Which Cuban author wrote 'Three Trapped Tigers'?

Guillermo Cabrera Infante wrote Three Trapped Tigers, the English title of his Cuban novel Tres tristes tigres.

Published in Spanish in 1967, the novel grew from an earlier manuscript titled Vista del amanecer en el trópico. It recreates Havana nightlife through conversations, jokes, wordplay, songs, and shifting voices. Rather than following a straightforward plot, it treats spoken language and Cuban urban culture as its central subject.

Cabrera Infante was born in Gibara, Cuba, in 1929 and became a prominent novelist, essayist, critic, translator, and screenwriter. He initially supported the Cuban Revolution but went into exile in London in 1965, where he continued writing about Cuba and its culture.

A common mix-up is the title: “three trapped tigers” is not a literal English translation of the Spanish title, which more closely means “three sad tigers.” The novel is also unrelated to the British experimental rock band that shares the English title.