Nilo Cruz's "Alphabet of Smoke" Summary

      Nilo Cruz introduces the idea of escape through cigar smoke in the article. He notices an
interesting fact. That the names of the cigar brands have all been purposely attached a name of a
known love story, as if the smoker will feel part of the love story. He reveals that since
childhood, his connotation to cigars was a means of dodging reality, in the times of the American
embargo on Cuba. He goes on to explain how his parents used smoke differently but
simultaneously as a means of escape, whether it was his father smoking in order to tranquil his
bitterness over the revolution, or his mother using the smoke to proceed with cultural prayers. He
compares smoke to literature by saying that both “defy the rules of gravity”. He maintains that
rollers in cigar factories escaped their routine by entering a state equivalent to dreaming through
the literature read by the lectors. Cruz then tells the historical trait of the lectors, who have
become the chiefs in the factories. He details a usual day for the lectors in the factories, detailing
what sorts of media they read in what part of the day and how influential the lector was in
changing the way the workers thought about every day events, even politics. Cruz tells us that
the workers were very selective when they chose a lector. After all they were the ones that hired
them, and not the bosses in charge of the factory. The key characteristics the lector must have
were a strong, clear voice and an immeasurable feature. They had to read from their heart. Cruz
clarifies the reason for the extinction of the lectors from the factories, blaming the introduction of
machines and new rules set inside the workplace. He also acknowledges that the material read by
the lectors was a cause for their dropped employment. Cruz concludes the article by suggesting
other workplaces where lectors would have proper analogous employment.