constellation of religious traditions of the African diaspora in Cuba. . . . David Font-Navarrete’s translation work is masterful. . . ." - Zachary Schwarze, Religious Studies Review

"A real treasure." - Richard Price and Sally Price, New West Indian Guide

"The text is manageable, largely due to the excellent translation and translation notes, an insightful biographical introduction to Cabrera by Isabel Castellanos (also translated by [David] Font-Navarrete), and a thought-provoking foreword by John F. Szwed and Robert F. Thompson. . . . For those already familiar with Afro-Caribbean religions, the text is a treasure trove of detailed description and close interrelationships among Cuban religions. It would be a welcome addition to any personal collection. For libraries, academic or otherwise, serving those with an interest in Afro-Caribbean religions, this is an indispensable text and should be a part of every collection." - Richard C. Salter, Nova Religio

"Cabrera’s audacious masterpiece of ethnographic exploration, replete with detailed methodological depictions of the ritualized practices of several African ethnic groups present in Cuba’s religio-landscape, the intimate narratives of her interlocutors, the most voluminous botanical guide of its time or kind, and photos from the original volume, are meticulously reproduced in English for an audience that will at long last have access to this treasury of Afro-Atlantic sacred traditions. David Font-Navarrete’s work promises to become an indispensable transdisciplinary text that will captivate the attention of scholars and practitioners of Afro-diasporic religious traditions across the globe, and beyond El Monte." - Alexander Fernández, The Latin Americanist